Last month I participated in Inktober, an art-prompt challenge to create and post a drawing with ink every day of October. And wow, did I learn a lot! I created 31 paintings in 31 days, and this is why you should too.
- Knowing what I would share daily negated the decision paralysis that generally hit me when I needed to share my work on social media.
- I also felt braver in sharing my work with so many days ahead. This might seem strange since we always have an endless number of things we can create, but having the plan made that more real. I knew anything I didn’t love would get buried at the bottom anyway.
- Posting more often makes a huge difference in your engagement and introduces more people to your work. That said, a sustainable pace is better than burning out. I could post so much more during October with a plan in place.
- You have to get creative with lighting when photographing the work you’ve just created every night. Being forced to get creative will give you many more tools to use in the future.
- I felt freer to experiment with different papers, mediums, and styles. Since everyone understands that prompt challenges are an experiment, it’s easier to worry less about perfection and just get caught up in the fun of trying something new.
- Practice makes a huge difference. The more you create and the more often, the quicker your skills will build.
- Seeing other people’s work made me braver and gave me great ideas for techniques.
- Prompts inspire and challenge you to step outside your comfort zone. That can reinvigorate you and your artwork in a big way.
- Having work planned doesn’t negate authenticity. Your style and intention shine through as your authenticity.
- Committing to this challenge came with so much encouragement from artists, friends, and fans.
- If you post a lot and create a lot, you will be less concerned with how each piece performs. This is actually a good thing. You can control your effort, but you can’t control the outcome.
- When you’re creating, you need fresh eyes. If you’re creating and posting everything in one day, that can get difficult. Sometimes, I would walk away and come back. Any time I couldn’t do that, I would decide it was finished, take a photo, and then I would definitely see what was wrong.
- Sketch paper is great to start on because it isn’t so scary. Most of the time, inspiration will find you if you start working.
- As I got more comfortable with the medium, I began finishing more pieces on good paper, and it made a huge difference. Next time I want to complete everything on good paper.
- I made one image every day and woke up to a decent size body of work. Suddenly all of this was over, and I had 31 new pieces I could add to my art store or portfolio. If you’re too busy, focus on little steps. Little steps can lead to bigger things.
Next time, I want to do a couple of things differently. First of all, I want to create more full pictures, as opposed to sketches. Secondly, I want to finish each drawing on good paper to include more pieces in my Art Store. This might only matter for some, but it’s something that I want to focus on more for myself.
Regardless, I learned so much from this experience. I definitely want to take part in another prompt challenge in the future.
If you’re in a slump, I encourage you to try something similar in your creative field. I don’t think you’ll regret it.
Many of my pieces from Inktober 2022 are now available in my Art Store!