INKTOBER HAS BEGUN! // plans, process, and projects! (Patreon)

Happy October and to my U.S. friends happy Halloween 1st! :D Inktober has officially begun and I plan on sticking it out through all 31 days. This will be my second Inktober and technically my third monthly challenge so I think I have some perspective on the process at this point. Picking up my red pencil this morning and breaking out the copic markers felt all too familiar yet entirely new at the same time so I'm excited to see what this month has in store for us. (For a full list of my Inktober materials check out this post!) 

My theme for this year's Inktober is plant witches. I'm feeling rather enthusiastic about seasonal festivities this year so I wanted to lean into that and fuse that with my interest in plants. If you remember, my theme last year was dessert girls and I really enjoyed it! I originally wanted to follow a similar theme this year but went with something less restrictive instead so I could have more room to explore the topic. It's going well so far and I'm very happy with the theme I've chosen. ^-^

I took some process photos this morning while working. Here is the completed sketch I did in red pencil. I didn't know about this before today, but working in either red or blue pencil for sketches is particularly useful because you can easily remove the color of the sketch in Photoshop! So if you sketch in red and ink over it in black you can go into PS, tweak the RGB channels a bit and completely erase the red leaving you with clean inks! I tried it out and it works like a charm so keep that in mind if you need it~

These are the inks before filling chunks in with black. I'm trying out a thinner and more detailed inking style this time, I like it so far! 

And to address the "project" in the title, I'm excited to share that I'll be making my Inktober into a coloring book and zine this year! ^o^ A lovely patron (thank you Diane!) suggested I make a coloring book and I thought Inktober would be the perfect opportunity to do so. Here's a sneak peek at the first page: 

I also wanted to address my Patreon goal! You may have received an email stating that I had reached my goal and I want to thank you so much for your support, I'm truly grateful for everything we've accomplished through Patreon. ^-^ Before I explain, I want to ensure that I'll still be recording a digital speedpaint for you to celebrate reaching our goal! There is a slight issue with timing however since pledges are in the process of being renewed (every 1st of the month) and due to some payment declines we may be under our goal again. Nonetheless the speedpaint reward is still guaranteed but I may have to hold off on the giveaway for the time being. I apologize for the confusion this may have caused and if you have any questions feel free to comment down below. :-) 

Wishing you all a wonderful October and have a great day!Much love~

Vicki