For those who aren’t aware of what the heck Inktober is, it’s a daily drawing challenge during the month of October where you produce drawings using ink. The challenge was started by Jake Parker in 2009 who wanted to improve his inking styles and develop positive drawing habits. I became aware of the challenge somewhere in the twenty-teens but didn’t try to attempt the challenge until 2018. I started on the third day and made it only to the 8th challenge. I think I got overwhelmed with classes, assignments, and work. I gave it another try in 2019, actually stuck with it (even with the same conditions as the previous year, ironically), and completed it. I was extremely proud of myself for sticking to an artistic commitment I made to myself more than the actual challenge itself. I will say that trying to make a drawing from the official prompts that are given can be hard, especially since I didn’t vibe with many of the words chosen. This is why this year I decided I would make my own daily prompt list to pull and draw from. The prompt list I’ve come up with for myself is drawing characters/monsters from horror film past and present. It’s so much more enjoyable for me to draw characters that I find interesting. I say all this for anyone who finds themselves struggling with Inktober, find some subject or theme you find interesting and use that as your prompt to draw from daily. I think (or feel) that the focus should be creating art daily while learning and improving.
I was supposed to start blogging about my progress and the art I create during Inktober, but honestly, I just got sidetracked by many random things (life and all that jazz). It would have been me cataloging my thoughts and so forth daily from the beginning (oops and oh well). Since that ship has long since sailed, I will start today and share my prompt for the day. I have been drawing daily (woohoo, go me!!) so I think I will do a recap of sorts after the month is over so that one can see the challenge in its entirety. Today’s focus was the film Friday the 13th, Jason Vorhees.
Rambling Artist 