Every year, in September, I ask myself a few questions: “When will this blasted heat go away?”, “Is it too early to decide what I want for my birthday?”, or “What are we going to be for Halloween?” One question that comes up without fail, but is always unplanned, is: “Are you going to do Inktober?”
Now, I think Inktober is awesome. Ink as a medium is one of my favorites and I’m an absolute sucker for black-and-white art, with maybe a single pop of color. But committing to the daily ritual is a tough ask. I always intend to let it pass me by and enjoy the art of others, but days before it begins some crazy notion comes over me and changes my mind. This year was no exception.
What did me in was when it came up on the Runehammer Discord and Alex posted a list of ICRPG-specific prompts for the month. How could I resist? A chance to practice some inkwork AND end up with a handful of useful pieces for future games? Come on!
Prompts
- Shadow Dagger
- Eye Beast
- Xill
- Stick of Stickery
- Mark of Lokus
- Worldbreaker
- Battle Suit
- Master’s Skull
- Aegis of the Stars
- Healer’s Case
- Yog Crystal
- Azael
- X-Tech Assault Rifle
- Dwarf Envoy
- Warhammer
- Blood Spider
- Zurin Flute
- Manac
- The Black Castle
- Agnar
- Elf Shadow
- Runner
- Warp Shell
- Kitt
- Red Sword
- Red Fang
- Gerblin Provoker
- Ripsaw
- Zeke’s Wooden Slippers
- Hugin and Munin
- Durathrax
The Ritual
My intention with Inkhammer 2024 was to get the ink down and practice that ICRPG-y feel. Whether that was from original designs or tracing/referencing other pieces to figure out general forms, all that mattered was learning to simplify shapes, leave big blobs of black, and draw lines with confidence.
I used Procreate on my iPad, along with an Apple Pencil, which works well for this art style. I find that my pieces feel… “softer”, than what’s included directly from ICRPG. I guess that Procreate smooths out the edges of my lines as I go, and I don’t incorporate as much texture into the shapes. Oh well!
I also did a lot of these pieces early in the morning or the night before. After the kids were in bed, I could turn on a show and bust out the bulk of the next day’s prompt. Then when I wake up early (if you have littles, you probably understand the timeslots I’m working with), I’d refine a few last-minute things and then post. Overall, each piece would take me anywhere from 20 minutes to maybe 2 hours. Items usually went faster, and anything dealing with anatomy took the longest. That sense of what it’s supposed to look like is a real hurdle!
Anyway, despite rolling my eyes at myself in the beginning, I’m pleased with how Inkhammer went. As Alex mentioned to the community, “just do something creative everyday. Creation over Consumption.”
Gonna have to write that down somewhere to remember it… 📝
