Speech Bubble

October ended a couple of days ago, so now I can safely – and astonishingly – say that I’ve done all 31 days of the Inktober challenge.

Inktober is a cool initiative by one Jake Parker, which challenges artists to do one ink drawing a day throughout October. Why? I’m not entirely sure. But as I often struggle to find the drive to draw outside of work, or other art-related structures, I like taking on these kinds of challenges: they encourage me to draw where I would otherwise slack off, and they’re not too restrictive or demanding that it becomes a chore rather than a fun “extra-curricular” activity.

I first tried the Inktober thing last year, with a bit over 50% success rate. This year, in addition to attempting the whole 31 days, I challenged myself further and decided to use nothing but ink; even the preliminary sketches were done with a ballpoint pen. As someone who likes to play it very safe – both in art and in real life – it was not an easy task, but I’m happy I stuck with it. Interestingly, on one hand it made me plan ahead more and think before even the faintest of lines, and on the other it pushed me to be bolder, accept mishaps and find a way to work them into the piece.

Here are some sketches that that I particularly like, and you can see the rest on my Facebook page. Which one is your favourite?