Inktober 2024 Prompt List and Some Updates

 

I haven't written about Inktober in a while, and it's under way again, so first things first: There is the prompt list, above. Yes, I know they release it in September, and I know it's already the second week of Inktober, but...you know how I am. By the way, if you follow my Facebook page ( https://www.facebook.com/allsortsofart ), you will note that I shared the prompt list when it was released, so this is just kind of, let's say, reinforcement.

The last time I blogged about Inktober was in 2022, when I was writing about Inktober 2021 (again, completely on brand), right here https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2022/09/inktober-2021-thrilling-conclusion-kind.html . I'd actually had a cracking good year, producing well more of the prompts than usual, owing a lot to the fact that I ended up doing a few drawings later in the month that combined three prompts each.

Inktober 2021, Day 9, “Pressure” - I mentioned this one at the end of the last Inktober article as having been pencilled (believe it or not, prior to the start of Inktober that year) but not inked. Happily, I did manage to finish the inks on it – this year!!!

I wasn't very gung-ho about Inktober 2022 (still tired from the prior year? Anybody's guess), but I did produce work for the first two prompts, “Gargoyle” and “Scurry”, but, uh...not in that order. Really very much not. Not even in the same year, actually. I produced “Scurry”, a cute sketch of a stressed-out businessrodent, running (literally) late for an important meeting. Scurry, cute lil dude! You'll make it!

The Day 1 prompt, “Gargoyle”, was a classic example of my shooting myself in the foot by deciding that I was going to do a portrait (nooooo!) of one of Notre Dame's famous beasties, from photo reference. This is as far as I got that year:

Decent start, but whew, look – I shouldn't try that nonsense on Day 1. So when did I finish? I'll get back to that.

That was it for 2022, but I managed to do even less for 2023. This time I changed things up by mostly ignoring that it was happening at all, until I happened to notice that the Day 19 prompt was “Plump”, and I got inspired to scribble this cute gal:

And that was all of Inktober 2023 for me. I mean, so far, at least. I do have the idea that someday, I will actually go back and complete every single one of the prompts I missed. I mean, I have many months during which it is not actually Inktober, for corn's sake. At least I scored one, which is one more than the Australian women's Olympic breakdancer scored. I didn't even have to fly to Paris on anyone's dime.

Oh yeah – here's my drawing for “Gargoyle”, which I finished THIS YEAR. And upon posting it, I found out it's not even a gargoyle, dang it. It's a grotesque (they're to scare demons away – the gargoyles are downspouts, to drain the water away). So anyway, tune in next time or sometime to find out how I'm doing with this year's prompts. Spoiler: I am participating again, so there's that.

Here are the other Inktober articles, if you would like the full coverage:

https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2019/12/a-little-backstory-on-inktober.html

https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2020/10/inktober-2020-is-under-way.html

https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2020/11/more-fun-with-inktober.html

https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2021/03/another-shot-of-inktober-so-what-if-its.html

https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2022/04/inktober-restrospective-2020-part-two.html

https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2022/08/inktober-2021-starting-off-with-bang.html

https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2022/09/inktober-2021-did-i-start-unraveling.html

All images are my original art

Inktober 2021 – The Thrilling Conclusion (Kind of)

I had to add “kind of” because the word “conclusion” seems to indicate that I finished the challenge. Uhhh, well...this is the last article about it, so that's actually the conclusion I was talking about. However, Many! Interesting! Things! happened before October 31^st, 2021, rolled around, and I am happy to relate them here, as I think you'll be heartened to read about them. It was my best Inktober, yet! (Just forget that the bar has heretofore been pretty low, okay?)

A little buildup, in case you haven't yet read the prior two posts (links below): Having a miserable track record keeping up with Inktober in years past, I decided to do a bit of prep, this time, in the form of rough pencils started beforehand. I did rough sketches for the first nine prompts – crystal, suit, vessel, knot, raven, spirit, fan, watch, and pressure – before the start of the month. However, after posting the first three drawings in as many days, I got tripped up by the amount of work that went into my Day Four picture and started falling behind. I posted that one a day behind, then the next one a couple days after that, and by the time I had posted Day Seven, “Fan”, I was over a week behind.

