You may have noticed a couple of your favourite artists or friends participating in something called Inktober on social media this year. Every October artists participate in Inktober by doing inked drawings all month long. It was started in 2009 by Jake Parker as a way to improve his inking skills and develop positive drawing habits. The best thing is that anyone can do it. Thousands of people from all over the world have participated. There are only 4 simple rules you need to follow:
- Make a drawing in ink.
- Post it online.
- Hashtag it with #inktober.
- Repeat.
You don’t have to do it everyday. You can post a picture every other day, once a week, whatever–just as long as you’re consistent. Parker provides a list of prompts each year to help artists select a drawing for each day. Artists can use whatever pens they have available or get specific ones. You can add colour or leave it black and white. You can use different types of paper, post time-lapse videos, work on 31 different pieces or 1 giant piece. There is no limit to what can be created.
There are more benefits to Inktober, however, than just improving inking skills and developing positive drawing habits. People who have participated have also found that they grew to think more creatively, or found joy in drawing for themselves again. And, thanks to Inktober being a social media initiative, artists have shared different methods and techniques of inking that others can now use. According to Parker, the whole point of the event is to challenge yourself to become better.
Here are some artists participating in Inktober this year that you should keep your eye on:
Happy Inktober!
