I decided to "do" Inktober on October 2nd, so I was already a day behind when I drew this.

I wanted to do a personalized version of a photograph of Salvador Dali... but I could not pull it off. So I just took an image from my first ATC webpage and added the mustache.

At this point, I was still posting my ATCs daily via Emily's ATC Artist Trading Cards Facebook group. 

One of the reasons that I planned to make my Inktober cards with Procreate: I wanted to learn new tricks and techniques. Making this image of "weaving" taught me a lot, but it was not a popular card.

I later added an actual woven portion to the card, but I did not re-post the image.

It's interesting.

I may try it again, with thread instead of yarn...

I had planned on doing Inktober with digital files only... but after spending far too much time on this card, posting it, and getting a lukewarm reception, I decided not to do all digital ATCs after all.

I've played with digital images and AI quite a bit.

When I posted an altered AI ATC (say THAT three times fast!) I was rather brutally attacked in the comments. That was on February 25, 2024.

Since that time, I have noticed many "suspect" cards offered. The attackers have calmed down, or gone elsewhere, or given up. One artist posts AI cards frequently, but his cards go far beyond the act of inserting-text-printing-to-cardstock. In the older Artist Trading Cards group, look up the work of Werner Saxer. 

Digital does not equal AI. I have a very nice do-it-yourself PDF that allows a person to make an ATC that clearly explains the various things involved with digital ATCs. Send me a DM if you want a copy!

ALSO: on my older website I wrote a long article about the AI experience.

I started out making a digital image that could be animated: head, torso, upper arm, lower arm all on separate layers. But it quickly became too difficult for me. I am not yet experienced enough with Procreate to pull this off. 

So I created a couple of versions by hand, too. Both got traded.

I went back to Procreate for the fifth day of Inktober.

I just could not resist creating A DOZEN DIGITAL DOODLE DEER.

"Hybrid Digital Doodles" are one of my signature series.

Two good friends requested the colored cards that I posted, but these are easy to remake. Anyone who wants a PDF file to color their own can request the PDF via Facebook Messenger.

I made two versions of this prompt, too.

Both were quickly traded, and I wished I had kept one of them. I had another person request the ATC and tried to draw a third card, but failed.

I wish the idea was more original, but some days I am just stuck.

I AM enjoying black and white drawing quite a bit, though.

The "sketchiness" of this image is a nice contrast to the rigidity of many digital images.

DAYS after drawing two cards, I realized that I had not spelled reckless correctly....

Any time I can tie the word prompt to the "World of an ATC Artist," I am happy with the results.

One card traded.

One card became a part of my AKC* collection. (Artist Keeping Card)

Note the lengthy paragraph that starts with "If you are interested...."

At this time,  a discussion in Emily's ATC Artist Trading Card Facetime Group was going on about making your expectations clear from the start.

I also had an interesting experience with getting BLOCKED by Facebook the day before posting this card.

Sometimes you draw a card and nobody "gets" it.

This is a good example.

I had just completed listening to a book by Louise Penny.  Someone is murdered during a curling match. (Bea cleared the house...)

So when I saw that the word prompt was sweep, of course I made this little homage to one of my favorite books.

And THAT is why I enjoy word prompts. Although they seldom prompt me to draw a popular ATC, they may help me remember, and honor, other parts of my life.  I love to read murder mysteries, and when I find an author I like, I will read the entire series. Then, at intervals, I re-read them.

I watched the Three Pines series on Amazon before I read any of the books. Unfortunately, I like the series better than the books. But I bought a copy of Still Life and I have read it several times. The early books in the Gamache series are wonderful. In those books, (before she began repeating herself so much) there was a love of language that I truly appreciate.

I have a bunch of favorite quotes, stored somewhere.

I digress.

Five Likes.

Yesterday's card was a definite flop, when it comes  to social media success.

But one day's flop becomes fodder for the next ATC.

(And, as you can see from yesterday's blurb-on-the-webpage, I found great joy in yesterday's card.)

