Inktober

Each year in October, artists around the world participate in “Inktober”–a daily drawing challenge with pen and ink. A list of daily prompts is posted in the fall and artists mark their calendars. I first heard of Inktober in 2016 and saw it as a perfect motivator to help establish daily studio habits. And I had every intention of participating. Yeah. But days turned into weeks and before I knew it, October had passed. I did manage to do one drawing, the Day 1 prompt for “Fast” and I knew I would continue, though October itself was a particularly busy month.

#Inktober2016 Day 1: Fast

“Coming Home” ©2017 Penny O’Halloran, all rights reserved

In January, I cleared a daily time slot and did my Johnny-come-lately drawings for each prompt.  I decided a 15-30 min. time slot was my best shot for following through. Having a dedicated studio time for basic drawing taught me a lot! Some days I had more time so my drawings were more detailed, and other days I kept them simple. But it felt great to be consistent every day! One aspect that was particularly beneficial was how the challenge applied to practicing illustration skills, and I developed many of the drawings later on.

A few days into the challenge, I decided to experiment by illustrating each day’s prompt using only circles and lines. I cut out 7 circles of varying size and each day I made my composition with them, traced around them, then finished the scene with lines. The simple drawings that emerged were fun and playful, and the circles began to take on personalities.