Dead Things Can’t Die: A Year In The Life of A Goblin

Wonderful words from dearest friend and fellow writer Ever Dundas, author of ‘Goblin’ 🙂

blood on forgotten walls

Goblins and Monsta I was uncertain about writing a blog post to mark a year since Goblin was launched into the world, as it felt a bit self-indulgent. But it’s been a helluva year, and I thought writing about it might help other debut writers.

Firstly, I think most writers (especially debut writers) are worried/concerned/anxious about sales, reviews, interviews and other publicity – basically whether the book will get some recognition or disappear without making so much of a ripple.

I didn’t have these worries. And it wasn’t out of arrogance – it was because I was busy being extremely anxious about something else that there just wasn’t much room for these concerns. I also didn’t feel there was much point in angsting about these things, as it’s not always in your hands to be able to do much about it – so I would deal with publicity/sales etc when…

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INKTOBER DAY 24: a Rose

Any challenge is a good challenge: whether you win or not, you still learn a lot about yourself, what works for you, what needs to be improved.

In my case, Inktober has proven absolutely excellent for producing sketches without too many problems regarding finish: they are sketches, naturally they can be improved. They are like drafts for writing.

However, Inktober has also shown me (again!) that with my back issues (degenerative disk syndrome, slipped disks, etc) it can be difficult at times to keep the position necessary for drawing, ie. sitting. I can write half lying down, can’t successfully/comfortably draw in that position. Not yet anyway.  So, yes, I missed some days 🙂

INKTOBER DAY 24: a Rose

I like roses a lot, especially stylized ones. This one was drawn using gold ink by Windsor & Newton (thank you Frankie!), black marker and a fine line unbranded pen.

Let me know what you think! 🙂

#inktober #inktober2017

INKTOBER DAY 18: Ink Goblin

You may want to ask, what happened to Days 14 to 17? Well, my back happened. I have some problems with my vertebrae and now and then I overdo it (or not, sometimes it is just a normal movement, like tying your shoelaces, or walking to buy milk), so I lost those days to back pain, painkillers and a mist of aching.

#inktober #inktober2017

 

I will, at the end of Inktober, catch up with those days.

For now, here is:

INKTOBER DAY 18: the Ink Goblin

Done in pen and China ink and marker, this naughty goblin lives in inkpots and now and then goes on to adventures. He draws each petal carefully, and each pattern opens the way to a new a realm.

Missing a few days was hard, but that’s how it goes, life hits unexpectedly, but one can get back up and pick up from where she left.

As always, if you want to suggest an idea for a prompt, just post it below 🙂

Thanks for following!

INKTOBER DAYS 11, 12 & 13

My back is aching these days (I only tried to do some tidying up, not even something fun!) so I’m slower than I would like to be, but! I did find my lovely Intense Black China Ink by Lefranc & Bourgeois, a couple of brushes and my pen nibs.

Expect a lot more sploshes of ink coming your way 🙂

I played around a bit with two of these – can you guess which ones? I let myself enjoy the simple act of dipping the brush in water and ink and then let it interact with the paper. Only once dry, I looked to see what shapes were revealed.

All done in biro and China Ink.

DAY 11: Our shadows grow with us.

 

DAY 12: The Silent Dragon.

DAY 13: We feel small against Oppression

Let me know what you think!

#inktober  #inktober2017

 

INKTOBER DAYS 9 & 10: Monsters!

Seems like the perfect segue to Cats 😉

I have several ideas for Monsters lined up in my head, so I hope the next week will be enjoyable and a touch horror-y: Halloween decorations have appeared everywhere, so it feels appropriate.

As before, if there is something you would like to see sketched in particular, just post it in the comments or message.

And do remember these are quick sketches, not finished artworks or illustrations. Also, my renewed love for the play between black/white and grey is neverending.

 

DAY 9: M is for Monster – Drawing a full alphabet of monsters sounds very intriguing. Perhaps a project for next Inktober, or sooner!

 

 

DAY 10: It Flies Low.

“What this is I do not know,

but it comes at night and it flies low”

 

If there is something specific you would like me to draw/sketch, just let me know in the comments or message me.

#inktober #inktober2017

INKTOBER DAYS 6, 7 & 8

Three more sketches! I promise these are the last cats for a while (well, unless you ask me to draw more). I am still posting more than one day together so that I don’t overwhelm your feed, but do let me know if you prefer a daily posting.

