Inktober is a wonderful art challenge which runs for the whole of October. It was created by Jake Parker in 2009 as a self exploration not improve his personal inking skills and is now a world wide event which gets bigger every year. It is free to participate and a great way to jump into some artistic practice and be part of the world wide artist community.
My dog inktober poster available on society 6 store
Since its inception Inktober has grown to include artists working digitally and traditionally (ink) in colour and black and white and it hosts a phenomenal out pour of creativity. I myself have participated before and loved the challenge of 30 daily illustrations finished and inked, and I will be participating again this year. It is great way to accelerate your growth, make new friends I the art world and even up your online following.
As October is only just around the corner and the challenge is quick approaching I thought I would share some advice for participating in this challenge.
5 tips for complete your Inktober challenge
Make the time to get the daily drawings done
It can be overwhelming if you start to lag behind, and before you know it have 10 drawings to do in one day. My advice is to set aside time in advance every day for the challenge. whether you wake up an hour earlier and draw then or dedicate the time between work/school and dinner for your inktober time. Pre-schedule your art to alleviate the pressure and stress of not getting it done.Check out the prompts in advance
The official prompt list is already out, I have linked it at the bottom of this blog post. There are also plenty of artists making their own prompt lists so if you want to work with one of them go ahead, but start thinking of ideas now. I have a list of ideas written down to tie in with this years prompts so I can get straight to drawing and not spend time thinking about what to drawPick an overarching theme
If you are worried about getting stuck as the prompts are so broad pick a theme. One year I picked dogs and used Inktober to interact with my insatgram following by drawing their pets. The theme can relate to the prompts or be its own thing, it will just tie everything together. Plus a coherent theme means in the end you will have a beautiful collection of works you can later use as a portfolio piece or sell in a form such as a zine or print.Work in a medium you are comfortable
Now Inktober is all about ink but there are many forms of ink. You could use ball point pens, art liners, brush and ink, or dip pens. you could use straight black ink or use colour ink like water colours. You could even do black and white inks on your digital device if you are a digital artist. The point is, pick a medium you are at least familiar with. Do not jump into a challenge not knowing how a medium works. If you want to use Inktober to explore a new way of art making I recommend spending a week before hand practicing and get the feel for the medium, that way your drawing time won’t be stressful for the daily challenges.Share your work
The reason why Inktober is such a great art movement is because it builds community. Get your art out there, share your skills and stories with others. Comment on other peoples work, explore new artists and see what is possible. If you share your work online please let me know in the comments below or link it to me on instagram @cara.ord.create I would love to see it.
So there you have it 5 simple tips to get the ball rolling on your Inktober challenge and make this year a success. Please let me know if you participate, I will be posting daily over on my instagram if you would like to work alongside me.
Below is the prompt list, it is time to get started.
Official Inktober prompt list for 2019 by Inktober and Jake Parker
Keep creating,
Cara