Photo courtesy of Tryphena Elliott
Inktober drawing challenge promotes creativity, dedication within artists
0
0
To the artists of San Gabriel High School (SGHS), October is known as Inktober—a drawing challenge to create one ink drawing a day for the entire month. It was a challenge created by Jake Parker in 2009 to improve his inking skills and develop positive drawing habits. Now this is one of the most well-known art challenges in the art community today, with a few SGHS students participating.
“I was perusing a bunch of art-related YouTube videos one day and I came across one of my favorite artists talking about Inktober,” senior Lu Wang said. “This is my first time participating.”
Many youtubers and industry artists helped publicize this event. Junior Tryphena Elliott also discovered Inktober on Youtube.
“One of the youtubers I watch, [Draw Jazza], started doing it last year and I got curious,” Elliott said.
Like any other challenges, there are rules for Inktober: complete a drawing in ink and post it online with the hashtags #inktober and #inktober2017 each day. Every year, Parker creates an official prompt list for everyone to follow.
“I wanted to improve my inking skills and I had all the tools ready [so] I didn’t need to buy new materials,” Wang said. “The prompts are pretty fun and sometimes I’ve had a hard time deciding what to draw but it all works out.”
Similar to Wang’s goal, Elliott expresses how a pre-prompt list helped her.
“I like challenging myself and getting out of my comfort zone and the pre-made prompt list helps with that,” Elliott said.
