This blog post is a continuation, and hopefully, the last part of the Inktober 2019 series. If you are interested, you can check out my journey in my last two posts: Kdrama and Inktober 2019, prep work and beginning and Inktober 2019 - More on Kdrama and trailers.
Before we get started, let's check some facts and statistics. So far, I was doing good in terms of Inktober. Things were going as per expectations, especially considering work-load at the time. Select a theme that I am interested in- check. Make a list of topics to sketch - check. Try to reduce resistance to sketching - check. Then, suddenly, something happened. It was 2 Nov 2019, I was done with 23 sketches out of 31, a satisfactory number. Even though I exceeded the timeline, I did 21 in a month as opposed to about 4 to 5 in a month. That was not so bad! My main goal was to overcome paralysis of analysis and get to it, and I was improving on it! I could have finished the rest 8. But, something happened. I did not want to sketch any more. I just did not. Why? I am still trying to figure out. I did not even try. I just gave up, and I was not even guilty about it.
Time flew by, my project at work got completed successfully, I traveled to India and had an awesome trip, came back started working on some more projects, I continued sketching. And then COVID-19 pandemic started in USA. As the lock-down began, I decided to rearrange my art table, clean it up and set it up to sketch more regularly. And while doing so, I discovered something... one of the two lists of K-Drama characters I wanted to sketch. Somehow it clicked at that moment, I sat down and crossed all the characters I had already sketched. And I was determined to finish sketching the rest of the characters so that I can tick off the line in my todo list and finally dispose the post-it note. Just for the sake of crossing the lines in the post-it note, I obsessively worked on the sketches. I lay it at a noticeable part of my table, and got back to it whenever possible until I finished all of them eventually. I was so happy that I crossed off all the characters in that list! It was so satisfying!
Well, now I am excited to show you the sketches, and some interesting clips and trailers. Hope you enjoy them!
Strong Girl Do Bong Soon
While You Were Sleeping
Romance Is a Bonus Book
My ID is Gangnam Beauty
I felt as if this set of sketches were slightly better than the previous ones. I think I was able to draw the lines more confidently. The faces were slightly more accurate even though still not very similar. I still struggled with the beautiful conch-like eyes, and soft facial contours. In addition, I remember struggling with drawing the hair, not knowing how far to keep going and where to stop at. I enjoyed the struggle too. Overall, it was a fun learning experience. Now that I look at the set of sketches, I feel a sense of accomplishment. It is a good feeling to look at the album and see its completion. I do have another post-it note lying abandoned somewhere with a list of characters to sketch. Will I draw them again? Who know, may be... may be not.
How am I doing with Kdramas? I continue to explore more. I have discovered some interesting, and some not-so-interesting Korean dramas and movies. They span multiple genres, and often combine many genres together. Often, they have a romantic story going on, but they act more like protagonists of an underlying story. I am able to pick up words and phrases. I and my sister have started exchanging Korean words now :D I have found some great patterns and some not-so-appealing ones as well. So far they manage to keep me fascinated enough to keep exploring more.
With this, I end last years Inktober series. The exercise sure helped me deal with paralysis of analysis better. I do not have anything in mind yet about this year's Inktober. But I do have some interesting sketches to share and I am excited to share them!
Until then, take care and stay safe.
