Tess Needham

What is Inktober?

Inktober is an annual, month-long online art challenge that’s been going since 2009. Every October, anyone who wants to participate can follow the official prompt list, and create a drawing using ink each day. Most artists post photos of their pieces on social media.

I’ve seen Inktober drawings pop up online before, but I’ve never participated before. I haven’t even really paid too much attention to it in the past. But this year, I decided it would be fun to participate, and would push me out of my drawing comfort zone.

Materials

Since I recently bought a Pentel Pocket Brush Pen, I decided to use this daily challenge as an opportunity to familiarise myself with the pen. I also added a couple of other tools to give me some options: three coloured ink brush pens in grey, turquoise, and yellow orange, a white gel pen, and a water brush. I also used a date stamp to mark each drawing with its relevant day.

Limiting myself to just a handful of supplies gave me creative constraints, so I spent less time choosing materials. It also gave my drawings a sense of cohesion over the whole month.

I made all my drawings in my passport-sized Travelers Notebook, using the watercolour paper insert. I took photos of each drawing with my iPhone, then cropped and colour-corrected in the Photos app before uploading to Instagram. I favoured speed and ease, rather than scanning each one in. This felt more in keeping with the casual spirit in which they were created.

How it went

In general, I really appreciate the extrinsic motivation of doing a month-long drawing challenge. It’s a good way to keep up a drawing habit, and to explore creativity within constraints. I also liked the idea that a lot of artists were doing it at the same time. I explored the #inktober hashtag on Instagram a few times during the month, but that usually turned out to be a bad idea since the quality was so high! Clearly, a lot of artists put a lot of time and effort into their pieces.

Inktober was great for getting used to my new brush pen. I did feel that I was more comfortable with it (and the other supplies) by the end of the month. But I also longed to use a broader variety of materials. I got frustrated by how long the brush pen took to dry before I could add wash, or turn the page of my sketchbook.

However, I struggled with some of the prompts, more than others. Some days I was really inspired and could think of something clever, different, or funny to draw. But some days I felt quite uninspired, and just went for a more obvious response. I’m not usually stuck for inspiration on what to draw. I’m usually just stuck for time. It’s never a bad idea to draw every day, but I found that my precious drawing time was occupied by the challenge, taking me away from my own self-directed work.

I also don’t love Inktober’s heavy reliance on social media. I am very wary of the way social media gives you an expectation of reactions from other people — whether likes or comments. Social media is optimised for a quick dopamine hit, and I would prefer to share here in my blog, which feels more like my own space and I don’t expect any reactions.

I’m not sure if I’ll do Inktober again. Maybe only if I need to get familiar with another new art tool!

My Inktober drawings