I really like how this one turned out. Definitely want to recreate this scene in 3D. That was my last entry in Inktober for 2025. Client work and general life got busy. At the time of writing this, I'm not sure if I'll join in on Inktober in 2026. The prompts are useful if you are stuck for something to draw but if anything, I have too many ideas in my head, unrealised.
I am happy how the little 'reckless' mouse came out. Less so with the big feline whose mouth the mouse is sleeping in. I didn't lock in whether I was drawing a house cat, lion, lynx, jaguar etc.
Overall I'm pretty satisfied with it the image though
Here's a video I made showing the inking process
This image did not end up looking like what was in my mind's eye. It's not my favorite entry of Inktober 2025 but you can't win them all.
Every Inktober seems to have a prompt that is an animal. Last year it was Rhino and I attempted to draw a realistic rhino. That turned out better than I expected so for 2025's animal prompt, I decided to attempt a realistic deer.
As with the rhino last year, I used photographic reference and tried to make my own decisions on the lighting.
I really like this image. I'm pleased with how it turned out. Representing different real-world materials via the medium of pen & ink is always a challenge but I was happy to get the essense of roughly hammered gold in the crown, contrasting with the smooth, slickness of the skin of the frog.
Weirdly, when I posted this on social media, I saw a lot of artists using the same motif of a frog or toad wearing a crown! I guess it's everyone having that childhood memory of reading about the princess kissing many frogs to find her prince.
