INKTOBER // thoughts, lessons learned, and what's next?

Hello there! （⌒▽⌒ゞ

Well, we did it. 31 days of ink drawings throughout the month of October. It was an exciting, interesting, and transformative learning experience. I'm so happy we were able to see it through to the end and create a compilation of fun plant witches. I'm glad I did it and even more grateful that I had the opportunity to share this month with you. 

And to be honest? It was really hard! 

There were so many times I wanted to give up on the challenge and just do anything else. I remember distinctly around the halfway mark I started to think,"I still have to do 16 days of this? I can't, I don't want to." At that point my ideas were starting to feel stale and I felt like I was incapable of coming up with anything new. It put me in a negative mindset and made the process of creating arduous. It was like treading water in the middle of the ocean, unsure of when I would find my footing on land. I was tired, unmotivated, and quite honestly disappointed in myself. 

But I kept going. And more importantly I didn't get through it alone. Reading your feedback on the daily posts and feeling your excitement with each drawing encouraged me to reconsider. I decided it best to keep going and to keep creating. Even when it was difficult, especially when it was difficult. 

It's okay that I wasn't IN LOVE with every drawing. I don't think that's necessary at the end of the day. I do think it's important to see Inktober as greater than the sum of its parts. In my experience it's not entirely about the art itself, but rather what you learn about yourself as an artist. For example, I learned that I work best when I did my Inktober first thing in the morning. That momentum carried on through the rest of my day and made me feel like I was capable of getting things done. Putting it off til later on the other hand would cause me to procrastinate on my schedule and leave little time for anything else I had planned. 

Thumbnail sketches and color tests:

You can tell that I usually had to do multiple takes on a single pose or color combination. Very rarely did things work out on the first try, it typically went like "Ok, here's the first draft. Now how can I make it better?". It's always worth it to keep trying out new iterations to find something that works! 

5 Things I learned from Inktober:

• Choosing a theme can really help. It cuts down the guessing time of what to draw and helps you create a cohesive body of work if that's what you're aiming for. 
• Set rough time limits. If you really wanted to you could spend all day perfecting your drawing. Alas, the purpose of a daily challenge is to create every day so it's good not to get hung up on what it could be. I usually set a 2 hour (3 hour max) time limit I could spend working on a piece. Anything past that would either take too long or overwork the drawing. Set aside a chunk of time that works for you and try to stick to it.
• Make it a habit. I know it technically takes around 21 days to form a new habit, but why not help yourself to get there? I purposely started every daily drawing in the morning. Even if my mind wasn't in it, my body knew it had something to do. Starting and ending around the same general time every day reminded me that mornings were already set aside for a specific task. 
• Keep an inspiration board. I like to use Pinterest. Organize a collection of images that you can refer and add to throughout the challenge. I'd look through my board every day to gather inspiration for what to draw and to remind myself of the general idea and image I was aiming for. 
• Take breaks. Remember to check in with yourself and see how you're doing both mentally and physically. If you need to stop, that's important and you should respect that. There's no need to force yourself to draw if it's at the expense of your well-being. <3

This post is already incredibly long so I'll discuss colors and tools in another post. I want to reiterate that I'm incredibly grateful for your support throughout this month, I truly could not have done it without you. (⌒▽⌒)☆

I'll have prints, zines, and originals to share with you on Nov. 13th (tentative date)! I can't wait to show you the merch as it arrives, I'm excited to see it all myself! In the meantime, here's a sneak peek at the cover I created for the zine: 

Have a lovely day and I'll see you soon with new art! Much love~ 

~ヾ(＾∇＾)

Vicki