Inktober is an annual art event that challenges artists to draw every day for the month of October. For the whole month, artists from around the world draw an art piece a day based on a prompt list given that changes every year.

Illustrator Jake Parker created it in 2009 wanting to improve his inking skills, which turned into a very popular event that is repeated every October.

 The rules are simple. Step 1, Make something in ink. Step 2, Post it online. Step 3, Hashtag it with #inktober and #inktober(the year). Step 4, Repeat every day of October. These are the official rules created by Jake Parker.

“You can use pencils to sketch out your pictures as long as the final product is drawn or outlined with ink,” stated Sophomore, Jasmine Carlos. “This is to see what you can create with only a few materials.”

“I do it because I want to challenge myself. I’m usually someone who works is short bursts and I’m not consistent when it comes to art but this helps me with that”

It is a great way to get artists into the habit of drawing every single day as well as getting them to think creatively with subjects on the prompt list. The different topics are to inspire or guide artists towards their masterpiece.

Some artists have created their own version of inktober such as inkpril or some would create their very own prompts.

Andrew Ngyuen, a Sophomore said “There are different ways people can decide what kind of topics to draw from because some use custom inktober prompts. I also use a custom one that suits my tastes for the event.”

When asked why he does this challenge he explained, “Drawing is very entertaining to me. I don’t do it because of school or classes, I just do it for myself. I think it definitely helps improve my art since you’re drawing everyday.”

Izabella Powell, a Sophomore, followed up with “I started doing it when I ran out of ideas or if I was bored. I saw this person online do it and I thought it seemed fun. To do it everyday is quite troublesome because some days you just don’t feel like drawing but that’s the challenge.”

There have already been thousands of drawings that have been shared online for the world to see. Will you start this tradition every year?