What Inktober means to me.
This blog post is about my artistic exploits using the Inktober drawing prompt lists, what it means to me and how I work. The regular practice has been amazing for me, increasing my confidence in drawing and creative thinking. It is somewhere where I can be me and explore my own style. I also love being part of a community where I have found other art and artists who inspire, and hope that maybe I do the same in a small way.
On a creative whim, I decided to have a go at the month long challenge in October 2022, only a couple of days before it started. I had done a similar thing two years earlier for Broad Canvas, a local art shop, so I knew how intense it could be, but I found that a really rewarding experience so I thought, why not?
It was a mad, creative whirl of a month, full of creative highs and some lows: sometimes I just wanted it to end! But I made it all the way through and the sense of achievement was worth every bit of artistic angst and tiredness that I met on the way. It made me think quicker, adapt, change or simply reflect on what had gone wrong or right, then leave it behind. I may revisit some of them one day, but it is a body of work I am really proud of.
After that finished, I decided to carry on doing Inktober52, the weekly version. It is a big part of my creative life now, waiting for the new prompt to be released every Thursday, and so far I have managed to get an illustration done each week before the next one drops. It takes good planning, as I have to take into account how much time I have in the week ahead. This can be work, family, or any other activities, planned or unplanned, that are part of life. Sometimes I have the luxury of enough spare time (I don’t watch much TV so this helps), but sometimes time is limited so then I try not to be so ambitious, there is no point planning something intricate and involved if I know I only have one evening to do the whole thing in! If the drawing is going well from the start then it can become more involved, but if a drawing starts badly or falters, then I have to adapt to the time I have left.
I love the fact that it provides me with a framework for regular drawing that I was finding hard before. It is such as open brief, just one word which could lead anywhere. When a new prompt comes in, I feel my brain get happy: the cogs start to whirr and I start to think of a theme or idea. Sometimes it is clear to me what I will do from the start, but sometimes it takes more effort and a lot more research, it depends on how tired or busy I am, or how inspired I am by the word.
I make some initial notes and scribbles. Sometimes it is about something I have just done, a moment of inspiration when I am out and about, something that has just happened or something I am interested in. I am now much more tuned in to possibilities. Sometimes a friend will inspire me. Sometimes I just type in the word in a search engine and see what happens, letting my thoughts go with whatever piques my interest. Sometimes the initial idea changes as I make more sketches or mull over it when I am walking, or during any number of day time activities. I have been known to wake up in the night and have it on my mind, thinking it over!
It is lovely to be able to draw with no one to please but myself, after so many years of trying to please clients and drawing and painting in a wide range of styles, or simply not having any spare time or mental capacity left to do anything like this. I sometimes have to remind myself that despite the fact that the prompt is set by someone else, the rules are mine to make or break, and that is generally how I want to make art for the foreseeable future.
I don’t know how long I will do this, but, I will know if I am getting tired of it, if I am becoming repetitive, if things happen to take my time elsewhere or if it stops being a thing of joy. Until then, vive le drawing!