Joe's Inktober 2021

Inktober is an artist challenge held every October online. A set of prompts are released each year, one for each day, that must be finished in some sort of ink. Artists post their results to the internet to see what everyone did with the same prompt, creating the feeling of commodore I love in online artist communities. I've participated in the challenge for years, adding my own overall theme to the daily drawings. This year my wife suggested that my overall theme be ghosts, which given the month and my personal affinity for the macabre I jumped at immediately. 

So without further ado, here is my Inktober 2021 pieces. :)

1: Crystal

Ghost plus crystal to me lead me immediately to Madame Leota, the crystal ball medium from the Haunted Mansion. May've helped that Muppet's Haunted Mansion was about to come out and I was building a Haunted Mansion themed Dungeons and Dragons game at the time so she was naturally on my mind. The hardest part was the metal stand, which I feel I got the basic idea but could've been far better. 

2: Suit

I didn't want to show how the ghosts died, because then the piece becomes about the way they died, so I left the ghosts ambiguous. Suit was more about a nice suit with something obviously not alive inside. When I was done I thought it looked a bit like a burn victim but I like to think that the corruption within caused the ghost to look like that.

Or a witch doctor shrunk his head. 

3: Vessel

So this one's a little bit of a stretch. 

The "vessel" here is the poor man trying to stop the voices of the dead. He's full of the voices of the spirits, like a possession. 

Makes sense? No? Moving along..

4: Knot

This is the first one in the set to have an alternate title, being "So We Don't Lose Each Other Again". I liked the idea of two people who cared about each other finding each other again as ghosts and tying their shrouds together so they wouldn't lose track of each other again. I see ghosts as being confused creatures, trying to understand what happened to them and what their existence is like now. What if they found someone they knew in that state? Wouldn't it be nice to know you aren't alone? Wouldn't you want to make sure you're not alone again? 

5: Raven

The alternate title for this one is "Please Tell Them I'm Okay". Ravens are messengers and are associated with the dead, so I thought: "What is one thing I would want my loved ones to know?" and the alternate title was the answer. 

6: Spirit

So this one is a stretch... It's supposed to be the "Spirit" of Halloween, meaning children excited to dress up. I tried to make the kids as cutesy as possible, channeling the Halloween coloring books I had as a kid. The ghost in the back is a bit more like the basic ghost model but with the fun shadows and obviously floating, meaning that these kids Halloween spirit has attracted a real spirit. 

7: Fan

This is partially based on the famous Falling Man photo, a ghost photo that has yet to be explained. I liked the idea of seeing this creepy thing on your fan and not knowing if it's stuck or is going for a ride.

Weeeeee! 

8: Watch

It's that head turn that makes it creepy. Yeah, the guy doesn't know there's a ghost behind him, but it's the way the ghost is turning his head that makes it unnerving. 

9: Pressure

Sleep paralysis is the phenomenon of waking up unable to move. Scientist contribute to some chemical malfunction in the brain but for centuries sufferers have claimed to have beings sitting on their chests keeping them from moving. The idea that while you sleep something comes in and holds you down is creepy enough but the thought that it might not even be alive is even worse. 

10: Pick

How do you link pick to ghosts? I still don't know so I just drew a cool looking dwarf with an enchanted pick, though if you look close there's little ghost faces around the tip of the pick so there you go. 

11: Sour

In the book Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets the crew roll up to a ghost party where they see a table covered in rotten food. Ghosts pass through it with their mouths open and claim that they can almost taste it. I would think that any extreme taste, like the sourness of a lemon, would have a similar effect on ghosts. 

12: Stuck

Alternate title for this is "I Just Want To Leave". Death is supposed to be a release from the burdens of life but... What if it isn't? 

13: Roof

If a house is haunted, do you think the haunting extends to the roof? Is it the property line or the area? If you could sit on the roof and look at the stars wouldn't you? 

14: Tick

Alternate title: "How Long Have I Been Here?". What does time mean to the dead? What do you do when you can no longer interact with the world of the living? The boredom would be excruciating. 

15: Helmet

Another Dungeons and Dragons inspiration, here's a fun cursed helmet for your next dungeon or family get together. 

16: Compass

Alternate title: "I don't think it's working I'm still lost". A being lost between worlds would never stop looking for its way, either back to the living world or onto the next. 

17: Collide

This is actually inspiration from real life. One night I was turning all the lights off and was in my basement alone when in the dark I saw the form of a man in a long coat and fedora walk past me. I was shocked to see it since I was home alone.  

18: Moon

This was me flexing my super artsy side. Only the parts illuminated by the moon are visible on the ghost. This picture actually killed three pens. 

19: Loop

It's hard to draw movement since drawing is a stationary medium, but I did try to give the impression that the ghosts were doing figure eights around each other. I like how the fringes of their shrouds came out. 

20: Sprout

Alternate title: "Is It Really Alive?" to one that's been dead for so long, seeing new life must be an event and a wonder. 

Also ghosts like this look odd close up. 

21: Fuzzy

I don't know if it's a big bear or a tiny ghost. Either way I like this one because the cuteness of the bear is in direct opposition to the creepy faceless ghost. 

22: Open

Alternate title: "I Think It's Time For Me To Go". Ultimate goal for a ghost I think would be to finally move onto the next life, going to the true afterlife and not be stuck aimlessly wandering around the earth scaring people. 

I have no idea though why this ghost has Deadpool eyes. 

23: Leak

The ghost is leaking out of his shroud. 

I don't know, it was either this or I draw a Farfetch'd ghost. 

24: Extinct

A ghost dinosaur just sounded stupid so I just drew a cool dinosaur skull. I love drawing dinosaur skulls. 

25: Splat

Well if they literally can't see you crossing the road what do you expect? 

At least the other guy's car is probably fine. 

26: Connect

When someone passes it means we can't connect with them in person again. We try what we can, visiting graves and remembering the person, but it's never the same. Those on the other side may have the same wants, and the same problem. 

27: Spark

Mimikyu is one of my favorite Pokemon. Here he's taking imitating Pikachu to a new level, thanks to the help of a taser. Tell me you wouldn't want to see him use this on Team Rocket. 

28: Crispy

Ghosts probably can't tell when a marshmallow is done. They probably don't care either. 

Who built the fire though? 

29: Patch

As morbid as this is, I picture me doing this as a ghost. My favorite jacket is covered in patches so it's not a stretch that I would cover my shroud in them as well. And catch me without sunglasses, it never happens. 

30: Slither

You try to make a ghost slither...

31: Risk

Alternate title: "Can I Play Too?" the risk a ghost has to becoming known to humans is weather or not they will be accepted. That's why I think they often appear to children and become their imaginary friends, because children are always happy to have another playmate and are less likely to start screaming. 

Thank you for letting me flex my Inktober this year. Let me know which one was your favorite? 

-JOE