Inktober 2021

Inktober is right around the corner! Never heard of it? In a nutshell, it’s an art challenge started in 2009 by artist Jake Parker to improve his own inking skills. As he posted his daily ink drawing, he garnered a huge following of other artists also wanting to take part. Before you knew it, it became an annual event with thousands of artists taking part from around the world. Jake accommodated us by posting daily prompts throughout the month of October. The very cool thing about it is checking out how everyone else interpreted the prompt as well as how they’re drew it. No two drawings are exactly the same. Some take the prompt quite literally and others have a totally different and surprising spin on it.

As time has passed, there are many more people posting their own set of prompts, but the point of this is in the challenge. So, I would argue that while Inktober is all about an inking challenge, you needn’t be bound by that.

Inktober 2021. Are you up for the challenge?

Is there an art skill you wish you could do? Is there a challenge that you’ve been putting off? For example, if you’re not comfortable with inking, like Jake was, then maybe go ahead and take on Inktober 2021. It is supposed to be a challenge after all. I guarantee after 31 drawings you’ll improve. However, if you’ve always wanted to try your hand at watercolor or color pencil, then take that on instead of ink. Ballpoint pen? Absolutely! You can always use the same prompts.

Some samples of my own personal Inktober challenge from 2018. Ballpoint pen and Copic markers. (Photo/Art Credit: Myra Naito)

Intimidated by a daily prompt?

If a drawing a day seems a bit intimidating to you, not to worry! Jake’s got a variation on the Inktober challenge, which consists of a drawing a week. Inktober 52. Because, well, you’ll end up with…surprise, surprise…52 drawings by the end of the year. And that’s not too shabby, right?

How you do the Inktober challenge is totally up to you. You can use Jake Parker’s prompts or whichever set of prompts resonates with you. You’ll find tons of varieties of prompts with a quick Google or Pinterest search. You can also use whichever medium you want. Don’t let anyone tell you that is absolutely must be ink. You can choose to do individual sketches or create a giant image consisting of all 31 prompts like Jake does. It’s entirely up to you. You also don’t even have to post them if you don’t want to, but rest assured, there are artists. of every skill level who do post. However, if you’d rather not, remember that the challenge is for you to push your skills and to have a little fun doing it.

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