Monday, October 28, 2019

Vikings Inktober: I used Higgins India Ink for 31 Days and Here's what Happened


This October - or "Inktober," as the art community calls it  - I have had the pleasure of joining the Higgins Inktober Art Team.

As an Art Ambassador for Chartpak Artist Supplies, I often demonstrate and blog about the performance benefits of their art brands - brands such as Grumbacher, AD Marker, Schminke, Koh-i-Noor, Molotow and Higgins Ink.


Higgins Black Magic Ink has long been the preferred ink choice of many comic book inkers. In the  evolving marketplace of art tools, Higgins offers it's ink in the good old fashioned desktop bottles (you know, the ones you masking tape to your drawing board or nestle inside your makeshift cardboard cradle to reduce spills) and in Brush Pens, using a pump action primer to fill the tip with a fresh ink supply.


Personally, I love a bottle with brush and crow-quill pen, which allows me to indulge in my draftsmanship directly or over pencil, while giving me the freedom to make a mess if desired. I love to make something out of spilled ink, dripping puddles and random marks.


The Higgins Brush Pen is great in front of the television or on location when messy supplies aren't expedient. Although I may never prefer the nylon synthetic brush tips over sable hair, the nibs are flexible enough for varying line quality, and the ink reservoirs keep the ink moving.


Rather than confront a new concept each day of Inktober, I decided to spring inspiration from History Channel's "Vikings" show a show for which I designed commercial spots, trailers and teasers for Season 2 - 6. This show is captivating and binge worthy, and offers an insight into Viking culture and warfare, in addition to Norse customs and spirituality. Creator Michael Hirst does not ignore the historical references that Christianity and European civilization played in the evolution of the Vikings as explorers, warriors, agriculturalists, lawmakers and political strategists.






The cast is solid gold. Vikings shares a quality that my favorite shows demonstrate. Whichever character is on screen at any time graduates to my favorite character, until they complete their sequences and make room for the next arc.






I shared my Inktober Drawings on Facebook and Instagram, and have collected a selection here on my blog for a quick view. I hope you will visit and enjoy what you find.

Go to https://www.instagram.com/tonysantocreative/ and https://www.facebook.com/TonySantoCreative/ and let me know what you think. 

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