Who is doing INKtober this year? As every year, I think, I want to be prepared, and as every year, I get surprised by October 1st and still with no plan.
Last year I focused on animals. Not sure yet what I should focus on this year?
See the full 2025 recap below.
And another dog with the Caran d’Ache Neocolor Aquarelle pencils. Had to get creative with this one.
Attempt two with the new Caran d’Ache Neocolor Aquarelle.
Was looking for quick drawing inspiration and somehow ended up on a Pinterest board full of dogs.
Got these Caran d’Ache Neocolor Aquarelle pencils as a gift from a friend and had to try them out immediately!
My verdict, they are amazing and so much fun to draw with!
I’ve used plenty of watercolour pencils before, it was my preferred medium during my teenage years, but these are different. The colours are so vivid and rich. It’s a lot of fun to draw with. I just need to practice a bit to get the hang of them.
Have you tried these ones before?
And the final dog drawing.
Hermit crabs… I suddenly felt like drawing one as they are cute… They’re the little crabs that use empty seashells as their portable homes. As they grow, they have to find and move into a larger shell. I did not know that before. Let´s call it the fun fact of today!
I have been working obsessively on a book project the last couple of weeks, to the point where I forgot to even post here. Meanwhile Etsy shut down my shop for no apparent reason…
Also we had a lot of sunny days, so I am using any hiking opportunity I can get.
Here is a first sneak peak of the main characters.
Since the last sunny Saturday, we had nothing but rain and clouds. I don´t mind, as I have a ton of work to do for my paying day job and my non-paying illustration book project.
Added some colour to this little fella. It felt too grey in grey. Or maybe it is due to the low hanging sky outside. Anyhow… time for ice-cream. What is your favourite? My go to is dark chocolate brownie.
This is how I feel right now. Too much work, too little time to for play…
Find the print in my Etsy shop.
We were graced with a week of lovely summer weather and I got the hiking boots out. In Iceland the general rule is, it’s sunny, you must go out. Basically it is now or never.
Today it is pouring out there, so time for a drawing update. Beside me having fun with animal watercolours, I have been doing character sketches for my next book. So watch this space.
Meanwhile I like how these two toucans turned out.
And correction to the previous post. It is not a ferret but an otter!
Love how the page turned out 🙂
Beavers are fun to draw. The other one is a ferret, I think?
Cannot keep myself from not drawing dogs. They are just too cute.
Have been drawing a lot of funny rabbits until late last night. Now I am paying the price by being over-tired. But why stop when you are having fun?
Yes, the pelican book is still on. It’s very much a work in progress. The manuscript is pretty much finished, and so is the storyboard. And I still like it, after 2 months of break, so that is a good sign.
The next step is to create the first proper illustrations. That’s on the agenda for tomorrow, so I can finally get started on that phase.
One of the reasons I’m doing these watercolour sketches at the moment is to loosen up a bit and explore different approaches until I find a style that feels right. I am also still set on ink and watercolour. Need to experiment more with it. But for now I love my Caran d’ache pencils. What do you think?
I really love the vibrance of these Caran d’ache Luminance pencils.
Day 6 of drawing random animals from my Pinterest board. What do you use for inspiration?
Not quite the sound a Lemur makes (what sounds do they make?) but still think it fits the sketch.
25min from start to finish. I am really enjoying this loose drawing with no strings attached. 20 years later I finally get the idea of having a sketchbook.
If a cat can wear boots, then so can a dog. Read the Puss in Boots to my little one the other day.
She enjoyed the illustrations more than the story I think.
From this, to this.
I am actually having a lot of fun with my sketchbook. First time in ages that I took out my watercolours as well.
Do you have a sketchbook? What is your favourite medium?
Checking if I can still draw… After all good intentions of sketching daily, I did not open my sketchbook once during the last 6 weeks of travel…
Now back home, I got my desk cleaned up, spent another 30min looking for my pencil case, and eventually started out with a number of 5 min animal sketches. This one was 25 min from start to finish.
Melanie Franz 