I participated in Inktober for both personal challenge and a way to practice, develop, and refine the basic artistic still I possess. 90% of my illustrations start with a pencil outline and frame, and only then are they added to with ink for shading and definition. I’ve never been a big fan of the mess that accompanies blending and shading with charcoal, pastel, or graphite. Many mornings of sneezing out coal dust after an 8am art class come to mind and none of them are particularly pleasant.
The risk of skipping the entire pencil structuring is that there is NO turning back and NO room for significant error. If I make a significant mistake, the solution is simple but costly: I start over.
As frustrating and as tedious as doing these can be, the rewards are starting to show.
Sketchy Climbing 