Last year I did my first Inktober challenge, and although I did complete all 31 days I never posted it anywhere, this year I am doing Bloomtober instead, a prompt list made by Peggy Dean, one of my many S
After looking at the official prompt list I felt a bit uninspired, so I decided to google alternative lists and came across Peggys, a list of 31 poisonous plants, I really enjoy all her botanical line drawing classes so this seemed far more appealing.
I also felt this might be a good time to finally start posting on Instagram, I made that account so long ago and it has sat empty ever since, I am not a big social media user but I have thought about this many times then bottled out.
And I almost didn’t go through with it again this time but when looking at my feed a post by another of my Skillshare tutors, Ohn Mar Win, really hit home, her message to not let our own excuses stop us doing something made me realise that the only thing stopping me was myself, so I took the plunge and posted. And also thanked her for giving me the push I needed.
Turns out it wasn’t so bad after all, sometimes it that first step that’s the hardest.
Bloomtober Days 1-7
Day 1 – Bloodroot 
Day 2 – Oleander 
Day 3 – Rosary Pea 
Day 4 – Bitter Nightshade 
Day 5 – Death Cap 
Day 6 – Poison Hemlock 
Day 7 – Corpse Lily
Materials Used
- Sketchbook from The Works, not super thick paper but it has some tooth to it and handles water surprisingly well.
- Faber Castell Pitt Artist Pens, I bought these because they are waterproof and include a brush pen.
- Derwent Graphik Fine Liners, these are not waterproof so I have to think about which order I use things in, I do love the 0.05 size as it’s finer than the smallest Pitt pen so I tend to use it after washes.
- Uni-Ball Signo white gel pen tried a Jelly Roll white gel pen first but much prefer this pen as it seems to flow better.
- WHSmith Brush Pens, similar design to a Tombow brush pen but a lot cheaper, I have a set of 24.
- And finally my little wash pot, last year I ended up using a fountain pen cartridge that I emptied into this small container, it’s actually meant for sewing beads, and it worked pretty well when watered down. Seeing as I never did buy any proper ink despite intending to before this Inktober I’m using the same method again.
Now that materials picture was super bright with no adjusting yet all my drawing pics had to be brightened up as they came out super dark, same lighting, same camera, same place, it’s a mystery. Only thing I can think of is the camera adjusting the flash for the whiteness of the paper.