2025 Inktober 52 - One sketch per week

[yazeh]

@catbert but Dom Lobo did explore it in his art and memoirs. 

 

 

 

[catbert]

10 hours ago, yazeh said:

@catbert but Dom Lobo did explore it in his art and memoirs. 

 

👍 You're way ahead of me. 

 

But in the meantime ...

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43 firefly v.3

 

Pigma micron 005, Staedtler triplus markers, Kokuyo

[yazeh]

@catbert maybe the blunder was eating too many natas and seeing fireflies in inappropriate places, like a 70s hippy.

 

[inkstainedruth]

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Scriptitans]

8 hours ago, yazeh said:

@catbert maybe the blunder was eating too many natas and seeing fireflies in inappropriate places, like a 70s hippy.

 

🙃🤣

[inkstainedruth]

Of course now I'm thinking of the TV series Firefly, and the movie Serenity that was then made.... 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[yazeh]

INKTOBER52 PROMPT NO.48 IS SAGITTARIUS

 

My apologies to @catbert for plodding clumsily on his elegant world of whimsy. 

 

João wanted to play Cupid between Cat & Mouse. But his blunder nearly created a tragedy that no promise of fireflies would appease Cat. A pure Sagittarius, he hissed at him, "I'll shove garlic down your throat and smoke you slowly alive under your burning oak furniture. Then I'll send you as a gift to Napoleon's dog,"

Dom Lobo captured this moment as fast as he could. It was no surprise that João felt heavy. All the talk of grilling reminded him of chouriço.

 

Tintenlabor Basalt iron gall ink, J Herbin Bouton d'or, Talens Mixed Media Notebook.

 

 

[catbert]

@Yazeh But was it the fireflies or a sugar rush that inspired this behaviour in João? 

[catbert]

December is when I start to regret the compulsion to complete October's Inktober52 prompts. 

 

Anyway, onwards ...

 

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44 vacant

 

For diplomatic services rendered during the negotiations at the Congress of Vienna, João bestowed upon his emissary, Dom Pedro de Sousa Holstein*, the Royal and Imperial Order of the Golden Cow (New Territories). 

 

*a real person (see Inktober 2025 no. 18: deal)

 

‘New Territories’ referred to João’s kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves, whose status had been affirmed at the congress.

 

As the full style of Holstein’s honorific — Real e Imperial Ordem da Vaca Dourada (Novos Territórios) — was both tedious to enter in his meditation journal and surprisingly difficult to spell, João abbreviated it to ‘RIO vaca’, and later, simply, ‘vaca NT’.

 

Geha 605/Lamy black, Kokuyo, digital colour

[yazeh]

5 hours ago, catbert said:

@Yazeh But was it the fireflies or a sugar rush that inspired this behaviour in João? 

In Dom Lobo's memoirs, Memórias Tropicais: Como Fui ao Reino do Brasil, Inventei um Samovar Andarilho e Uivei Contra o Meu Fado ^x
,it is said that João was sensitive to the trade winds, as they carried the yearning and sadness of a young fadista.
Modern-day psychotherapists assume that João hid behind his piety the pain of exile, or the guilt of abandoning his people in their time of need.

 

*Tropical Memories: How I Went to the Kingdom of Brazil and Invented a Walking Samovar and Howled at My Fate.”

[Misfit]

Excellent drawings as always. 

[catbert]

1 hour ago, yazeh said:

In Dom Lobo's memoirs, Memórias Tropicais: Como Fui ao Reino do Brasil, Inventei um Samovar Andarilho e Uivei Contra o Meu Fado ^x
,it is said that João was sensitive to the trade winds, as they carried the yearning and sadness of a young fadista.
Modern-day psychotherapists assume that João hid behind his piety the pain of exile, or the guilt of abandoning his people in their time of need.

 

*Tropical Memories: How I Went to the Kingdom of Brazil and Invented a Walking Samovar and Howled at My Fate.”

👍

[yazeh]

@Misfit thanks!

@catbert rabbit hole of creativity.  

INKTOBER52 PROMPT NO.48 IS SAGITTARIUS & Gemini 

 

Or how to recuperate draft sketches and turn them into something whimsical.

Tintenlabor Basalt iron gall ink, uniball Signo White gel, Talens Mixed Media notebook.

Kaweco Sport, Swan Mabie Todd 

[yazeh]

INKTOBER52 PROMPT NO.48  PersianSAGITTARIUS

Inspired by a Persian miniature; reinvented with my cat and mouse theme. 

 

https://image.invaluable.com/housePhotos/bubbkuyper/11/781911/H3721-L388527739_original.jpg
Jacques Herbin Rouge Amarante, 1798 Bleu Diamant Shimmer ink, Tintenlabor Basalt iron gall ink, Uniball Signo white pen, Talens Mixed Media Notebook. 

 

 

 

[Scriptitans]

On 01/12/2025 at 23:05, catbert said:

👍

🤣🤣🤣

[catbert]

Another idea for this prompt is proving intractable. Fortunately, Yazeh mentioned Belém (the Portuguese one), which led to some reading about the Brazilian one. 

 

Ink scribble rescued in Procreate.

 

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46 sneaker

 

Returning from the interior near Belém with a small sheet of borracha defumada (1) Dom Lobo believed he had solved an all-consuming problem. Slippers (2) soled with this material would let the king pilfer pastries in the dead of night without a sound.

 

Unfortunately, in Rio’s heat the rubber softened and adhered to every surface it touched. Lobo advised delay. 

 

João, eager for stealthy snacking, commanded "Apenas faça” (Just do it) but immediately regretted it.

 

1 Borracha defumada, made using indigenous smoke-curing methods, yielded a brown, leathery material, more durable than air-dried latex.
2 The slippers bore João’s stylized J monogram, later the basis for an unsuccessful lawsuit against a well-known maker of athletic equipment.

 

Geha 605/Lamy black, Kokuyo, digital colour

 

[yazeh]

Brilliant just so it.  

 

[inkstainedruth]

@catbert -- I don't know how you do it, but these just get better and better!  Love the "sneakers" one!

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Scriptitans]

@catbert : That is the quintessence!

[yazeh]

INKTOBER52 PROMPT NO.49 IS “GATOR”

Get ready to dive headfirst into the swamp and stir up something fun, fierce, or downright weird! You can crank up the drama with a gator gliding through murky water, eyes just breaking the surface like a classic thriller scene. Or flip the tone and go playful! Draw a gator wearing boots, strutting through the bayou like it’s a fashion runway, or sipping sweet tea on a front porch. Maybe you want to tap into folklore and legend: imagine a giant, ancient gator as the ruler of the swamp, scarred and wise, guarding secrets beneath tangled roots and hanging moss.

Want to push it even further? Play with perspective, exaggerate those teeth, go heavy on the texture of scales, or keep it loose and cartoony. And remember, Inktober is all about getting back to the basics. ink, paper, simple ideas, bold lines, and showing up. Don’t overthink it. Let your hand move, make mistakes, discover happy accidents, and enjoy the messy magic of creating. Whether your gator is scary, silly, or legendary, just have fun with it and let it snap some life into your art! 🐊