Inktober is a month-long art challenge that takes place every October. For one whole month, an artist can decide to take part in the challenge of drawing an illustration every day, following either the official Inktober prompt, another artist’s prompt, or their own.
Over the years the challenge has grown to what it is today, It became a really fun way to improve your skills and discover the works of others! the sky is really the only limit to what you can make, and the number of amazing artworks created by many stellar artists is always something to look forward to seeing.
The only rule is to draw in ink- and have fun.
This year, I wanted to challenge myself and dedicate the month into improving my inking techniques, character designs, narrative illustration skills, and building on the habit of practicing art a little every day to grow and discover about oneself as an artist.
I have partaken in 3 prompts:
The offical Inktober 2021 Promt
Jelart 's Jeltober prompt
And Finally, Mindtober
I have used the same set of materials just to keep the consistency of each Inking style. Zebra, Kuretake, and Tombow are the brands of the inking pens I used, along with a bottle of Winsor & Newton Red Ink, and Speedball Blank ink.
Each illustration was painted with watered down ink mixed in within the process. I mixed different techniques I typically use for water coloring, along with simply experimenting with the medium.
Ink is one of my favorite mediums, so I learned a lot during this Challenge and had a lot of fun!
INKTOBER 2020
In previous years, I did not have much experience in using Ink as a medium nor did I participate in Inktober with the same ambitions. What inspired me to take upon this challenge in the way I did was 2020’s Inktober outcome.
That year, I was striving to make a change in my art, trying to dedicate my time and work to the illustration pieces. I wasn’t so successful with making as much as I wanted, but it became a motivational gateway to the build up of excitement and motivation to make 2021’s challenge more successful than the last. In other words, I wanted to try again.
This is the first year I alternated between different prompts outside of the official one, and I was really excited to do so.
In the end, I not only filled up my sketchbook with these illustrations, but I have learned as much as I hoped I would and a little bit more.
Each illustration varies from narrative spreads created by a prompt a day, individual pieces that correspond to only one prompt, and illustrations that combine 2 or 3.
I will admit that the challenge's experience wasn't 100% perfect, neither is my art or myself, but that's what made it fun. I am excited for what the next year will bring, if I choose to participate in it, and I am grateful to learn what I have during the year's Inktober and how it will be incorporated into my work in other mediums.