Inktober is a challenge created by Jake Parker in 2009, and it happens every year in October. The purpose of this event was to improve your skills of drawing, develop better inking techniques and expand your imagination without fear. As you all may know, I did participate the last year. It was amazing to see so many creative artworks as well as people participating in them. My Inktober 2016 was full of challenges, surprises, and a feeling of welcome.

The Progress and Feeling

People may think that it was just basically a month full of challenges, polishing skills, and usage of unlimited creativity; but for me, it was more than that. To be able to explore new things on a piece of paper and feel the rush and excitement to be on time to post them was actually fun. Like I always said, the magic starts to happen and stays in the graphite.

What It Meant

October was challenging. I was so pumped up, but simultaneously I was dragged down when my car broke (AGAIN!) and most of my payments got delayed. After my economic crisis, all I did was to refuge in the pieces. It was like plunging yourself in this universe you have created for your own entertainment and nobody else understands it.

Do you remember when you got up earlier on Christmas, just to see and open up the presents? You were filled with joy and enthusiasm. That’s the way I felt, every day I got up earlier to draw. The girls would sit up with me at the table and see my work, sometimes they help me out and other times they asked me about the meaning of each piece. I embraced Inktober like my “Playtime”.

I even talked about it in my art class and my students made a few pieces. I even made them draw their janitor in whatever costume they liked. Christopher was laughing at the desk of the hallway while the kids ran to him to show their creations. Meanwhile, there are still 4 missing pieces, though I will be willing to finish them as soon as possible. Got flooded with lots of requests, so hopefully, I’ll produce it as a coloring book!