We challenge you to:

Draw a simple object in detail.

The idea behind this is we often 'brush over' or rush simpler objects and don't do them justice. This can make our artwork look flat, unfinished and dull.

Take time over this. If you would normally draw a bottle-top in 3min, give the bottle-top 3hrs.

Take care of the simple graphics and the complex graphics will take care of themselves. :)

Let's see what you come up with!

While we know we are going to get some stunning artwork, we also want to encourage beginners. If you are new to Inkscape, feel free to keep it simple.

Multiple entries are welcome, and please do stick around for the chat!

All abilities are invited to get involved. The complexity of your entry is down to you.

Please post your finished artwork below. 

IMPORTANT: If you would like to know what you could do to improve your artwork, add the phrase to your comment: "Brutal Feedback" --- only for those with nerves of steel! (Please include a brief description of your process, difficulties you have experienced and your desired outcome).

Because of limited resources, moderators may not always be able to give feedback.

Please spread the word!
#inkscapechallenge

Please see CHALLENGE RULES before submitting your artwork

Instructions/Information

• To submit your artwork, scroll to the bottom of the page and while logged in, click the paperclip (bottom-left) to upload your image, add a description in the text box (optional) and click "Submit Reply".
• If you'd like to post work-in-progress artwork, create a thread in the "Work in Progress" section of the forum, and post your images there, with the title "[Month] [Year] [Challenge Title] WIP - [your artwork title]" (you are welcome to ask for help there if you get stuck). When finished, post the final graphic to this thread.
• There are no winners (HOWEVER, WE MAY SHARE ARTWORK WHICH STANDS OUT WITH THE INKSCAPE COMMUNITY). These challenges are intended to inspire, to encourage you to share your work and to build a supportive community.
• If you post your artwork here, you agree for us to share your artwork and use your artwork to create a banner for social media - to opt out, add "Please don't share" to your post.
• Please don't post artwork containing AI generated graphics. as it can be hard to see what you (the artist) has produced using Inkscape.
• You're encouraged to discuss and offer feedback/constructive criticism to others, but please be respectful.
• Most importantly, be creative, give your best, and have fun!

We look forward to seeing your entries!

Challenge entries (so far)

i used reference from pexels , carabiner needs more work and thought , finding it a challenge to make the carabiner metallic for silver color.

 Brutal Feedback welcome 

reference used:

Photo by cottonbro studio: https://www.pexels.com/photo/white-stainless-water-bottle-on-the-brown-ground-5274793/

Hi @rosa0123

Thank you for your entry. While the reference image is a little blurry, you have done a good job in replicating the lighting.

There are some areas you could work on. The lid looks a little angular where I think it should be smooth. Avoid the use of flat colours in a 3D piece (especially when you have used gradients and blurs elsewhere). You can instead employ linear and radial gradients or clipped, blurred shapes to create the colour shift.

Find a way to soften the edges (where two faces/sides meet).

I would recommend doing a study of the object you are drawing (collect several reference photos of similar objects) to help you better understand the original reference.

Overall, it looks good. Feel free to send in more entries this month and, if possible, stick with the challenges.

Pacer
Challenge Coordinator

It would seem I cannot get myself beyond the stage of "clip" art with Inkscape.😁

@AlgotRuneman Nice, good work. Believe it or not, when Pacer announced the challenge, the first thing I found on the table was a binder clip and that's what I'm trying to do  😄

@AlgotRuneman Great work. Good use of gradients! Encore!

An earlier example from almost a year ago. I'll try to do something new if I have time. Unfortunately, the situation is a bit problematic now.

Clothes "clip". Clothespin, in common US usage doesn't seem to quite fit my uses.

I struggled trying to get the texture to represent the wood fibers, eventually giving up. Any suggestions?

@AlgotRuneman Can you attach your SVG? I'll take a look for you.

@Pacer Here's the SVG. It does not contain any wood grain attempts. I considered clipping a semi-random line pattern for each segment of the wood pieces, but could not get it to work. Thanks.

@AlgotRuneman Here is an approximation that I sometimes use for wood. I duplicate the piece to which I put a default wood pattern in Inkscape. When I am satisfied, I make a bitmap copy and then use trace bitmap on the copy. Then I use LPE to fit it over the original piece, perspective, envolope deformation, whatever fits best. And at the end I add Roughen from LPE to give irregularity.

@mrks9 Thanks for the technique. I will explore it as you describe the steps so I can understand them.

@AlgotRuneman I had a play with your file. I have included (hopefully) a wood grain pattern I made for the last challenge. Hopefully this illustrates the way I would approach concepts such as shading and texture.

