Inktober 2019: 31 Daily Illustrations

Participating in the inktober challenge was something I had been looking forward to for years. Started in 2009 by Jake Parker, inktober is a challenge that thousands of artists take once a year. What is this challenge? 31 drawings in 31 days. Taking place in October every year, artists follow a list of prompts to draw something that emulates the word of the day. 

Official prompt lists of the past included words like mindless, sling, dizzy, coat, ride, build, etc. And while some artists took those words and created imaginative and creative illustrations, I looked at some of those and went - huh? How am I supposed to come up with something that fully captures the word dizzy, in just one day? I decided some of the prompts were too abstract for me and instead of participating, watched other artists post their illustrations. 

I finally decided to join in on the inktober challenge when one of my favorite artists, Sha’an d’Anthes (known as FurryLittlePeach on Insta), created her own prompt list in 2019.

In her post announcing her unique prompt list, she too expressed that while she loves the idea of inktober and the community it creates, she needed a more practical list to follow. Her list included words like deer, snack, herbs, fox, sleep, berry, etc. I loved it. I immediately started brainstorming what I could draw each day and officially decided that I would participate in the 2019 inktober challenge. The fun thing about Sha’an’s inktober was the smaller community and lack of medium restrictions. It is called inktober, so original the idea is that every illustration should be in ink, but Sha’an welcomed all mediums. Whether it was paint, crayons, colored pencils, charcoal, or digital drawings, all were welcome to participate. 

So every day in October, I drew on my iPad. Every day I posted a new illustration along with a time-lapse video of my process. At the end of the month, I was so proud of completing the challenge that I created a little booklet so I could keep all of my illustrations together forever.

Inktober taught me that I can accomplish something when I put my mind to it, even if it seems daunting at the start. After completing the challenge, I immediately began deciding what I would and wouldn’t do differently the next time around. For 2020, I’m going trust my own drawing instincts and create illustrations that come from me, instead of referencing already created ideas that fit the concept. It was a great way for me to get started, but I know I can do much better. 

If you were along for the ride last year and saw my posts every day, I want to thank you for encouraging me and creating a positive environment for my art. If you’d like to follow along on this year’s inktober adventure, be sure to follow me on Instagram as that’s where I’ll be posting my content. I think it’s safe to say that I’m excited for inktober 2020! Who’s with me?