For the past 6 years I’ve attempted to complete the entirety of Inktober, and each year I miserably fail.
For those who don’t know, Inktober is an annual challenge for any and all artists to create a piece of art for each day of October. It doesn’t matter your skill level, the goal is to build up your skills, motivation, and discipline. There is an official prompt for each day and the goal is to create a piece around that prompt. Traditionally, the idea of the challenge was to create ink-based art, but it has since evolved into various mediums and spin-offs.
I’m a novice artist and the idea of Inktober always excited me, I was 13 when I first discovered it I was determined to complete all 31 days. I ended up completing only 7 prompts. Each year since, I’ve made it a little farther along but I’ve never ended up finishing the project. Last year I came the closest, completing 21 days. This year I plan on finishing it for good and I want to share how I plan to stay motivated during the challenge. Hopefully, I can inspire someone to pick up the challenge or help someone like myself complete it fully.
1. Don’t overly complicate your art
Yes, it’s tempting to create a beautiful piece everyday that takes hours to create and share it on twitter to prove how talented you are. That’s been my major mistake. If you go to school or work like myself and are not an artist full time, completing a huge elaborate drawing isn’t sustainable. You’ll burn out within the first couple days and stress yourself out. Slow down, create something simple and quick, but put effort into it too. The goal of Inktober isn’t to totally show off your art and skill everyday. It’s about disciplining yourself everyday to complete a task, and developing motivation techniques that will benefit you outside of creating art.
2. Set reminders EVERYWHERE
Put it on your phone, on your whiteboard, on your corkboard, on a sticky note in your notebook, on your laptop, anywhere you can so you can’t forget to do your art. This is super beneficial on busy, chaotic days where it can easily slip your mind.
3. Make it therapeutic
Speaking of stressful, chaotic, and busy days, use Inktober as your own personal catharsis. Make your Inktober art as a point to stop and breathe during the day. You can create something as simple as a flower or as complex as a portrait, but give yourself that time and use it to decompress from other stressors. Try not to let Inktober stress you out, if you don’t have the time for something big, do something small. If you have the time, let your creativity run wild! Inktober is whatever you make it and allow yourself to have fun with it.
If you want to get started on Inktober it’s not too late! You can find the prompt list on the Inktober official website or on their instagram. I hope everyone can take my advice to heart. I hope that anyone who hasn’t attempted Inktober before gives it a try, and for those who have attempted it, I hope this year is your year to complete it!