Inktober started about a decade ago by an illustrator named Jake Parker. Each day there is a prompt word, and the challenge is to interpret the word how you want and essentially draw each something each day over the month of October. This is the first year I have actually completed the challenge (with exception of one two day combo drawing). Although I certainly found it challenging (and quite time consuming), I absolutely loved how I felt the freedom to draw what I want, and how I want. No rules other than the prompt, no client requests, no expectations, just drawing for the sake of drawing and getting creative with the prompt words. If you look up the #inktober hashtag on instagram, you will see that there are MILLIONS of artists participating. Some follow themes, some are random, some use just ink, some use digital, and some paint. There are pro and beginner artists too… a pretty wide range of enthusiasts.
I think I am pretty happy with most of my images… some I like better than others for sure. I certainly want to thank all of you for your likes and comments. It was so interesting to see the feedback from folks on my instagram feed, and which ones were favourites. ‘Enchanted’ was the favourite… people seem to like my whales. Next was the combo ‘Ghost/Ancient’… again… bears and salmon. I suppose most of my followers found me by my west coast work so that would make sense. The next was of course, Misfit… everyone likes a smart ass unicorn amidst a pile of uniform horses. I admit I enjoyed drawing the cheeky ones… the ones people would never expect from me. 😏
Maybe next year I will follow a theme, but maybe I will just stick to random, unexpected thoughts and doodles and not put myself in a box!
