Nearly every October, I jump on the bandwagon for the Inktober art challenge. This year I did Inktober/Catober, using Inktober prompts with a cat theme. I didn’t do all of them, it being a fairly busy month for me, but I got a satisfying array of cat drawings done!
These are not “real” ink — as in the previous post, I’m working in Procreate on the iPad. But it’s all hand-drawn (except for drawing circles, where I gladly accept the help of the app just as I would a circle template), and I try for the look of a flexible-nib pen or brush. Just like on paper, I start with a “pencil” sketch, and when it’s refined enough, I “ink” it on another layer. Then I turn off the pencil layer to erase it — without crumbs, yay!
“Dream” – what do cats dream about? I don’t know, but mine twitch their paws and meow and make cute little groans. I can only speculate.“Spiders” — two pals, dressed up as each other. How ’bout those little cat booties, eh?“Path” — this kitty has a long way to go. I wonder if dinner’s waiting when he gets to the top?“Dodge” — Here are two cats who refuse to get the heck out of Dodge!“Map” – of COURSE there’s a volcano. There’s always a volcano.“Golden” — I was wracking my brains over this one. I did a search for “golden cat” in case there was a breed or species, and there was, but a golden maneki-neko caught my attention, and then of course I had to draw one of those.“Toad” – there was the sorcerer’s apprentice, and then there was the witch’s familiar…“Bounce” — one of the few drawings in this series in which I made extensive use of Procreate’s ability to draw nice, tidy circles and curves.“Fortune” — I’ve always thought that crystal balls looked a bit like fishbowls. This one made use of Procreate’s ability to draw in symmetry. It can be turned on and off, so that I only used it for the border.“Wander” — based on an earlier drawing I had done in colour. “Spicy” — Look, I just wanted to draw some cat can-can dancers, OK? And actually ended up spending the entire evening reading about (and watching on youtube) can-can, Toulouse-Lautrec, and the Moulin Rouge.“Castle” — a natural for cats. I’ve alway wanted to build a cardboard one for my kitties, but there’s no room with all their other toys!
If you’re thinking these all look like they’d be fun to colour, I do have plans along those lines somewhere down the road! Stay tuned for Part 3!
Karen Gillmore Art 