Some of the lines were a bit angular, removing nodes with the node tool improves this quickly.

When working with 3D objects I would avoid solid colours and opt for gradients (brightest facing or closest to the light source).

Also, I would advise that you let your shading separate the objects and avoid outlining.

Please, let me know if you would like any further explanation of my approach.

PS. I would still make some changes to the wire in the middle, but I was short on time.

@AlgotRuneman I have made a short video showing the basic steps. Obviously everything gets better if you manually tweak it afterwards, but to get the basics I did this. https://youtu.be/4sgizxpZZGY?si=b4HY-20-PMMTqKN4

Thanks to both @mrks9 and @Pacer for their excellent suggestions and methods. I'll continue to study them, but in the meantime, I'll submit what I hope is an improved version adding wood grain.

@AlgotRuneman Much improved! Stick with it. Once you can do this to the point it fully satisfies your eyes, you will find all other projects 10x easier.

Little joke. Reminder to myself 😊

For wood grain I usually dig up this oldie or a variant of it from openclipart:

https://openclipart.org/detail/269726/wood-grain-megapack

A simple pin... I am not doing too much realistic work but it's a fun challenge [every now and then]. I used clip groups, a lot of gradients, blurs, and a few taper stroke path effects. Some layers have adjusted blend modes to mix the colour in different ways. Overall, I tried to keep it simple and focused on the main highlight and shadow shapes.

I am having a lot of fun with this monthly challenge - and the TV show is just not that engaging. ;)
Again, I used clip groups [for the white and the yellow], gradients, lots of blurs, power strokes for the highlights, and a lot of circles.

@SpriteAttack That's a very nice pin!

PS. I posted this before I saw your egg.... Wow!

@pacer thanks! I had fun going realistic and detailed ;) 

@SpriteAttack Impressive! 💯 👏

@SpriteAttack the egg is so amazing, it even have that crispy edge 😍

@SpriteAttack the egg is so amazing, it even have that crispy edge 😍

Detailed DSTV remote control

I went a little overboard on this one while binge-watching some crime show... I wanted to try to do the pattern of the snail's skin with just one pattern along a path [with variations and reversed curves].
As usual, it's a mix of clip groups, gradients, lots of blurs, power strokes, taper strokes, and patterns along path.
Brutal Feedback is welcome.

Wow, that is incredible @SpriteAttack

The skin looks so realistic!

I'd be interested to see your workflow.

@Bcreativefirm Welcome to the challenge! I like the remote control, it looks quite realistic. Thank you for your entry.

If you want (detailed) feedback on any of your entries, include the term "Brutal Feedback" in your comment.

Pacer
Challenge Coordinator

@pacer - Thanks for the reminder. I forgot to add it to my posts - fixed! Give it your best shot ;)
On the snail... Thanks, I am glad you like it. I just had some fun with the idea of a pattern when I saw the photo. I might try to make a 'rebuild' video of this design... a tutorial on the approach and workflow has been requested a few times on social media already. 

@SpriteAttack I find snails unpleasant to look at, yet your version is so good, I don't mind looking at it.

Again, it's hard to fault. I think this may be your best challenge entry to date. It is very life-like. You seem to have created something which looks real and fantastical at the same time. The lines on the leaf(?) appear that the snail may be moving fast. I'm not sure if that was intended? I do think it needs one thing though....

...a slime trail.

This is my entry, a Ficaria verna flower, which has invaded many lawns and places under trees, here where I live. 

This was not my plan originally, but after a long fight with a Monstera leaf, followed by a nail polish bottle, I ended up doing the flower.

@Gaillcool Vibrant colors!Too bad it is invasive.

@AlgotRuneman thanks, it's nice to have such bright flowers when there are many grey days

A feature phone.

Vinyl record, 45rpm single, scale 1:1
How To Vinyl Grooves

@Inkonic So good! Nice work.

@Inkonic Beautiful, I love the texture, it's so accurate 💯

@pacer - @mrks9 I'm glad you liked it!☺
This might 've shown even better as an L.P. with multiple songs. I believe, the gaps between the tracks could make the whole effect look more realistic.

Wow @inkonic😍, wondering what the album cover will look like for inkonic & the night birds? 😉

@rosa0123 Hmm,... Actually, I didn't think about it. Here's an idea: A flat vector image of the band, in two colours (blue and light grey).
The band will be composed of the following members:
Marcos: Lead guitar
Pacer: Upright bass
Rosa: Keyboards and backing vocals
Inkonic: Blues harp and vocals
All four members will be dressed in bird suits like Big Bird from Sesame Street.😂
Title of the album: "In A Feathered Mood".😁