This one was popular.

I traded it to someone who will appreciate it.

Some day I will make another for my AKC collection.

Some days.... I just

can't

draw.

I loved the idea of showing a dog drinking from the hose for the word prompt drink.

But I just couldn't capture the motion in a sketch.

This is another idea I may try again later.

I have always loved words that can have multiple meanings.

This ATC is not particularly lovely to look at... but it was fun to MAKE.

Tree trunk.

Trunk in the trunk of a car.

I also think I am getting better at balancing the lights and darks in a black and white ATC.

This is the format I use when I request a trade from another ATC trader.

I place an image of my ATC into a Procreate file and then add text describing the card.

I export the Procreate file at a relatively low resolution, so that I can easily mail several offerings at a time, via Facebook Messenger.

True story.

It's all in the intro to the card

I was on vacation when I drew this one.

It was done very quickly, in a hotel room, and I had to get up a little early to get it photographed and posted.

It quickly traded to one of my favorite traders.

Also completed while I was on vacation, I drew this one at about 2:00 in the morning.

I was SO excited to come up with this concept.

It took about three tries to get it onto a 2.5 x 3.5 card, but I am very pleased with it.

Traded quickly to a good friend.

I usually do trades of a fairly "equal" quality.

But this time, I traded with the talented Joey K and got the card that SHE created for Inktober Day 16. Her card surpasses my card by a LOT. It is one of my all-time favorite ATCs.

More about that.... later.

KU vs. KState is the first thing that came to mind when I saw the word prompt for day 20.

I love to make interactive cards. (Shout-out to "Vicky Z")

This one was designed and printed from a Procreate file. Most of the time, digital ATCs do not fare well in the ATC groups. I wasn't surprised that this one got only one trade offer.

It is unfortunate that so many people have a mind set against ALL things digital.

Once again, I  drew two different versions of this card. I like the second one best.

I did use an image from a website to get the body of the firefly proportions right.

But the idea of placing it on a screen is one hundred percent original.

I am quite proud of this one. Prompts often cause me to draw something that I never would have drawn of my own accord.

It's sketchy and informal and definitely not the best drawing I could have done, but I love this one just the same.

I wanted to stick with black and white for the entire month.

No brilliant ideas, so I just did a zentangle-inspired design.

At this point I was tired of posting to the group and getting such mixed responses, so I put the last five in one post.

Once again, the Facebook algorithm was getting me down. Some of my best ideas were getting ignored. The fun was gone.

I DID appreciate what Inktober had done for me, and decided to focus on daily drawing, but not daily POSTING to a Facebook group.

Once again, I like to make connections between the Inktober prompts and my Life as an ATC Artist.

I am working on this page almost two month after completing the Inktober challenge.

I have not posted anything on social media for quite a while.

(I started to write 

I no longer post any of my art on social media.... 

but then I realized that I will probably return to posting some day in the future....

Facebook just makes me mad.

Here's another card that made me happy to make, even though it was not "well received."

Not as good as it should have been.

I tried drawing with Pigma Micron pen on Yupo.

Note the smear in the upper right corner.

Bummer.

I would not trade a card with an obvious flaw.

But someone liked it after all.... TRADED

A great addition to my "Life as An ATC Artist" series.

I made two of these cards. 

Again, the Inktober word prompt brought up a connection with my Life as An ATC Artist.

Back in 2020? 2021? I created a Facebook group. Mostly just to see if I could DO it.

It was for digital ATCs, but at that time I had no idea of how broad that term could be.

I still think it could be a fun idea. Trade digital images and forget stamps and mailing.

But digital cards are not very well received in Emily's group.

I spent quite a bit of time upgrading the Digital Artist Trading Cards group in order to make the hand drawn card shown above.

Then I made a digital rendering of the page.

If you would like to see my group, here is a link:

Digital Artist Trading Cards

In honor of completing Inktober, I added a webpage on my ATC website:

https://sites.google.com/view/pepperwood-atcs/gallery/2025/inktober-2025