Inktober

Inktober is an annual art challenge held every October, created by illustrator Jake Parker in 2009. The challenge encourages artists of all skill levels to create one ink drawing a day for the entire month, using prompts from an official prompt list released each year.

The goal of Inktober is to improve artistic skills, develop consistent drawing habits, and inspire creativity. While the challenge traditionally emphasizes using ink-based mediums, artists can adapt it to their style, incorporating other tools and techniques if desired.

Participants often share their daily creations on social media with the hashtag #Inktober, fostering a global community of artists supporting and inspiring each other.

Inktober seems to be the only part of the year where I create a meaningful body of work. 31 pieces in 31 days is great, but time consuming. It’s proven difficult to be a husband, raise a kid, run a business, and also draw for 2-3 hours each day of October.

But when I look back on it, it’s always worth it. And in the future my business will be more automated, my kid grown up a bit more, where I can reclaim some creativity hours once again. Until then, I just won’t sleep 😅

Featured here are the pieces I selected to be part of a coloring book product for adults because they feature line work that allows for sections to be colored in. Many of my earlier pieces have stipple shading or black elements that simply wouldn’t work for a coloring book.

My sister received the first edition in 2023, and loved the stress relieving aspect of focusing on coloring something in.

Stay tuned for a purchase link.