Nullself Inkworks
Under the artist name Nullself, I create surreal pen-and-paper black and white illustrations that give a visual representation to my inner world and outside experiences.
On October 1st, 2018, I decided to try out Inktober, a yearly challenge where artists draw an image a day based on a single word. On this day, the word was Poisonous. An image came to mind, but I worried people might not "get it," as the idea contained some personal symbolism. Usually this is where an idea like that would end, but instead I asked myself, "so what if other people don't get it?" Inspired by such a simple but radical-feeling thought, I drew what would become the first Nullself inkwork.
Years later, thanks to that one thought, I now have hundreds of Nullself illustrations, each one holding a piece of my emotions and memories. I hope you enjoy looking at them here as much as I did creating them.
Publications
The Process
Each illustration starts as a pencil sketch, with varying degrees of detail depending on the core idea of the piece. Once the concept feels like it's coming together through pencil, the first round of inking begins. The outside lines are all inked first, leaving behind a clear guide when the pencil sketch is erased from the page.
The inking continues, getting more improvised and experimental as the piece goes on. Despite starting from a pencil sketch, there are a lot of visual effects that can be done with ink which are hard to plan for in pencil, so these elements tend to arise in the piece naturally rather than being pre-planned.
The end result is a Nullself illustration, partially designed in advance and partially the result of spontaneous experimentation.