Post originally written in 2019.

So, Inktober 2019 is over! TL;DR: I drew every day of October, I managed! I am inspired and plan to draw more! Scroll to the very end to see all 31 pieces.

Inktober was invented by Jake Parker in 2009 and lasted every October since. 

The idea behind the challenge – creating one piece of art for every day of October. The topic for each day is provided by the official website of inktober. Jake Parker originally did it in ink, but these days the challenge attracted artists and creatives in all types of media. Even poems and videos are created based on the list of prompts offered by Jake. You can read more on the challenge on the official site here here.

It is my second inktober.

This year was more difficult for me. First of all: none of my friends were up for a challenge this year (last year I convinced one to go all the way down with me;). Second of all: this year I went back to law school to get my master of laws degree, and law school is extremely hard and takes all my energy 🙂 and, finally, I found official themes of these year super hard! I did not know a couple of words, for example, “ripe” or “frail” 🙂 so it is hard to draw association on topic if the word means nothing to you outside of context.

So these are the things I learned / noticed while I was went through this challenge: 

1) Suddenly you find time. I suddenly found time to draw every day! I drew in train on my way to university: and conductors started to recognise me. I drew in between classes. Last piece I drew in 5 minutes in between team work break! (hi to my hackaton peers!). My worst (okay, less elaborate!) piece I created on 14 October, when I had exam, and afterwards we celebrated, so I created this piece super late on my train ride home. Topic was “overgrown”

2) Sometimes there should be no prize in the end. The fact you managed is a reward itself. Some people were surprised I do not get a prize in the end. I only get honour, self joy, and some followers – since so many people find each other via hashtag #inktober. I found, encouraged, and followed some great artists who I am glad to follow even further. 

But I can buy a pin from official Inktober website – to prove I did all 31 days. Maybe next year 🙂 

3) If you do something every day, you get into mood. It is hard to stop! I had this feel last year and this year I feel same. You really get into the mood, and you doodle, doodle, every day! I hope to keep this mood up as long as possible!

4) Getting outside of your comfort zone helps you grow. I used this challenge as a tool to draw things I barely draw. Hands, male characters, pattern sweaters. It is annoying since they turn out not good. But only by drawing you can get better at drawing. Stepping out of comfort zone makes us better. This challenge motivates to get better! And notice your weak points. For example, I cannot draw animals. Nope.

5) Not everything you do have to be perfect. And that is okay.  That is hard to realise, but you cannot produce best artwork all the time. Especially since art is just a hobby for me, and very often I just doodle to relax. During Inktober I tried to set boundaries – on busy days I gave myself just 20 minutes (my train ride!). Whatever I created, was it. I just stopped and went ahead with the life. 

I feel it could be useful not only art but in other spheres. Just let go, move on, go on to the next challenge.

See the full 31 arts gallery below!

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CONCLUSION: It was a very fun challenge. What next? To more drawing! I really believe that doing something at least 10 minutes per day is better than doing it once a week for 2 hours. I think I won’t push to draw every day, since sometime life gets in between, and we have to be understanding. But I like the idea of “not skipping two days in a row”. I hope I keep creating since I notice progress with my last year challenge! 31 days seemed like a doable goal, and afterwards I felt so much better. Maybe I will try other challenges: what about going sugar free for the next 31 days? While drawing:)