What should I do? I really didn't have the time or energy to tear through several pictures a night (I was working days, remember) until I caught up, but I wasn't about to throw up my hands and quit, so I weighed the alternatives: Should I just go ahead and continue to post the prompts in order as I did them, even continuing on after the month ended, just to have a full set regardless of the timing? Or should I forget the intervening days (including the two days I had pencilled but not yet inked) and rejoin the group working on the current prompts, as that still had more of the excitement and energy (and less, to be honest, of the shame). I posed the question to the group and got an answer I hadn't thought of: Combine the days!

There were plenty of people making pictures out of several prompts. One person made a pretty cool one that encompassed the first ten prompts, and people got to figure out which feature of the pic corresponded to each prompt. I had viewed combining prompts as being against the spirit of the challenge, which was to produce a piece every day, but I was also taken with the idea of combining prompts as being a different sort of challenge – not only would you still have to illustrate each idea, you would also have to come up with a way to combine seemingly disparate ideas into a larger concept. That appealed to me. I was in!

Day 17 – Collide; Day 18 – Moon; Day 19 – Loop

This unfortunate spacecraft took off from the planet's surface and followed a wild, looping trajectory before colliding with the moon. Good thing the crew wasn't injured, but they are gonna have to do a lottttt of work if they want to get back home in that thing.

Day 20 – Sprout; Day 21 – Fuzzy; Day 22 – Open

My little baby plant unfurls a furry-looking little sprout as it opens up. Proud parents tower above.

Day 23 – Leak; Day 24 – Extinct; Day 25 – Splat

A very sad and unfortunately true story. These guys were money-grubbing villains, and the very last family of its kind was destroyed. The poor splattered egg leaks out the last hope of keeping a species alive.

Day 26 – Connect; Day 27 – Spark; Day 28 – Crispy

I'd been seeing a lot of funny cartoons featuring Venn diagrams and wanted to try my hand at using one to combine these prompts in a funny, intersecting way.

Day Eight “Watch”

The header illustration, inspired by the Black Watch from Game of Thrones. I'm writing about this after the others because it was produced later. As for my illustration of the last prompt, “Pressure”, that's – you guessed it – not done, yet. Buuuuuuut – this article is! 

And just in time, too! Here are the prompts for this year's Inktober, if you'd like to draw along: 

And here are the prior Inktober articles, if you wish for more: 

https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2019/12/a-little-backstory-on-inktober.html

https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2020/10/inktober-2020-is-under-way.html

https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2020/11/more-fun-with-inktober.html

https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2021/03/another-shot-of-inktober-so-what-if-its.html

https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2022/04/inktober-restrospective-2020-part-two.html

https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2022/08/inktober-2021-starting-off-with-bang.html

https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2022/09/inktober-2021-did-i-start-unraveling.html

All images are my original art

For regular shenanigans, please follow my Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/allsortsofart

Inktober 2021 - Did I Start Unraveling?

 

In my last post, I was crowing righteously about having started Inktober on time, for once, and better yet, posting three drawings in as many days. But on Day Four, despite having made a rough sketch in advance, I hit a snag.

Well, actually, it was a knot.

The Day Four prompt, “Knot”, had inspired me to draw a very large and intricate snarl. It had good graphic impact, but, uh, did I mention “intricate”? Yeah, that part ended up slowing me waaaaay down. By the end of the day, as time was running out, I posted the work-in-progress pic, above, to let my fellow artists know I hadn't dropped out so soon, but I had indeed bitten off more than I could chew (after all, I didn't quit my full-time job during Inktober, and there are so many hours in the day to make tiny marks on a piece of paper). The next day, I finished it, so, not too late, I guess.

I started on Day Five, “Raven”, right away, but as that was also a pretty detailed piece, I didn't get it posted in time, either. However, by that time, other people were starting to post things late, so I wasn't the lone laggard. Less than a week into the month—you can see why it's called a challenge. A surprisingly large number of people drop out completely within the first few days. Producing art is hard.

The prompt for Day Six, “Spirit”, was one of those fun ones that could have different meanings. Alcohol? Ghosties? As much as I love a creepy Halloween picture (remember my “Wisp” picture from the year before), I didn't necessarily want to go to that well, figuring it would be a VERY busy one. I chose a more innocent type of spirit – school spirit! My cheerleader has a K on her sweater – which is my husband's initial. Hey, when you're the artist, you get to make the design decisions. I have a tendency to incorporate friends and family in my work from time to time to make it more personal and fun.

