It’s that time of year again. The time when I have (not-really-grand) plans to participate in Inktober, but to just enjoy practicing drawing something every day in October.
I love the *word* “Inktober” and the invitation at a magical spooky back-to-school time-of-year to *practice* doing something so analog daily with all the paper-y products that went on sale in August and September. Doing something a lot of people want to do (draw), but don’t, or don’t do well.
Visit Inktober.com to find out more
Inktober may have began for a more elite or specific group of artists, but I love that it’s expanded to include and attract a lot of different people with varying skill levels, working with various mediums (digital inkers, for example), and with varying prompts adapted for different people’s interests. I particularly loved seeing a sex-worker prompt-list by Katsnacks, along with her super-cool art, for example.
In all the years I’ve been aware of its existence, I’ve never completed the challenge. I’ve started it a few times, but most of the time I forget that it’s happening until after it’s already in progress which discourages me from even bothering, feeling like I missed out on establishing the daily habit with a whole worldwide-web full of accountability partners.
This year I’m considering committing to it again, but doing it with a simplified pleasure-writing approach: not trying to “draw” or be an “artist”, but just ENJOYING playing with ink. Focusing on colors.
The last time I tried to do Inktober I decided to not use any of the prompts, but just practicing learning to draw THE SAME THING every day, different ways: CRYSTALS. For some reason I only got one or two days done and then some aspect of life interrupted and I … you know: QUIT.
Even though I didn’t stick with it that year, picking one object or shape to practice drawing for a month was a good idea for someone who doesn’t really know how to draw but would like to be good at drawing *something*. It doesn’t need to be in October; identifying a shapely form or symbol that appeals to you or represents you somehow, and learning techniques for adding that signature shape to your handwritten repertoire. It could be a spiral, pyramid, heart, flower, rainbow, crescent moon, box, etc. It could be a STAR: my own signature symbol / shape (it’s in my name, after all) that I’m considering this year if I try to actually draw anything.
It could be using ink to DRAW ink: ink bottles, ink drops, big wet pools of ink. It could be practicing cursive or a new font, or just different ways of signing your own name, or just getting better at signing your own name … seeing what it looks like in different colors on different paper with different thickness. It could be practicing flourishes; you know how fountain pen vloggers and reviewers have certain tests they put new pens and ink through with crosshatches and curlicues and “quick brown fox”es? It could just be that.
Approaching Inktober with the pure intention of simply using and enjoying ink every day seems like a fun and meditative way to participate in the challenge in a minimalistic and manageable way. It might also be a healthy and manageable way to finally activate AT LEAST ONE PleasureWriting social media profile (probably instagram).
Don’t even get me started on NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month): it sounds like it’s more in my wheelhouse than drawing, but my gosh … it feels so much more daunting. Maybe I can consider approaching NaNoWriMo with a less-fancy more-fun pleasure-writing spirit, though?
