#Inktober 2021
It’s that time of year again; Inktober is almost upon us! Anyone who follows artists on Instagram is probably at least marginally aware of Inktober. But if you’re not, here it is in a nutshell: During the month of October artists attempt to polish their drawing/inking skills by following a list of inspirational prompts and drawing something every day, then sharing it. There’s a list of prompts made by the person who came up with Inktober, but people also create their own lists and themes.
I’ve participated for quite a few years but I’ve never completed the entire month. This is mostly because, for me, October is full to brimming with all kinds of other good stuff like costume making, spooky movie marathons, pumpkin patches, corn mazes…well, the list could go on and on. If only it were #Inkuary instead. But I digress…
I always use the provided prompts, but I like to pick an overall theme as well. One year I did fairy tales and just used a few prompts here and there. I was quite happy with those drawings; I even developed a few into more finished pieces, like my Little Mermaid.
One year I attempted to include an element from my day one drawing into the next day’s drawing and so on, but I petered out quickly as I just got too busy.
The same thing happened when I attempted to create one long story using different fandoms: Lord of the Rings to Frozen to Spider Gwen to How to Train Your Dragon…etc. That’s all the farther I got on that one, though I had it planned out to the end of the month! So while that one was really fun to dream up and plan out, I’m still disappointed that I never got to finish.
So, that brings me to my current quandary: what should my plan for this year be? I know that I will not be participating daily because – well – (gestures to above paragraphs) and I’m also busy with a couple of other big projects (more on that soon, I promise). But I would like to do at least a few drawings, I’m thinking maybe one per week. So really I just need to come up with a theme; I find that it helps inspire me. It’s kind of like needing two data points to draw a line.
Theme + Prompt = Creativity.
Some themes that I’ve been contemplating for this year are: Tarot, Halloween, Stained Glass, Classic Children’s Stories, Astrology, and Mythical Creatures. What do you think? Is there something you would like to see from me this Inktober? Are you planning on participating?