Day Seven's prompt was “Fan”, and since I'd already illustrated team spirit on Day Six, I went with a more Asian reading of “fan”. I chose a tiger because of their popularity and because I like tigers, not because it was the year of the tiger. It wasn't—that didn't happen until February. If I'd been thinking along those lines, I could have done an ox, but the sinuous tiger has a better shape for the fan, I think. A fire-breathing tiger, yet! 

Seven for seven, so far. Did I keep it going? Did I catch up? Did I implode in a huge flameout of ignominy? Stay tuned, and we'll see if I can finish with 2021 before Inktober 2022 starts. That would be novel, wouldn't it? 

Here are the prior Inktober articles, if you wish for more! 

https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2019/12/a-little-backstory-on-inktober.html

https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2020/10/inktober-2020-is-under-way.html

https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2020/11/more-fun-with-inktober.html

https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2021/03/another-shot-of-inktober-so-what-if-its.html

https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2022/04/inktober-restrospective-2020-part-two.html

https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2022/08/inktober-2021-starting-off-with-bang.html

All images are my original art

For regular shenanigans, please follow my Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/allsortsofart

Inktober 2021 - Starting Off with a Bang!

If you have read about my prior Inktober exploits (and I would like for you to! Links below), you know that I have fallen laughably short of completing the challenge of drawing a different ink drawing a day for the 31 prompts. Usually that is because either I don't start on Day 1, or because it just takes me too long on each drawing, so I start falling behind almost immediately. I do always get a few good drawings out of it, and hey, there's nothing wrong with that. 

For this past Inktober, though, I formulated a pretty good plan of attack. I decided to play to my strengths, which are: 1. coming up with ideas for the prompts and 2. establishing a quick pencil sketch. These would, hopefully, make up for my weakness, which is how dang long it takes me to get something inked.

The prompts for Inktober are released before October actually starts - at least a week or so. I belong to an Inktober group on Facebook, and there were quite a few people who just jumped the gun, beginning to post their drawings before the month even started, resulting in a lot of caterwauling from purists who insist on doing it "the right way", producing one drawing each day, on the day (the creator of Inktober said there's no "right way" to do Inktober and there are no rules. It's just a personal challenge). I do tend to agree that I don't want to see artwork too early, though, because I like to consider the prompts in a vacuum, coming up with my own ideas without having been influenced by anyone else's interpretation. Of course, the easy fix for that is to not look at the group's posts until I'm ready. 

So, time to launch my plan. When the prompts were released, I didn't start making ink drawings and posting them early. What I did instead was start doing rough after rough in pencil. Over that "preview" week, I drew the first nine prompts as pencil sketches and then started inking Day One, "Crystal", above (you can click on any picture to view it larger). Of course, the obvious picture would be of crystals, but the prompt made me think of the Marvel superhero Crystal. I wasn't interested in drawing her, specifically, but it got me in a superhero frame of mind, so I made up my own superhero, a witchy woman with a magical staff topped with a crystal ball and adorned with a few other crystals. 

I gleefully posted my drawing, finished the night before, on October 1st, and industriously started working on inks for the second sketch. Once again, I was able to post this one on time. The prompt was "Suit", and in the spirit of COVID, I did a sketch of a family wearing hazmat suits. This was based on a still of Dustin Hoffman and Renee Russo from the movie Outbreak, but I drew different people and added a child to emphasize how it affects everyone, regardless of age: 

My Day Three piece was also completed on time - a record! The prompt was "Vessel", and so I drew a spacefaring vessel. I decided to make it kind of cartoony and cute, with a lot of fins like a fish. I gave it a pretty, starry background, to give a little variety from the plain linework-on-white technique of the first two drawings: 

Pleased with my timely performance so far, I started on my fourth picture. The prompt was "Knot". Was I able to post that one on time...or knot? Stay tuned for the next installment! 

Here are the prior Inktober posts - check them out for more inky fun! 

https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2019/12/a-little-backstory-on-inktober.html

https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2020/10/inktober-2020-is-under-way.html

https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2020/11/more-fun-with-inktober.html

https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2021/03/another-shot-of-inktober-so-what-if-its.html

https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2022/04/inktober-restrospective-2020-part-two.html

For regular shenanigans, please follow my Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/allsortsofart

Inktober Restrospective – 2020, Part Two

Those of you who have been following my Inktober series already know that I am hilariously inept at getting through the whole thing or even reporting back in anything like a timely fashion. But since art is forever, that doesn't matter at all! So, here in 2022, let's talk about Inktober 2020! 

