Miniature - Inktober 2026 - October 3rd 2026

 

"Miniature" Ink Drawing for Inktober 2026 Challenge. Alex Ariza 2026.

Day three of Inktober was a massive challenge. Multiple figures with very different costumes, designing the figures, composition, and struggling with the tonality using only hatching techniques. Everything was hard for this piece. I wouldn't consider this a very successful piece despite my ambitions. Everything suffers when you're crunch for time. I work slow as it is, so having an outing smack in the middle of the day just makes it so much more difficult.

The political statement also falls a bit flat, I had way bigger image in my mind of how I wanted this piece to look and had to scale it back because it would have been next to impossible to fit it all in. I'm only working on a 11 x 14 inch paper, I could only go so small!

Below are some preliminary sketches for the piece.

Preliminary Sketches. Alex Ariza 2026.

Preliminary Sketch - Study of the Merchant Archetype. Alex Ariza 2026

Preliminary Sketch - Study of Executioner, Justice Archetype. Alex Ariza 2026

My art is totally anachronistic. I'm probably mixing up Renaissance fashion with Medieval stuff and probably Victorian era stuff. 

For reference I used myself as the model. Below is a crude image to get the posing and composition down.

Reference Photo. Way too many Alex's in the world.

While I would consider this piece a massive failure in execution, I would not mind revisiting this concept. I like the idea of pushing myself to create multi-figure tableaus like the classical artists of the past.

The King represents a tyrannical surveillance state, the Merchant a capitalistic opportunist extracting wealth from the masses, the executioner as corruption and the violent justice system, the clergyman as the failing of men who become overly idealogical and dogmatic (not only a knock on Catholicism), and the knight represents the military and how young men are led into pointless wars and conflicts. 

There's a lot there to unpack. Impossible to finish in a day. I would need more time, but alas, the challenge continues and I must move forward to the next piece.