Post by erikdvniel (@edvniel) • Collective gay friends app

erikdvniel (@edvniel) · 2026-08-31T20:57:59+00:00

A vintage botanical illustration of a dark iris flower is featured prominently on a book page, surrounded by smaller drawings of insects and plants.

justben

And here's the print. What I like - ink choice (bistre) feels warm and classy - the hair (I was worried it would look too random and I should have made more deliberate marks but I think it looks fairly natural) - some of the shading works (glad I got all the ink off the nips 🤭) What I need to improve: - the drawing is plain bad, I need to practice more, especially proportions and better shading technique -I must resist the temptation to outline things and instead properly delineate with shading... - OR lean more fully into a graphic style

justben

And now the inking, which might actually be the most artistic part. It's not only the lines that are descriptive; I can selectively wipe away highlights and leave in shadows by choosing what ink to leave behind.