In Part One, https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-inktober-retrospective-continues.html , I covered the first four prompts of Inktober 2020, explaining what I chose to illustrate and why. This post will cover Days 5 through 9. You can click on any of the photos to see them larger. 

Day 5 “Blade” - hey, I made a funny! I think it's funny, anyway. Looking for a different way to illustrate “blade” than the obvious – a sword—I thought about blades of grass, helicopter blades, and then, wiper blades. And wouldn't you know, it came right back around to a sword. Not quite so obvious, though...

Day 6 “Rodent” - stand aside, Mickey Mouse! This is a Patagonian cavy, also called a mara, one of the world's largest rodents (along with capybaras and beavers). I actually used to take care of one at the exotic animal rescue that I volunteered at one summer, and he was an adorable thing, looking for all the world like a cross between a rabbit and a miniature deer. I really like to do wildlife illustration when I have enough time to do it justice, and I thought this came out pretty well. I did put a lot of work into it.

Day 7 “Fancy” - the dual meaning of fancy – something extravagant and magnificent and also something that is a flight of the imagination – made me think of the Black hairstyle competitions I've seen, with the models' hair shaped into creative, gravity-defying styles and adorned with decorations. I came up with a design that features flowers and dangling beads, with a dove perched on the top. The floral accents are echoed in her jewelry, as well. I'm not a hairstylist, but I think this would be fairly simple to construct on an actual model. It might even be considered too unchallenging, but I like it.

Day 8 “Teeth” - I wanted to create something more graphic for this prompt – and I don't mean graphic like gore, I mean graphic like graphic design. That is to say, I wanted to get away from my typical fussy, detailed inking style and create something with bold blocks of color and just a few important details with line. The result is somewhat like the minimalist, poster-style design that works by using the two-dimensional space in a dynamic way, instead of striving to recreate the semblance of a three-dimensional subject. It was a nice change of pace!

Day 9 “Throw” - an irresistible and obvious chance to sneak Wonder Woman in. I am rather shocked that I hadn't done it before! For this drawing, I used a pale-peach-colored art marker to add a little interest and depth.

And that, my friends, was as far as I got through Inktober 2020 - just the first nine prompts. Blimey! It was certainly better than the first couple of years, but in 2019, I'd managed to nail down 13 of them, although I didn't finish them all in October--or even in 2019! So hey, maybe there's hope for the remaining 22 prompts, yet!

...nah, probably not!

 

Anyway, if you haven't seen the other posts yet, please check them out:

https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2019/12/a-little-backstory-on-inktober.html

https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2020/10/inktober-2020-is-under-way.html

https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2020/11/more-fun-with-inktober.html

https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2021/03/another-shot-of-inktober-so-what-if-its.html

For regular shenanigans, please follow my Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/allsortsofart

The Inktober Retrospective Continues: 2020, Part One

Heyyy, about time, isn't it? Sorry, I've been super busy with the Big Ol' Bucket o' Useful blog, and I only have so much productivity in me. But today, I'm feeling ornery enough to post in both places, so yay! 

First of all, you were promised a finished version of the Dragon pic in my last article (here: https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2021/03/ ), which featured only a WIP (work in progress) picture of it. Here he is, in all his beastly glory! (Click on any photo to see it larger)

All right, that gets Inktober 2019 out of the way. I'm a bit behind, so without further ado, let's get on with Inktober 2020!

Day 1 “Fish” - This may remind readers “of a certain age” of Mr. Limpet, although I didn't really do the pic with him in mind. He certainly wasn't a Siamese fighting fish (not that this guy is, exactly – bettas don't have barbels); one presumes he was a limpet, after all. Also I don't believe he ever had a pipe. But don't worry—it's just a bubble pipe!

Day 2 “Wisp” - like most of these clever prompts, a "wisp" can be different things: a wisp of hair, a wisp of smoke...as usual, I did a deeper dive on the prompt, because it made me think of Will o' the wisp, which—hey--is actually where the jack o'lantern started. And, hey again, it's also related to the Japanese firefox, and, hey thirdly, the Brazilian fire serpent! So yeah, that's where all this came from. Makes a neat picture, I think.

