What is Inktober?

Inktober is a challenge that was started back in 2009 by a man named Jake Parker. It started as a way for him to improve his inking skills and develop positive drawing habits, though has now started to become very mainstream in recent years. He copyrighted “Inktober” back in 2019, now artists must be careful when posting the prompts online. The challenge is now called “Artober”, so artists can avoid being fined for copyright infringement. Artists follow a list of prompts or ideas throughout the month of October and post the drawings online each day. Now, instead of being confined only to ink, artists are allowed to use whichever medium they're best capable of using, or perhaps push artists to try a medium outside of what they normally use.

I’m interested in Artober because it’s a way to push myself and expand on what I’m comfortable with as an artist. This helps me to try and think outside of the box. Sometimes, a list of what to follow is what you need to create a good piece and push your comfort zone to its limits without breaking it. Some of the themes include fantasy, realism, or even drawings for fanbases! My favorites are the video game fanbase one and fantasy. Both of these themes give me the ability to push my comfort zone to its limit, as well as my skills as an artist. My favorite piece that I did last Artober is part of a prompt list, and the prompt was “overgrown ruins”. Instead of my usual cartoonish style, I went for more of a realistic approach, and I was (and still am) very happy with how it turned out.