This one started as a doodle of clouds and turned into a whale swimming straight through them. She's the first piece in what became my ink ACEO series, and the first where I reached for real gold ink instead of just crimson.
The whale's body is built entirely from fine parallel hatching, a technique that carried through the rest of the series, stretched long and smooth to catch the ridges along a whale's belly. Banks of soft, rounded clouds roll around her on every side, inked with quick little loops, while a scatter of hand-drawn compass-stars and diamond sparkles drift through the scene. A few of those stars are touched with real gold ink — the only warmth in an otherwise black-and-white sky.
I like the idea of a whale that swims through air the way it would swim through water — unbothered, weightless, at home somewhere it technically shouldn't be. This piece is what set the tone for the whole ink series that followed.
She's painted at true ACEO size — 2.5" x 3.5", the same dimensions as a standard trading card. Every ACEO I make is a fully original, one-of-a-kind piece: no prints, no reproductions, just ink, a little gold, and a few hours of quiet focus. If you're new here, ACEO stands for Art Cards, Editions and Originals — a beloved format among miniature art collectors because it's affordable to collect, easy to display in a card sleeve or mini frame, and every piece is truly one of a kind.
This piece is up for auction now — bid on eBay here.
More from the Ink Series: shop this piece · No. 2, Fox Among the Spider Lilies · No. 3, Nine-Tailed Fox
Thank you for looking, and happy collecting!
— PUNPARIN