Inktober by Luca Budofsky

When the last days of September have finally come to an end, amidst the new wave of Halloween themed content and distressing news cycles, one might take notice of a sudden influx of black and white doodles in the feeds of their social media platforms.

Inktober has arrived.

This fall has so far certainly been an eventful one, but one occurrence that was definitely not a surprise was the resurrection of the online art tradition. Inktober, an annual challenge to complete an ink drawing every day of October, has been going on since 2009, gathering participants of all ages, skill levels, and backgrounds.

Over the years Inktober has grown in recognition and has come to encapsulate the vast community of people who post art online. While the original challenge was generally followed with confines to traditional ink drawings posted daily, the popularity of the challenge and scrutiny of the added pressure it puts on artists in an all ready very competitive space has lead to it becoming a much more general event. Straying from the official prompts, following and making alternative prompt lists, and experimenting with other mediums has also become common and even encouraged.

The official 2019 prompt list

While by the end of the month, Inktober often results in an scattered and inconsistent gallery of ink doodles and a severe lack of sleep from late nights drawing, participating can still be a great way to improve on skills and a good excuse to draw more often.

Whether you have plans of participating or not, Inktober is a great month to bring attention to artists online. Here are some artists who participated in Inktober this year worth checking out:

Top Left: Jake Parker, creator of Inktober, top right: Mags Munroe, bottom left: Loish, bottom right: flesh.png