This year, I decided to take part in the Inktober challenge. The goal was simple, to create one painting or drawing in ink, every single day in October.
It’s not the first time I’ve taken part but I’m happy to say that this year, I actually completed the challenge! And, in even more unlikely news, I was featured on the offical Inktober Instagram account! However, I will also say that this is likely the last time I will take part. We’ll get to that later.
For now, here are the things I really enjoyed about the challenge.
1 – Making painting a priority
It’s so easy to get caught up with the day to dayness of life. I often feel guilty for spending time on my own instead of spending time with my family or doing something productive. Announcing to any and all who would listen that I was taking part in Inktober meant that everyone knew I was on a mission, while giving myself a permission slip to spend time on my art.
2 – A sense of community
As I began posting new art everyday I was introduced to other artists taking part in the challange. Over the weeks that followed, I looked forward to reading their comments and seeing how they had interpreted the daily prompt differently to me. There were also a few times where I wanted to quit but was motivated to keep going by others who were in the same boat.
3 – Painting new subjects
A few familiar themes popped up in my work throughout October but the prompts forced me to try new and uncomfortable subjects. I was really suprised by how much I enjoyed drawing and painting animals – not something I usually focus on!
So with all these positives, why do I not want to repeat it again next year?
Well, a few reasons to be honest…
1 – It got really, REALLY boring
I love painting with ink but I understand now why I move around from digital painting to gouache to pastels to paints…variety is the spice of life and an entire month of black and white drawings was enough to last a lifetime.
2 – The jump in screen time
I felt compelled to reply to everyones comments on my paintings and make sure I was returning the favour by interacting with other artists posts. But it meant I was spending way more time on Instagram than I would like. It ended up feeling like a job to upload, use the approporiate hastags, music and engage with other accounts. Don’t get me wrong, it meant that my art page received well over 20k views (what!?) but it was a lot of time spent staring at my phone.
3 – AI ‘Artists’
I won’t lie, I really struggled to know sometimes whether or not the artwork being shared was AI. I wanted to connect with other humans and not knowing if I was interacting with real people or bots was unsettling. Unfortunately I only see this issue getting worse as the years go on.
4 – Ugly art
Generally, I try and share work that I love and that I’m really proud of. But given the demand to do a painting every single day, there were obviously going to be a couple that I wanted to throw in the bin and not share with the thousands of people taking part in Inktober!
So, what’s next?
There’s a lot of work I’m really proud of creating this month, so I’m going to be printing and signing a very limited number of prints. These will be my personal favourites from the challenge and will be available in my shop if it’s something you’d like to purchase. I feel like it’s a nice way to wrap up the craziness of this month before I focus on my upcoming pastel workshop in November.
If you took part in the challenge, I would love to hear your thoughts! And if you were following along with me on Instagram, thank you for your comments and support!
Tina x
