Troll in an inkblot?

Short video about drawing random trolls from inkblots, while talking about the Norwegian fairy-tales and folklore, illustrators Theodor Kittelsen and Erik Werenskiold, who illustrated the folktales of Asbjørnsen & Moe, and also mentioning John Bauer.

Drawing random ink monsters is a great art exercise for working on your creativity, imagination, and skill with ink and brush. Treating inking as a skill of it's own, instead of as an addition to penciling.

Links to the originals:
▶ https://denungeherrholm.com/products/...
▶https://denungeherrholm.com/products/...
▶ https://denungeherrholm.com/products/...

Support free art:
▶   / kimholm  

For more trolls and folklore, check out the fairy tale of the Travelling Companion here:
▶    • The Strangest Fairy-tale from Norway?  

Music by the marvelous Leiv Reed. Follow him @LeivReed

All the art of this story will be released for free use under a Creative Commons Attribution license.

Originals, prints and merch available at:
▶ https://www.denungeherrholm.com


THE TOOLS I USE:
All these tools are things I use myself. That being said, there’s so many great brands, big and small, that produce amazing alternatives, and you can also get them from other stores than Amazon. However, if you use the affiliate links below, I get a small cut.

All of the sets recommended below will include color or brush variations that might be superfluous. I tend to buy both sets and individual items, because I like the flexibility. But on a budget, just get the one item you need.

Daler-Rowney Aquafine Synthetic Brush Set: https://amzn.to/4a7WLyb
(Round Brush size 4 most important)

Manuscript Chinese Calligraphy Goat Hair Brush set:https://amzn.to/4bT5QfD

Pentel Color Brush Black: https://amzn.to/48slfk9

Pentel Color Brush Set: https://amzn.to/42TRVBX

Pentel Color Brush Black Refill: https://amzn.to/3uNuvl9

Talens Indian Ink: https://amzn.to/49pf1D0

Talens Ecoline Liquid Water Color Set: https://amzn.to/49ryG5l

Dr. Ph Martin’s Radiant Liquid Watercolor Set: https://amzn.to/49ss8n6

Golden High Flow Acrylics Black: https://amzn.to/48tY9cZ

Golden Fluid Acrylic White: https://amzn.to/49PDSzD

Golden Fluid Acrylic Set: https://amzn.to/49LEFBJ

Fabriano Sketching paper, can hold some ink: https://amzn.to/49ryT8D

Fabriano Hot-Press Watercolor paper: https://amzn.to/431Huws

Fabriano Cold-Press Watercolor paper: https://amzn.to/3wwUQo8

Faber-Castell B3 Graphite Pencil: https://amzn.to/3IdCYkH



BOOKS & INSPIRATION:
I’ve learned to draw from a lot of books, most of them on drawing and penciling comics. But the two most important for my own artistic journey were probably:

How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way: https://amzn.to/3IghYtS

Bridgman’s Complete guide To Drawing From Life: https://amzn.to/3IeUd5f
(I’m not satisfied with the print, but great book still)

None of them have to do with inking directly with a brush, but they lay the groundwork for most of what I do.