For the 3rd year in a row, I paricipated in a drawing challenge called Inktober. Inktober is a month long art challenge created by artist Jake Parker that is focused on improving skills and developing positive drawing habits. Every day for the month of October anyone participating in the Inktober challenge creates an ink drawing and posts it online.
I must admit that I got a little behind and didn’t finish the challenge until November 10. I was enjoying the challenge but didn’t want to rush it as life’s nuances crept in to prevent a timely completion! So while others were posting their last drawings, I was still plugging away.
But here, finally, is the second half of the month’s (or so) worth of drawings and the prompts that sparked them. Enjoy!
Day 16- Rocket. Made to look like a 1940’s ad for Rocket Popsicles. I had seen a show on Netflix about old toy ads. The language was simple and direct. Very innocent, too! I know they had their share of problems back then, but it did seem like such a simple life!
Day 17- Storm. The storm we are in as demonstrated by Bugs Bunnies’ Tasmanian Devil.
Day 18-Trap. A watercolor sketch of pitcher plants. Those carnivorous plants that bugs get trapped in. The con men of the plant world!
Day 19- Dizzy. A dizzy mixed media piece created during a long Zoom webinar. Thank God for mute and video off buttons!
Day 20- Coral. Imagine how confusing it would be to swim around a coral reef if you where a new fish on the block. That’s what I attempted to depict. This only took 20-30 minutes to create and is one of my favorite drawings in the sketchbook!
Day 21- Sleep. A precious picture of my daughter and husband taking a nap together after a long drive to visit friends many years ago.
Day 22- Chef. Jay Far from Bangkok who won a Michlin Star for her amazing Thailand Street Food. I learned about her through a Netflix show we’ve been watching over this pandemic called “Somebody Feed Phil”. It’s basically about a funny guy named Phil who travels around the world eating fantastic food. What a great job to have!
Day 23- Rip. A ripped paper collage of Rip Van Winkle. I admit, this took way too long to create but was so much fun. (By the way, I just now realized that I had written the wrong title on the piece! Am I the last to notice this?!)
Day 24- Dig. A gravedigger a la Day of the Dead motif. Such fun to create! Yes, I’m a little off on my days, too!
Day 25- Buddy. Inspired by a photo of my son and daughter walking into a grocery store together. They are truly buddies. It is so wonderful to witness! Again, yes, I’m off a day!
Day 26- Hide. I created this with a combination of gel printing, pen and ink, and colored pencil. It was another one of those that evolved as I worked on it. But I’m happy with the underwater feel that was created.
Day 27 and 28- Music and Float. I was feeling very happy and hopeful when I created this. The story I made up is that it is of Hattie Reynolds and her Floating Gospel Band singing “Oh Happy Day.”
Day 29- Shoes. Shoes are a metaphor for friends. You got your sporty ones, your casual flip flops (acquaintances?), your dressy ones, your ones that pinch your feet and you probably should get rid of… these shoes just happen to be some of my favorites. They’re my good, reliable friends!
Day 30- Ominous. A watercolor sketch of a cornfield with lots of black shadows. Whenever you see a cornfield in a movie you know it’s not going to be good!
Day 31- Crawl. For the last page in my sketchbook I chose to combine the words “Crawling to Day 31” with an image of a vine crawiling up a branch.
So there it is. The last half of my 2020 Inktober Challenge. Even though it took me longer than expected, I really enjoyed trying out different styles and mediums. It was fun to come up with creative ideas for the prompts as well.
Check out my Instagram page for a video tour of my completed Inktober sketchbook. I even designed the front and back covers as well.
Also, I have just created a shop on my website that features gift items (cards, stickers, magnets, and a 2020 ornament) of some of my past Inktober drawings- and I plan to add a few more from this year’s challenge as well. Click here to visit my shop.
Thanks for joining me on this Inktober journey. I appreciate all of you who have commented and cheered me on as I posted them on my social media sites. Your encouragement kept me going!