Day 3 “Bulky” - I couldn't resist. If your mom ever bundled you up so tight in a snowsuit that you could barely move, you will understand this feeling. It was well-portrayed by Ralphie's little brother in the movie A Christmas Story.

Day 4 “Radio” - This is a pretty straightforward illustration of the concept, because I'm sentimental about it. It reminded me of my dad, who was born in the 20s and grew up listening to Big Band music and radio plays like The Shadow on a set that might have looked a good bit like this one (I used a photo of a vintage GE radio for reference). Yes, it is possible to have nostalgia for a time before you were even alive.

Stay tuned for more 2020 fun! 

Here are the prior Inktober posts, if you missed anything: 

https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2019/12/a-little-backstory-on-inktober.html

https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2020/10/inktober-2020-is-under-way.html

https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2020/11/more-fun-with-inktober.html

https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2021/03/another-shot-of-inktober-so-what-if-its.html

For regular shenanigans, please follow my Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/allsortsofart

Another Shot of Inktober (So What if it's March?)

 

I hope that you have enjoyed my previous posts about Inktober (see links below, if you want to catch up), and, as promised, I am following up with another batch of prompts and what ideas they inspired in me to illustrate.

My last installment got us up to Day 9 of 2019, because I am on a very slow roll, indeed, but never fear: We can finish the whole year right now, because I did not finish the entire 31 days. I did get up to Day 14, although one of those is still in the works (yes, I said “still”. You never have to say never with art, my friends). That said, however, 14 days (okay, 13 and a half) is still a magnificent showing, compared to prior years, so: quite proud of self, really.

Day 10, “Pattern” (above; detail shown here) – I loved this prompt, because it let me indulge my doodly side, and what I like doodling is vines, among other things. A fine black Sharpie, a green highlighter pen, and a medium-point red Sharpie were all I needed to create this rambling beauty.

Day 11, “Snow” - This pic was a fairly quickly-composed pencil sketch that languished in the sketchbook for quite a while before getting inked about a year later, during Inktober 2020. I'm not crazy about how certain areas came out, but this is all just fun, so, even lame results are still results.

Day 12, “Dragon”, is currently unfinished, but it's definitely not unstarted. I did a pencil sketch, which I started inking recently. Maybe I'll get it done before Inktober starts this year, maybe I won't, but I'll endeavor to bring it to you at some point; just try to keep up with the blistering pace of my blog posts so you don't miss it. Anyway, here's a WIP (work in progress) shot as a teaser:

Day 13, “Ash” - For this one, I didn't want to bother with a pencil sketch, just worked alla prima (that's art lingo for just throwing down, no sketch, underpainting, or other preparation). As you can see, I worked quick and loose to keep that fresh, sketchy feel.

We are now go for Inktober 2020. Maybe I'll even get to it before Inktober 2021 starts!  

Previous posts about Inktober:

https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2019/12/a-little-backstory-on-inktober.html

https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2020/10/inktober-2020-is-under-way.html

https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2020/11/more-fun-with-inktober.html

For regular shenanigans, please follow my Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/allsortsofart

More Fun with Inktober

Inktober 2020 has officially ended, but I still have so much to say and to show you! In the last post, I started sharing the drawings I had done for Inktober 2019. I started them when it was still October, but the month ran out on me. Nevertheless, there is no reason not to continue with the artwork, so I kept doing a little here and there all throughout the following months. Why not? It kept me making artwork, and I had complained in this post about how hard it is to be motivated to create when I don't have the pressure of a portrait commission and its attendant deadline. I enjoyed continuing "Yeartober" (maybe I should trademark that), and I will probably keep going. 

Now, on to the artwork: 

Day 6 - Husky (above)

I frequently do realistic animal illustrations, but I wanted to make a comical illustration of a husky dog. He's not extremely cartoony because I did use photo reference to ensure accuracy in coloration and general features. He's friendly-looking, though, isn't he? I wanted to make it all about those pointy ears and that giant schnozz! 

Day 7 - Enchanted

I enjoyed the addition of limited color in my day three picture, "Bait" (it's in the previous post), so I used the same transparent green color to add a little glow of magic. 

