After wrapping up the massive crocodile piece, October rolled around and I decided to dive into Inktober. While I didn't tackle all thirty-one days, I wanted to jump on the very first prompt—Moustache—and run it through my signature style. The prompt immediately made me think of a classic, slightly sinister circus character, leading to this intensely detailed portrait of a vintage style clown.

The piece allowed me to combine highly textured, frayed element framing with crisp, tight facial patterns to bring out a dramatic, old-school carnival aesthetic. Hand-inked on premium paper. I focused heavily on building contrast around the eyes and beneath the brim of the top hat using dense micro-stippling. The namesake handlebar moustache was given extra weight with heavy, flowing dot work, making it the undeniable centrepiece of the portrait.

This drawing was a fantastic exercise in variety. I had to pivot between the soft, uniform dot gradients on the skin, the rough, chaotic stippling for the frizzy hair patches, and the structured, repetitive fabric folds of the ruffled clown collar.

Taking part in a global community challenge like Inktober is such a great way to break out of your comfort zone and work with strict, singular prompts. It proved that even when keeping to a smaller scale, the depth and narrative power of the stippling style remains incredibly high-impact.