Yay! I just finished my second year in a row of Inktober! I had tried a few times before that but was never able to stick with it and finish the whole month. This time was difficult for me for a couple of reasons. One, I didn't really care for the official prompt list--sorry the words didn't spark too many ideas with me, other than the obvious, literal ones from the prompts themselves. And two, I was disappointed in the sketchbook I had selected for this year. I had heard so many good things about the Rendr paper that I was excited to try it. I thought it was perfect for something like the Inktober challenge, because it would lend itself to different media depending on the particular day's prompt.
Well, being an Inktober newsletter subscriber, I got the prompt list earlier than the official release date, so I had time to do some prep work, which I spent making thumbnail sketches of as many prompts as I could think of (I got all bot the last week or so) and even did an inside Cover Page. However, I quickly discovered that the Rendr paper does not take Watercolor well at all! In any form--wet, dry, watercolor pencils followed by brush, you name it. The watercolor just gets immediately sucked into the paper and stays there! No blending (or very, very little) at all. It was so bad that I considered starting over after a couple of days, but then I decided to stick with it and consider it a challenge. I changed up the media as much as I could to see how the paper reacted and found that it did ok with pencils and alcohol makers, like Copic, although I prefer Neenah or Xpress Marker Paper for those.
But, I managed to make it all the way to the end and got more practice drawing and sketching (which I could definitely use 😊) and I guess that's all that matters. Next year, I will have to see how I like the Prompt List and decide if I may use another and I will definitely use a different Sketchbook!!
Here is my Cover Page. You can see all of my drawings (attempts 😊) on my Instagram Page.