Day 8 - Frail

Okay, this one is a bit heavy and conceptual. The person pictured appears to be old and frail and clearly has wasted away in some dark dungeon for a long, long time. But we can observe that the frail hand could easily slip out of the large, loose shackle--and if that weren't enough, the shackle itself is connected only by a little paper chain. My attempted commentary here is that some people are imprisoned of their own volition or may feel trapped within a prison of their own mind. Maybe they have grown so accustomed to their situation that they don't take a chance to escape when one is presented. There are many factors that could come into play: fear, stubbornness, denial, delusion, depression, sense of duty.  

Day 9 - Swing

Another political cartoon, after years of NOT doing any! Well, it's been a pretty crazy year. The prompt "swing" made me think of "swing states", and so I drew North Carolina with a scale to depict how the state swings as voters decide to switch support from one candidate to the other. But North Carolina is often "Too Close to Call" right up until the very last vote is counted -- as can be seen this very day. 

I hope you have enjoyed the latest Inktober installment. I did a few more for 2019, which I will cover next time, before starting in on the 2020 work. Have you decided to illustrate any of the prompts yourself? 

For regular shenanigans, please follow my Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/allsortsofart

Inktober 2020 is Under Way!

Well under way. As a matter of fact, seeing as how it's October 28th, the dang thing is almost over! However, since technically it's still October, I'm doing a bit better than my last post about it, which was in December. Read it. It's fun! https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2019/12/a-little-backstory-on-inktober.html

Actually, that was my last ACTUAL post on this entire blog. In DECEMBER. Oof. 

All I can say is - I did tell you I was lazy. Also pandemic, yadda yadda. The pandemic has kept me from meeting in person with the art group; however, since we also belong to a Facebook group, everyone is sharing their Inktober work, and that spurs me on. I have been participating this year, and will probably continue after the month is over, because you know I won't finish on time. I am already hilariously behind, but that's cool - it's a good excuse for me to not participate in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month, for the uninitiated) for the "however long it's been in existence"th year. 

But wait - in my last post, I shared some of my work from Inktobers past, and I shared the prompts for Inktober 2019, should you be interested. But I hadn't yet shared the drawings I did for Inktober 2019. So, um, time to do that now, clearly. I'll get to 2020 when I get to it, okay? Who knows, that might even be before Inktober 2021. One can hope, anyway. 

Day 1 - Ring

One of the reasons I like the Inktober prompts is that they are often open-ended, which leads to a lot of creative possibilities. Think of all the different kinds of rings - the kind you wear on your finger, the kind you leave in the tub, a "faerie ring" in the forest, that creepy movie where the little girl crawled out of the TV. There's also the verb form of ring, which reminds me of telephones, church bells, school bells, alarms. You can make conceptual associations, such as "let freedom ring" or "for whom does the bell toll", or even draw the ill-fated Challenger shuttle, downed by a failure of one of the o-rings. I went the predictable route with this one: an engagement ring. But perhaps not the predictable response...

Day 2 - Mindless

It's creepy-looking, I guess. Just a commentary on how everyone is so into what's on their phones that they are often unaware what's happening around them in the real world. Also a bit of social commentary that has been especially on my mind the last few years, about how people are so easily swayed by what they see presented as "facts" online that critical thinking seems to be going very much by the wayside, leaving us without a mind of our own, or so set in our own beliefs that we tune out opposing (or even different) points of view and join those who only want to hear those same views in a "hive mind".

Day 3 - Bait

I follow politics, but it's rare for me to make what might be considered a "political cartoon". I have pretty strong feelings about how funding from NRA lobbyists have allowed our gun culture to run rampant and cause so much heartache. The vast majority of Americans, including gun owners, want reasonable regulation on guns, such as comprehensive background checks. But money talks, right? As our nefarious lobbyist says, "best bait ever."

Day 4 - Freeze

Continuing my streak of bad actors, here's Mr. Freeze from DC's Batman comic book and movie franchise. Chillin' like a villain! 

Day 5 - Build (pictured above)

Okay, here's a funny one, because I can't draw incisive and depressing political cartoons every day (or really, draw anything every day). I think we've all seen those houses whose owners obviously had more time and money than sense, or places with a rather odd mix of architectural styles. I figure, why not ALL of them? How many different kinds do you see? 

