Inktober 2019: #13 Ash, #14 Overgrown

I still have #12 Dragon to do, but that is going to take a bit of effort.  Hopefully it will work!

Here, playing more Ketchup, but not too far behind.  I also returned to a better bit of paper, the same sketchbook that contains the first seven of this year’s Inktober.  Much happier with paper, pen, and brush.  Especially the paper!

#13 Ash:  I thought of a tree . . . an ashtray (ewww) . . . a fire (as in what we had over the weekend, which was awful) . . . but decided on a different natural crisis:  the volcano!  Shades of Mordor, shades of hell.

#14 Overgrown:  So many things can be overgrown, but I like the idea of an overgrown, abandoned railroad track.  There is something romantic and nostalgic about these, as well as something very sad.

I am rather enjoying the density of the iron gall ink.  It makes me think of India ink, but it is so much easier to use.  If I remember correctly, India ink does not lend itself well to dilution with water, but the iron gall does beautifully.

 

Ketchup!

I am completely behind on Inktober 2019 this year, and not sure if I even feel motivated to continue.  The iron gall ink is proving problematic on some papers I have been using, as have the pens and brushes.  I chose to do about 4 pictures – all of them here – on some really old paper in an apparently antique sketchbook made of really poor quality paper – at least for artwork.  So, with no further ado or commentary, here you will find #8 Frail, #9 Swing, #10 Pattern, and #11 Snow.

#8 Frail
#9 Swing
#10 Pattern
#11 Snow

From Black & White to Color

This once was a black and white photo!  Really!  Look what post production playing produced . . .

Below is the original black and white image, shot on Ilford FP4+ with an orange filter – an Orange 21 specifically – using an Olympus OM-1n and 50mm f3.5 macro lens.

This was the first pass with a preset I made in On1 Photo Raw 2019.

I added the same preset to the above a second time and got the very first one you see at the top.

I am not sure if I can replicate it, but plan on trying.

Meanwhile, I need to read a lot more about orange filters – some of the images came out ok, some great, and a lot were just worthless.