inky fun

I feel a bit of a fraud saying Blogtober when actually I’m just blogging in October. Does it count? Who knows. Anyway, on with today’s missive.

I have, in years gone by, joined in with Inktober but as soon as I restrict myself to one medium and/or prompts I find myself rebelling, so that too has been poorly received by my brain. It doesn’t change my delight in using ink for drawing, and I bought a new nib holder as part of my last art supplies order having found some nibs in a random box of art things. I also recently changed all the cartridges in my Pilot calligraphy pens so I am fully inked up.

Here are some drawings in purple ink, inspired by the Ladybird book of British Wild Animals:

In other news, I was also cheered to hear that the Klamath River Dam removal project has allowed salmon to return to their ancestral spawning grounds after a decades-long hiatus. How these fish, who have never been to these tributaries way upstream, know where to go is astonishing, but then again no different from a bird finding its way to and from breeding grounds, despite only being a matter of months – or even weeks – old on its first migration. Frankly, I’ll take any bit of good news for nature, and these iconic fish being spotted 230 miles from the sea within a few months of the dams being removed is heartening to say the least.

Here are some dip-pen-and-ink sketches of Chinook Salmon in their full breeding regalia, shown here in green-gold ink with a sweep of carmine gouache.