Inktober 2023 | review

Welcome to the first of what I hope will be many blogs to come. While I have no solid plan for these nuggets of my brain matter (I mean, blogs), I do intend for them to focus on areas that vary from creative topics and philosophies to self-reflection and the occasional project update. You may even get a tasteful rant or two, the possibilities really are endless! So to kick things off, welcome to my review of #inktober2023.

The month of November is now upon us and if you’re in the creative circles online, (I’m not really, I generally just hover around the perimeter) you may have heard of the phenomenon that is #inktober. As a couple times participant, now first-time completionist of this annual tradition (yay!) I wanted to reflect on my experience. My approach to Inktober was the simple urge to complete the challenge, which I hoped would then help to cultivate a daily drawing habit, which as an illustrator I am ashamed to say, is something I don’t already do…criminal, I know.

When it comes to personal work and goals, consistency, as you may come to learn about me, is something I struggle with. The word ‘consistency’ has been my New Year’s resolution for roughly 5 years now and so far, not so good. I am however fast approaching my 160th day streak on Duolingo, so I believe there’s still hope for me yet. The Inktober structure of set prompts and being held accountable by daily posting to social media, felt like the perfect opportunity to test out how realistic a daily sketch routine could be for me. I decided to follow the official prompts list, but added in my own theme of ‘animal companions’ into the mix…why do I do this to myself?

Full transparency, I did start the challenge four days into October…(great start) so to get the ball rolling, I began with a simple list to try and plan the month of illustrations ahead.

Here is the piece of paper where I wrote my ideas down. Tatty and torn, it came along with me everywhere I went, sandwiched in my iPad case and affording me the opportunity to work on Inktober on the go!

To give me the best chance at completing the full challenge this year, I needed to establish a style that was appealing, but somewhat quick to produce. This led to illustration number 1, which I feel is one of my strongest from the challenge this year. The craziest thing was how easily this illustration came to me, and the simple style still felt elevated in a way I’ve been trying to achieve with my art style recently. It was certainly one of those ‘happy accident’ moments that the great Bob Ross always spoke about.

Directly after this, day 2 really showcased one of my strengths (if I may be so bold). I'm always looking for the funny angle on things, and capturing humour visually tends to be something that comes naturally. However, while I’m really happy with how day 2 turned out, I felt this strayed a little from the style I established with day 1.

Jumping ahead a little, I felt day 5's illustration was one of the last that best captured my original intention for the themes. It uses the official prompt and captures a clear dynamic between the characters. I was still 3 days behind at this stage, so I definitely noticed a drop in quality and creativity moving forward as I attempted to play catch up.

By day 10, I’d finally caught up, posting three Inktober posts in one day. I’d be lying if I said I was happy with what I was producing at this stage. The pressure of sticking to the daily posting rule, and the desperation to get on track created quite the suppressive feeling. It was at this stage I really questioned my motivation for the challenge and the validity of continuing to take part. Was this benefitting my growth as an illustrator, was it boosting my confidence in my own abilities, was it something I was actually enjoying? I was certainly not witnessing much benefit in terms of increased traffic to my Instagram account…should I really continue this? 

I then felt this surge of stubbornness, an angry flicker of frustration with myself…

“You’re not giving up…you’re going to commit and finish this thing...”

And so, I pressed on.

It was from this point onward, where I felt a shift in how I related to the challenge. Simplifying my connection to it brought with it limited creativity. Very few of the prompts spoke to me, nor sparked much inspiration.

Day 11 was ‘Wander’, and as one of my personal projects of the same name also focuses’ on the theme of animal companionship, I decided to take the opportunity for a shameless plug and draw the original characters from my graphic novella ‘Wander’ (check out my store to get your copy!)

From here, I continued the challenge, growing more distant from it with each illustration I mustered. It was during this phase of the challenge that I discovered the power of hiding the like count on Instagram. Daily posting, especially when you know it’s not your best work, really felt like I was spamming my friends/followers, and I was growing more self-conscious with my output each day.

In an attempt to gain some breathing space, and to restore some faith in my abilities, for day 17 I resorted to using a pre-existing illustration I'd been working on for some time. There was a clear difference in quality and the response it received online. There was way more interest than most of the other Inktobers I produced, which helped settle my ongoing questioning of my abilities to produce work I was proud of, and that people enjoyed. This ultimately had more meaning as it was an original idea, plucked from my own head and imagination with no prompt to push me into producing it. It took effort as I chipped away at it on and off for some time. My perspective on Inktober was shifting but I still had some days to go. 

