This year I tried out Inktober for the first time and it was really fun! What the heck IS Inktober? "Every October, artists all over the world take on the InkTober drawing challenge by doing one ink drawing a day the entire month." Artist Jake Parker "created InkTober in 2009 as a challenge to improve [his] inking skills and develop positive drawing habits. It has since grown into a worldwide endeavor with thousands of artists taking on the challenge every year."
I'd seen some friends in years past posting art on social media with hashtags (#) of #inktober but didn't really pay attention to the movement until I saw an Inktober panel at NYCC this year. Artists talked about how it doesn't matter if you miss some days and it doesn't have to be a perfect drawing, but the goal is to help you to draw something on a regular basis, and you'll realize you're capable of more than you think.
I started more than halfway through October and did 10 Inktober drawings total. I loved just drawing in my sketchbook something that was not part of a larger project for once. There was a lot of freedom in just playing around with physical ink, which I've done less since going more digital with my work. I hadn't tried ink washes for YEARS until the theme of ink encouraged me to think of it, and painting Jupiter like that reawakened a childlike glee.
Here are the prompts for each day of October. For example, for 10/1, you'd draw something that's FAST. But if you missed participating in Inktober, why wait all the way until next year? These prompts can be applied to ANY month! Who cares if it's not October anymore? It's just fun! Not sure if you'd still want to tag your work with the official #, but that's not the point. The point is it helps you get your daily creativity inspiration! If you already did Inktober, and are looking for more prompt challenges, Tentacularly on Reddit has made a November list with 30 prompts and you can use color or anything. Artprompts.org is pretty cool too, where you click a category and it gives you a prompt phrase. My favorite is the "Situation" category.
Cheers to creating more art!
The #inktober sketch with the most "likes" on Facebook (16): Awesom-O for the BOX theme on 10/26/16.
I've struggled with insomnia my whole life. Over the years, I've learned to not eat certain things in the evening and other habits to help get a better night's rest. Of course, avoiding caffeine after 3pm is ideal. But I've discovered that even eating chips as an after dinner snack keeps me awake! They don't have caffeine, but it must be the grease. Most dietitians recommend against eating anything late at night, but being hungry keeps me awake MORE, so I have to eat something. Lately, if I find that my relaxation/meditation CDs/apps (I prefer CDs because the blue light from a phone or tablet can keep you awake) aren't doing the trick, reading a boring book helps a lot.