Inktober establishing annual tradition of art

Holmes Junior High students are sharing their Inktober creations on social media.

Artists around the world have been readying themselves daily as the list of prompts for this year’s Inktober get announced. One of these artists participating is sophomore Ella Stineman.

Inktober is an event where artists get a different prompt every day for a drawing. It is up to the artists whether or not they do it every day, what they draw, or even if they use the official prompts. This month of drawing is an inspiration for artists. 

“I feel like it’s a good way for me to practice, but I’m also really busy this month, so I’m not too hard on myself for not getting the drawings done. I’m really relaxed about it this year,” Stineman said. “Inktober gives artists a month’s worth of practice, and practice will always improve one’s art skills.”

Inktober has a different list of drawing prompts every year. This year the first few prompts were ring, mindless, bait and freeze. Many artists feel pressured to draw every day.

“It takes commitment, and if you skip a day, it’s no big deal. I’m trying something new where I post a week’s worth of drawings on a certain day of the week. Having a system helps,” Stineman said. “Art block is a super real thing, and it sucks. I sometimes skip a day and just do two drawings the next.”

Stineman said that “Drawing has always been a huge part of my life,” and that “My mom is an artist, and I got a lot of my inspiration from her and other artists around me and online.”

There are many different ways to celebrate this month, and art teacher at Holmes Junior High Ashley Cardamone has decided to help motivate her students with this challenge.

“In our version of the challenge at Holmes, students bring their finished drawings in to one of the art teachers every day so we can track their progress. We display as many drawings as we can at school and also post a selection on our Instagram, @holmesartdept. There is a chance for prizes for students who complete at least half of the challenge, and even better prizes for students who complete the whole thing,” Cardamone said.

Artists get complete control over how they create their drawings. They have the freedom to draw as detailed as they want.

Cardamone said, “This month of drawings has such a positive effect on students. The intent of the Inktober challenge is to improve artist habits by encouraging artists to draw every day, even for a little bit. I love getting to see students so engaged and dedicated. The challenge has also created quite a buzz around the school. Over 40 student artists are in on the challenge.” 

This year is the first year that the school has participated in this challenge. It was suggested by the new art teacher, and Cardamone said, “It has been so popular that I’m sure this will become a tradition.”

Inktober was first created by artist Jake Parker in 2009 as a way to challenge himself. With the rise of social media, it has been adopted by many people around the world.

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