Inktober incorporates various art styles
October 29, 2019
Established in 2009, Inktober is an international art challenge that lasts all of October. Each day has a different prompt that artists draw in their art style. Artists participating in Inktober share their art on social media with “#Inktober.” It’s not a contest rather an opportunity for artists to improve their art and to serve as inspiration for others.
Siany Kloss, fine arts junior, is an experienced participant in Inktober. She discovered the Inktober trend in high school when her art teachers encouraged the students to participate.
“I’ve never [drawn the prompt] every single day, but I’ve [drawn] a couple of drawings a year for the past 5 years or so,” Kloss said. “Art is the only thing that has ever truly felt right for me so I’ll do what it takes to be able to keep doing it.”
Isaiah Edwards, art senior, is also an experienced participant. He discovered Inktober in 2017, but didn’t participate until 2018.
Edwards said, “I started last October, however, school-work usually overshadows my own personal drawing so I usually don’t get too far into the month before I have to switch my focus back to school.”
Craig Gregg, psychology sophomore, is also an Inktober participant for the first time.
“I have seen [Inktober] on Tumblr and Instagram [for a long time],” Gregg said. “When I started getting involved with social media around 2013, I saw all of the Inktober [art] and said ‘What is this?’ This is the first Inktober I am doing personally.”
Traditionally, artists use ink and paper for Inktober, but artists can use whatever art tool they want for their pieces like acrylic, watercolors or highlighters.
Eliza Cameron, English senior, is a first-time Inktober participant. She used pencil and highlighter markers to create her art.
“I would describe my style as semi-realistic, a cutesy creepy cartoon,” Cameron said. “I love to draw characters that are subtly unsettling.”
Cameron is also participating in an art trend inspired by Inktober called “Goretober” where each day there is a prompt different from Inktober that revolves around gore.
“I love to look at makeup artists and horror films to get inspiration,” Cameron said.
Art for Inktober varies on the artists’ personal preferences. Some create detailed artwork and others make simple doodles.
Gregg describes their art as not very detail-oriented, but more like doodles.
“[My art] is kind of cartoon-like [and] very doodle-like. I just doodle [and] never really draw,” Gregg said.
Culture serves as inspiration for many Inktober artists. For Edwards, he likes to incorporate pop-culture into his art.
“I get inspired by my emotions and surroundings. I draw from graffiti, cartoons, comics, video games and pop culture,” Edwards said. “I usually brainstorm a few ideas, whether they’re jokes (verbal or visual puns), funny scenes or a mix of different concepts. I like to make original ideas as much as I possibly can.”
Some artwork can be controversial and contain mature content to make a point.
Kloss said, “I prefer to do realistic art but I feel like Inktober allows for an easy surreal look. Nature has always been very important to me, but with the growing emphasis of climate disaster, it’s more important than ever before.”
Edwards said his style is cartoonish with some street influences.
“I like to add humor and text to most of my drawings,” Edwards said. “Sometimes they have a bit more of an adult context, but I like to make art that everyone can enjoy at some level.”
All of the students plan on participating in Inktober next year.
