ink – Khadeja Ali draws

24 Days of Inktober 2019

I have tried to complete Inktober, and I could barely get started. So now that I can say that I was able to do 24 days out of 31 is awesome.

(Before you check out the gallery below…sorry for the crap quality. I was taking photographs to share to my twitter, and I haven’t had time to scan them in.)

To limit myself, I chose to confine my drawings to an 8cm x 8xm square. It ended up being something like a graphic novel, albeit only loosely connected. From the very first day, I felt like I was following a story that was baked somewhere deep inside my mind. I started to enjoy walking that route; I was taken to monsters and magic and the occult…it was very me, while being something very new. What a joy! I am definitely writing and drawing at least a mini-comic based on my hooded friends.

Some of them came out better than others, with my favourites being days 2, 5, 7, 11, 16 and 18. I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished in general, but with those days I felt so inspired – and I think it shows.

I highly recommend doing something like Inktober, even if you feel like a newb. Also, there is typically a challenge for anything creative – and if it doesn’t exist, you can certainly make it up.

One-legged Darling

stylistic drawing of a bird-like creature with only one leg in black ink pen signed KAM 2019

Today I leave you with another monster. This beast is a little lopsided, a little unusual in shape, but that’s what makes her a beauty! She’s half a creature, in a way – or at least, that’s what I was going for.

Absolutely inspired by the simurgh tales, I’ve always wanted to be good at drawing birds or bird-like creatures (as well as animals in general). I’m not interested in ‘good’ as in ‘realistic,’ but ‘good’ as in ‘I’m proud of this.’ This is one step towards that goal.

I am thrilled to say that I also see a little of Shel Silverstein’s influence in this drawing, although it was purely subconscious during its creation. ‘Where the Sidewalk Ends’ influenced my sense of humour for life! It’s great, and also intriguing, to see how the things you love leak into your artwork.

Resilient Hero

Video games. I play them a lot. I’m reluctantly close to the end of Spider-Man and I’m already thinking about what I’m going to play next.

Something that comes up over and over in video games, often very tediously, is the story of the hero. I get it for the most part, even if this narrative and character can seem repetitive in game after game.

No matter what I say though, I can’t deny how drawn (full pun intended) I am to the hero and their journey, just like everyone else.

So here’s my hero:

black pen drawing of abstract shapes filled in with patterns that come together to depict a hero character balancing on a platform, surrounded by intimidating shapes that surround the hero. — Obviously, platformers are on my mind

Sexless, abstract, colourless. Yep, that’s my hero!

I specifically thought about games like Ninja Gaiden (FULL DISCLOSURE: never played it, only watched) and Risk of Rain (played the ever-loving crap out of it) where you are stuck in between all these enemies and obstacles, and you die over and over trying to get past them.

For this drawing, I chose not to have a clear path for the hero to traverse, which is common in the type of game I’m thinking of. Instead, we see a paused image of them defending themselves stoically against all kinds of nameless terrors.

We all have heroic qualities that we are drawn to, and mine is resilience. That’s what I tried to get across. The hero is reaching out between what is thrown at them to show that they recognise an opening – and they won’t be surrounded by all this crap for much longer.

It might be one of my more empowering works!

Cosmic portrait

abstract art depicting a face with two eyes, nose, mouth, neck and chest made up of different geometric shapes, patterns, and miniature drawings of space, planets, the Earth, stars, moons, waves, and threads.

I gave myself a challenge to draw something based on the word “universe” and as I drew, I came up with the shapes that made up this face. The universe as a face isn’t something I’ve thought of before, but since seeing the universe in someone’s face is a romantic notion (and I’m a sucka for that), I went with it. And I’m happy with how it came out!

I don’t like overly explaining my imagery. However, I feel comfortable saying that a lot of what makes up this face are small portrayals of the universe from the Earth, through the atmosphere, all the way to space.

Something I enjoyed doing was hiding little “surprises” here and there; little drawings within drawings. Every time I found a place for one, I went for it. There’s something special about knowing that people out there will find them, you know?

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this one, I was really excited for a chance to share it!