I still haven’t got myself decent ink pens – so many to chose from! I can’t buy them all, so I’m slowly cutting the numbers down. The following are done in pen (again, your average writing pen), no pencil, and some ink. In the last one, the ink is digital. I think it came out interesting. Working with silhouettes and having them revealing something else than the shape they are contouring. I like it, and will work more on it.

DAY 6 – SATIN on Sofa

Satin is a black cat, drawing her is always a challenge. She often sits by my side on the sofa, so the perspective was interesting.

DAY 7 – CATURDAY!

Day 7 was Saturday, so…Caturday! This is a very sketchy sketch, but I think of reworking it with lots of inking, because I like playing with lettering. And some more cat-anatomy study will be good.

 

DAY 8 – ROUGH KITTY

With this one, I wanted to put more expression in the cat’s face, and playing around with digital ink for the black panel was interesting. Also started experimenting with the silhouette, adding variations (and using digital ink in white). It almost feels, to me, as if the white shape is the cat, not moving perhaps, asleep. But inside, there is always a cat whose senses are alert.

Next week, something different! Thanks for following, and if you would like to see something in particular, just put it in the comments 🙂 thanks!

#inktober

#inktober2017

 

INKTOBER Day 4 and 5

I was asked to draw cats, so here we go. I do have more cats sketches (some drawn already, some for another day). I love dogs and cats equally, but it is easier to draw a cat when you have one around.

DAY 4:

TYPOGRAPHY CAT  – done in pen (in fact, the pen you can see in the picture).

I love typography and I will do a lot more of it. In this case, I wanted to find the cat in the letters, but make it like a puzzle, to resemble cats’ character. Even the kitty has its head tilted in curiosity 🙂

 

DAY 5

DOUBLE KITTY PAGE -done in pen and Berol permanent marker

I’m finally using heavy ink (it is the point of the challenge, after all), which I don’t use often. However, I am already seeing the potential and nice effects you can obtain with it. I particularly like the silhouette effect in the Moggy Sketch on the right (see pic below for close up).

(close up of Moggy Sketch).

Already thinking of Day 6 and 7! Any comment appreciated, and if you want me to draw something specifically, just post it below.

Thanks!

#inktober

#inktober2017

Inktober Day 1, 2 and 3

As promised, 3-in-1 sketches today – I can catch up with the challenge, and you’re not overwhelmed by my posts.

#inktober

#inktober2017

Day 1: A Bench in My Garden

Just a quick pen sketch to warm up hand and eye. Yes, the bench arms are different! One was broken and my lovely partner added a makeshift one, which is now the cat’s favourite to sharpen her claws!

Day 2: A Weird Bird with Flowers

There is a pale reflection of me in the bird’s eye (okay, of someone) but I wasn’t happy with it. I do like the flowers, though, and the fading background. On the other hand, there is no underlying pencil drawing, so in all, I am happy with this. I think it has a slight creepy feel to it. What do you think?

Day 3: Mouth Monster

I think sometimes we all feel as if we’re falling in some horrendous pit…no?

Just me, then 😉 I may clean up this with proper inking and make a Monsters Series. What do you think?

 

Here they are. Drawing a sketch every day is such a good exercise, and haring is even better. I Hope you feel encouraged to try it yourself, and again, if you have any prompts for me to draw, feel free to comment below!

To tomorrow 🙂

 

INKTOBER!

It is here! INKTOBER TIME 🙂

 

Yes, I know that the month has actually started 3 days ago, but when dealing with poor health, you have to compromise. So, 3 days in, but I will still participate in this fun challenge. Determined, it is me 🙂

What is Inktober? Started several years ago by J. Parker, it is now a drawing challenge join by thousands. Simply, ink a sketch daily for the duration of the month. At the moment, I’m using a pen, just your average writing pen, but will get myself some nice and proper inking pens asap.

This year there is also an official list of prompts. I haven’t decided yet if I will follow it or not. But! If you have any prompt, anything that you’d like me to draw, feel free to post it in the comments! If I feel inspired by it, I will draw it 🙂

In order not to spam you, I will group my drawing for Day 1, 2 and 3 in one post. The rest will be done orderly, one drawing per day 🙂

Thank you for following, and hey, jump in and do it along with me 🙂
#inktober
#inktober2017

Abundant Art Virtual Show: sketches!

I’ve been posting a few WiP* sketches over on my at account: Sil_artscribe, on Instagram and Facebook (I use my usual twitter account for my art as well, no changes there).

Mixed media collage (Heart Words); Fantasy pen/watercolour sketch (can you guess the inspiration for it?); Tarot Card study, from concept to colour tests.

Here they are:

Heart Words

Fantasy sketch

Tarot Card study

 

*Work in Progress