As is my nervous tradition, I did a quick materials test to prepare for Inktober this year, including a file-prep session so I can remember how to upload and post art here. I thought last year might be my final run, but I decided to give it another try, but man, this test has really spooked me that I'm extremely rusty and will have to spend too many of the 31 pieces getting re-acclimated to traditional art.
I didn't want to do another year because first, for all the brutal effort and physical exhaustion and monstrous withdrawal (I pretty much step back from everything else to focus on these), it felt like it was ultimately fruitless--it's my most successful period every year, with a bunch of people tuning in just for this month, but nothing comes of it, apart from a few new subscribers.
Second, the Inktober brand seemed to have been a bit tarnished by the controversy that emerged last year around the event's founder, so it appeared to be a good time to head out, anyway, plus it was a nice, clean 5-year mark for MTGinktober, specifically.
But I convinced myself to get back into it, as long as I can muster it (as long as my body and materials hold out--and we've certainly been running low; I noticed my eyes straining even on this piece) because I'm such a sucker for habit, and I can't fight the feeling that this will be the year things turn around and something happens. I recently picked up two quite influential subscribers, so there's a chance really important people will see my stuff if I can just deliver.
Not to mention, Magic itself just unveiled its own official prompts, which may be a small pond for me to big-fish in, since there aren't too many Magic fan artists, let alone ones who are willing to stick with a 31-day run--MTGinktober hasn't really gotten anyone else on board in half a decade, and people randomly joining Inktober with Magic-themed art are either short-lived or non-exclusively Magic-related.
But what freaks me out, after this simple test drawing of Vicky, is that I notice my hand and arm are frighteningly unsure from all the digital focus--I only draw loose gesture drawings traditionally, but everything else is digital,
so I am severely out of practice on fine, traditional drawing. On top of that, my limited ink supply, which is slowly aging out, feels a little clunky, and the notebook I found and planned to do my run in is feeling fidgety--look at how easily I got several smears...gonna split up some old paper I did my last few pieces on, I guess.
Reuxben
