I have had an idea in my mind for a while now to add pen and ink to my landscape paintings. Fear of ruining my hard work has kept me from experimenting. What better time than Inktober to dive right in, no expectations, just creating? So my theme for Inktober this year is Ink & Landscapes.

Inktober Day 1: Akajima Secret Beach

During Labor Day weekend we took a ferry out to the Keramas and explored Akajima. It was an incredible trip. I put my phone in airplane mood and relaxed. The snorkeling was amazing, the vibe of the island was local, and so laid back. I have a few plein air works from the trip that I need to share too.

This was a beach we visited on our last day. It was a 25 minute walk from our hotel and I carried our paddle board the whole way. Being a small island we asked where there was a pretty beach and we were pointed “that way”. We climbed a hill until we saw a small wooden sign that said “ビーチ”. We followed the small overgrown path which led to this.

We sunbathed, paddle boarded, and giant hermit crabs stole our kids snacks.

This is piece is watercolor with gel pen. The gel pens take me back to middle school.

Inktober Day 2: Lily Pond

We have been to the Southeast Botanical Garden countless times. I have hundreds of inspiration photos from our trips there. This was created from one of those photos.

I have always been drawn to lilies of all types. My mentor, Lynn Gertenbach, is a lily painting master. I remember there was an oil painting of lilies from her own garden in her studio and it was my favorite painting. I loved the simplicity and the colors, she captured their essence. It was probably one of a thousand lily paintings she had painted but it was my favorite.

On a technical note, those cute gel pens that reminded me of middle school had me very angry as I was adding the ink. I have a set of 100 gel pens I bought at Costco probably 5 years ago. I have used them maybe once, so many of them don’t work well. The internet suggested soaking the pens in warm water and all that did was leave spots of water on my paper, and the pens still didn’t work. Needless to say, I was slightly limited in my color choices.

Inktober Day 3: Cape Hedo

I am a mom, I am training for a half marathon, I teach online, and I homeschool our 6 year old. Every time I sit down to do one of these pieces, I tell myself “This should only take a few minutes.” Then I get lost in my work and 2 hours later, it is midnight.

The inspiration for this piece was a photo I took at Cape Hedo when my in laws visited. We were walking back to the car and I found this little gazebo. I took a little detour and it was totally worth it.

Cape Hedo is the northern most tip of Okinawa. The northern area of Okinawa is so very different than the southern area. 1 million people live in Okinawa and the majority of them live in the south. During WW2 one of the bloodiest battles was fought on Okinawa. Most of the southern part of the island was touched by the war. The northern part of the island was left mostly untouched. There are fern trees that are hundreds of years old, power spots related to the Ryukyu religion, and so many beautiful beaches. It is where the Pacific meets the East China Sea. If you ever visit Okinawa it is worth the drive to visit the top of the island.

Inktober Day 4: Muruku Beach

Whelp it looks like I bit off more than I could chew with this project. I actually finished this piece a couple of weeks ago and haven’t gotten around to posting it. I have 1 more I am working on.

Reflecting on this project: Did I create everyday? Nope. Did I make 5 new pieces of art? Yep. I call that a win.