For this month’s CAS experience, I decided to make an inkblot for fun. I haven’t done a physical artwork in a long time, so holding the paintbrush again felt really unfamiliar at first. I first watched a short tutorial that my CAS advisor provided to get a basic understanding of an inkblot. It’s rather pretty simple – fold the paper in half, paint on half of the paper and fold it again to let the paint print on the other half of the paper, and that’s it! Since I don’t have proper drawing papers, I decided to be creative with it. I glued two regular A4 paper together to resemble the thickness of the drawing paper and just went on and painted on it. The process was really soothing, but it was a failed attempt. Haha, check out the picture below.

I realized that these scratch papers are too absorbant, and the paint dries very quickly despite my many attempts to repaint it. I needed a thicker material to draw on, so I took an envelope that is no longer needed and remade the inkblot. My second try was really successful, although it didn’t turn out the way I expected. I originally wanted to paint a butterfly, but after rubbing against the paper to let the paint print onto the other half of the paper, the paint fainted and the contour of the butterfly blurred out. But the blurring created another effect that felt really cool. Check it out!

Overall, I really like this activity. 10/10 would recommend! It’s easy, chill, not time-consuming, and very de-stressing. It also shaped me into a more open-minded person as I learn to search for creative solutions to the problem.