With this new perspective forming, day 18 led me to create something that carries significance. Something from scratch and fitting all the criteria which was set. I created a tribute to one of my all-time favorite video games ‘Shadow of the Colossus’. For the first time since prompt number 1, I truly enjoyed working on this illustration. This game and its beauty have always stuck with me, and it is the epitome of my love for the hero and trusty steed dynamic, so I put on my headphones and played the game's soundtrack while I worked on the piece. Blissfully unaware of the demands of the Inktober challenge. I believe my love and passion for the game really came through. I felt it, and it shows. It ended up being the second-best received of all my Inktober posts on Instagram. Maybe that was just due to the game’s fandom, but I like to think people could see the love and enjoyment that went into creating this one.

At this stage, I’d already made my mind up on what this year's Inktober had given me. With a third of the challenge left to go, I decided to put my all into the prompts that spoke to me most, while not overthinking the prompts that sparked nothing within. The illustrations came quite easily when I felt connected to the prompt, but that didn’t mean they were the quickest to produce. They often were the ones that took the longest, but it never felt like a chore or filling a criteria, it brought a sense of peace as I indulged my love of crafting narrative imagery.

I found myself producing more “tribute” illustrations as Inktober started to wind down. The prompt of ‘Beast’ for day 27 brought to mind the giant wolves from Studio Ghibli’s ‘Princess Mononoke’. A film that has that quiet sense of darkness that I love. Day 28’s prompt of ‘Sparkle’ brought to mind the image of Kida from Disney's Atlantis, where she gently cups fireflies into a lantern. I always remember loving, and noticing the different style of this film, it felt unique to any other Disney predecessor. After revisiting it recently when showing it to someone who’d never seen it before, they pointed out how much the visuals resembled a comic book style. Considering my pursuit of graphic novel/comic creation, and knowing that I had connected with this film two decades ago now, I felt a sense of comfort and reassurance in the career path on which I’m currently embarking.

I’m not super spiritual by any means, I tend to “logic” my way through almost anything, but sometimes it’s hard to ignore those messages from that creepy little universe goblin that seems to follow you around wherever you go, whispering pearls of insight into your ear every now and then.

I completed Inktober tired and with a HUGE sense of relief, with a side helping of a small sense of accomplishment. So in conclusion, would I do Inktober again?

The short answer is…no.

Thanks for reading!

…Okay, I’ll give you the details if you’re curious.

What Inktober has given me is clarity on many things. The first being, social media is meaningless and I can honestly say the ‘like’ counts, and pandering to algorithms does nothing for me, as I’m sure it doesn’t for most people, especially artists and illustrators. The parameters are not conducive to creative production. Inktober has afforded me the closure I needed to never chase the social media dragon again. I hadn’t been doing so for some time and it's nice to know I never have to. 

Structure helps production, and I am proud I committed to the challenge through to the end. However, I once had a therapist say you should never hold yourself hostage to a plan. You can have the best intentions when it comes to planning and in most cases, a plan of action is a must to move forward effectively. However, for me, Inktober became less of a creative endeavor, and more of a chore with little reward or enjoyment. I believe quitting Inktober earlier may have benefitted me somewhat, I could’ve channeled my daily drawing habit into creating work I enjoy or studying areas of illustration I wish to improve on, without the pressure of making it palatable in order to share it with the world. There's so much power in keeping some pieces for yourself. Creation should never be done with the approval of others in mind. If you enter with this mindset, it clouds your connection to YOU and why YOU create in the first place. Creation is an expression from within and always should be. Do it for yourself and nobody else.

I will admit, my animal companion theme did box me in at times, and limited my creative thinking. Idea generation isn’t really something I struggle with, and Inktober has helped me realise this. I have lots of ideas, too many at times. I’ve often lost ideas from waiting too long, from second guessing myself and avoid getting them down by distracting myself from their potential, for fear of letting the ideas down. These ideas that are so fantastical in my head, I couldn't possibly capture them in all their glory in real life. So they stay locked away, and then before you know it, life happens and the ideas are lost never to see the light of day.

Inktober 2023 has proven that I am capable of committing to daily drawing. That’s something I can use to my advantage, knowing the ideas are stored away, already there and waiting. What makes this deal sweeter, is that my Inktober experience has got me excited to create, knowing there is no pressure for me to share these ideas on a daily basis. The freedom I feel knowing they don’t need to be polished, or fit a theme, prompt or any other arbitrary framework. It’s all a means to my own end, of which I’m in full control of dictating.

Alongside all of this, Inktober has comforted me in the knowledge that people really do connect with your art when it’s something you’ve enjoyed and connected with on a personal level. People know what’s fake and what is authentic. Humans crave authenticity, it's how we recognise ourselves in others, helping us to feel less alone and better understood, allowing us to appreciate the lives and experiences of those around us. 

Inktober has given me the confidence to take my time and work on pieces I’m passionate about. Ideas and concepts that come from within, without empty influence or external pressures, to trust myself and my abilities. It has reiterated things I already suspected about myself, whilst simultaneously proving myself wrong.

Inktober 2023?...Completed it mate.