“It was Inktober. I was missing my dog.  I had a new sketchbook and I was designing characters. It occurred to me that Buddy is a real character I could use.” So started the month of October, or Inktober, for first semester Illustration student David Powers. Buddy would rule the roost of characters.

Inktober, a month when participating illustrators produce an ink drawing every day, was started by illustrator Jake Parker in 2009. Powers says his drawings during Inktober incorporated techniques learned in basic illustration and anatomy classes as well as some styling he discovered on his own.

“It made me think of things on the spot as opposed to life drawing. It brought me to a more realistic process of how illustration is done,” says Powers.

Ed Soyka, Chair of Illustration, took notice of the directions in which Buddy was leading his master.

“What’s interesting is he’s using drawing as a means to convey his ideas and experience visually, which is the essence of what an illustrator does as a visual communicator,” says Soyka. “What’s most exciting about David Powers is that already in the first semester he is illustrating in the way of a professional.”  

Here are highlights from Powers’ Inktober drawings.

Inktober drawings from left to right:

1. Horned Viking:  “I was trying to capture the style and anatomy that I learned in my classes where we experiment with ink and different line weights.”

2. & 3. Animal warriors: “I thought of drawing animal heads and then personifying them. One’s a tiger and a polar or white bear. They’re concept sketches. I gave them a medieval warrior theme”

4. Space guy: “I kept adding to him I tried to make him an older veteran character. He just got done with his mission maybe. It was my first attempt stylizing smoke.”

5. Buddy in Space: “He got the whole thing started! I wondered what he could be doing. He’s always hungry. He’d do anything for food. I could just picture him in space trying to get this one treat.”

6. & 7. They’re character sketches–I tried to make them fit into the same universe. It was more experimentation seeing what worked and what didn’t.

While Powers posted his work daily on Instagram, his original sketch book has sadly gone missing. If anyone knows of its whereabouts please contact him at: [email protected]. In return he will make a personalized sketch for you.

It would make Buddy real happy!

Images used with permission