My close friends and family know that every October, I take on an art challenge called “Inktober.” For those 31 days every year, I create one drawing a day that follows two rules: it has to be done in ink, and it has to follow a theme.
I started doing this challenge in 2016 because I noticed its popularity in many online art communities. The challenge was created by artist Jake Parker. The official Inktober website gives this summary of what the challenge’s significance is:
“Every October, artists all over the world take on the Inktober drawing challenge by doing one ink drawing a day the entire month. I created Inktober in 2009 as a challenge to improve my inking skills and develop positive drawing habits. It has since grown into a worldwide endeavor with thousands of artists taking on the challenge every year. Anyone can do Inktober, just pick up a pen and start drawing.”
Every year Parker publishes an official Inktober prompt list that goes with the challenge:
However, personally, every year I have decided to create and follow my own theme for the daily drawings. Many other artists do this, too; not following the prompts is alright since the sentiment of Inktober is not so much about following strict rules, but to exercise and build your drawing habits by creating 31 unique pieces of art.
I look forward to Inktober every year. While I’ll admit I haven’t actually done all 31 days for any given year yet (it’s hard to find time to draw everyday) I have walked away with at least 20-25 creative drawings each year. Here is a breakdown of my past four years with this challenge:
2016: Inspirational Humans
In 2016, I decided every day I would draw a different inspirational person in my life. Every day I would do a unique portrait of someone close to me and post the drawing on social media along with a paragraph detailing how they inspire me. I would also give the physical drawing to the person as a gift. This whole endeavour proved to be extremely rewarding and fun, and it still stands as my favorite Inktober. Not only was it great practice in drawing people, it was also great practice in gratitude in generosity. I was touched at how excited people would get when I handed them a surprise Inktober drawing of themselves. One of the best rewards I can get as an artist is affecting a person in some positive way, and this did exactly that.
2017: Strong Females
In 2017, I decided I would draw a variety of strong women and girls from both fiction and real life. Doing this theme posed an unexpected but appreciated side-quest of learning and teaching; in order to pick my list of female role models, I had to do a lot of research and learn about them. Also, when I posted my drawings, I wrote up blurbs about each female and therefore (hopefully) taught my audience a little bit about them. Some notable people on my list were Malala Yousafzai, Hermione Granger, Martha Jones, Moana, Frida Kahlo and Jane Eyre.
2018: The Soundtrack to My Life
In 2018, I wanted to draw something to represent a playlist of meaningful songs to me. I really enjoyed doing these drawings because I had to think outside the box. It was up to my creativity to listen to each song and come up with some imagery that could represent it. Sometimes it was more straightforward, like for Marina and the Diamonds’ “I Am Not a Robot,” I drew a robot with exposed machinery. But for something like Amanda Palmer’s “In My Mind” I had to design a good way to represent the lyrics visually, and ended up designing an abstract piece with thoughts emerging from a head. I kind of surprised myself everyday because I ended up making drawings I was extremely proud of. Doing “The Soundtrack to My Life” made me feel more connected to the songs I chose, helped me hone my art skills and gave me more confidence in my ability to create wonderful, unique things.
2019: Cryptids and Creatures
I am in the midst of my 2019 Inktober as we speak! This year I picked a theme much less personal than my previous ones for a change. I decided to draw cryptids and mythical creatures for a few reasons: for one, I let people vote on my theme this year and it won. (Some other options included “cats,” “influential books,” “favorite Pokemon,” “tattoo designs” and “actually following the Inktober prompts.”) Another reason I like this theme is because of how it challenges my art skills; everyday I have to draw something I’ve never attempted to draw before, thus expanding my drawing knowledge a little more. Also, much like my “Strong Females” theme, drawing cryptids has forced me to research the creatures and learn about them.
I don’t know what future Inktobers hold in store for me, but I am excited to find out. I imagine I will be doing this challenge for many years to come, and will be able to draw and explore many topics through it.