One more thing I will add about this year's Inktober is the ist of prompts, in case you would like to get started while it's still actually going. And if you start late, hey - you're in good company! 

Inktober 2020 Prompts:

1. fish

2. wisp

3. bulky

4. radio 

5. blade

6. rodent

7. fancy

8. teeth

9. throw

10. hope

11. disgusting

12. slippery

13. dune

14. armor

15. outpost

16. rocket

17. storm

18. trap

19 dizzy

20. coral

21. sleep

22. chef

23. rip

24. dig

25. buddy
26. hide

27. music
28. float

29. shoes

30. ominous

31.  crawl

Thanks for reading! I will share more, hopefully soon! 

Yay, here is the next installment: https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2020/11/more-fun-with-inktober.html

All images original art by the author. Use of "Mr. Freeze" character trademarked by DC Comics is not intended to infringe. The NRA can kiss my wazoo. 

For regular shenanigans, please follow my Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/allsortsofart

A Little Backstory on Inktober

Okay, yes, it's December, and Inktober is in October, but I'll be honest: I'm still working on it. And there's never not a good time to create or talk about art, so let's do that.

By the way, in case you don't know what Inktober is, it is a month-long challenge to create a different piece of art with ink every single day (I'm not going to say a drawing, although most of them are, because you could also do a painting in ink wash). It was invented in 2009 by Jake Parker, who runs the Inktober website at www.inktober.com. Every year when Inktober rolls around, Jake publishes prompts for each day, in case you have a little difficulty coming up with ideas, or if you like the challenge of how to conceptualize the prompts. You don't have to follow the prompts, though; the point is just to make yourself create on a regular basis. Keep those art muscles limber!

Now, as you may know, I am terribly lazy, and "challenges" are even more challenge-y because of that. My first year participating in Inktober was in 2017, and I didn't know about the prompts, so I just drew whatever. Ink is actually one of my go-to media, as anyone who has been hanging out on my Facebook page or on this blog probably knows (the title pic is from a calendar I did back in college that had all ink drawings), so this should be a breeze, right?

Well, the laziness, remember.

Anyway, that first year saw me produce about four drawings, all in ballpoint pen, most on Post-It notes, because I did all of them at work. Here's one:

I hadn't started on October 1st, and I probably didn't even do those four drawings on consecutive days. But, I did do them, and without Inktober, I probably wouldn't have done them, so there.

Last year, I actually did start on October 1st. I think I did know that there were prompts, but I said pffft and still drew what I felt like drawing. Again, I did all of my drawings at work, but at least I did them on actual paper and not colored Post-It notes:

And yes, again, I only produced a few drawings. I was going to do a stylized alphabet, because what could be easier? And it would get me through 26 days without having to even come up with any original ideas. Well, I got allllll the way to...B. Yes, I managed to do even less last year than the first year. A, B, and one other drawing - some floral doodle thingy. But hey, again, I drew something. I had tangible results of my minimal efforts.

This year, I started Inktober late, and I had a very good excuse: I had a portrait commission to fill. Once that was done, though, it was still October, so I though, "what the heck"? and visited the Inktober site for the prompts. The prompts for Inktober 2019, just in case you want to toy with it, are:
1. ring                 
2. mindless         
3. bait                 
4. freeze             
5. build
6. husky
7. enchanted
8. frail
9. swing
10. pattern
11. snow
12. dragon
13. ash
14. overgrown
15. legend
16. wild
17. ornament
18. misfit
19. sling
20. tread
21. treasure
22. ghost
23. ancient
24. dizzy
25. tasty
26. dark
27. coat
28. ride
29. injured
30. catch
31. ripe

I'm sure you are wondering how things went this year, aren't you? Actually, not too badly. As I said, I started extremely late, but this past year, I became active in two local art groups, and having companions who were hitting Inktober pretty hard, as well as chances to join them for drawing sessions, was very helpful. Eschewing the scrap paper I'd been festooning with my scrawls, I bought a small sketchbook that was actually dedicated for the purpose. This made a difference in the quality of my drawings, as well. I did pencil sketches first, instead of working alla prima (this is not against the rules--you get to do ink your way, and that means any way).

In the interest of not making this post overly long, though, I will do a follow-up concerning this year's effort, since it can be another whole post unto itself, maybe even two or three. Stay tuned!

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