Thoughts on Completing My First Inktober Challenge
I may be UX designer, but my first love is drawing. My lifelong love of drawing is what prompted me to go to art school. Doodling silly things is one of my favorite things to do, and I’ve always wanted to do an Inktober challenge.
If you’re unaware, Inktober is a yearly drawing challenge during the month of October. Illustrators are given a prompt each day, and are supposed to use actual pen and paper to complete them. (I used my iPad and procreate simply because I found it easier to use and less messy.)
Unfortunately, I am not so good at keeping with a habit. I start out with a lot of enthusiasm only to crash and burn after a few days. In a rare exception, I have been really good at building a fitness habit this year. After seeing that I was capable of regularly going to the gym, I wanted to see if I could complete Inktober this year.
And (Spoiler Alert) I did it! There were some days I missed and made up for it the next day. Some days I really didn’t like the prompt and didn’t come up with amazing ideas, but I successfully completed 31 days of drawings. In those 31 days, I learned a lot about myself and about creativity.
You have to be ok with imperfection.
Some days I had several hours to work on a drawing, while other days I only had a few minutes. There were also days where I forgot about the challenge and missed it. Other days I didn’t like the prompt, and it took a while for me to come up with an idea. But I didn’t let my temporary set backs turn into a permanent set back. I just tried to take extra time the next day to get that drawing done.
The idea that progress is better than perfection is hard to internalize, and it’s something I’ve been working on for most of my adult life. Being able to put it into practice (in a small, low-stakes way) was very helpful. Letting go of my perfectionist tendencies is what allowed me to actually finish the challenge.
Don’t do it for likes.
There’s no way to predict what people will like. There were some drawings I loved that didn’t get a lot of attention, while some drawings that I spent almost no time on, got the most likes. But no matter how many likes I got, I tried to enjoy the process and make something that I loved.
As a creative professional, sharing something that other creative professionals will see is very stressful. But when I started this challenge I told myself that I wouldn’t get caught up in what others thought—I wasn’t drawing in order to be the best illustrator, I just wanted to draw more regularly and have fun.
Creativity is hard and thrives on structure; don’t wait for “the muse.”
Drawing is fun. Being creative is fun. But being creative is hard, and that can be discouraging if you’re not prepared for it. Fortunately having a degree and career in creativity has helped me deal with this reality. I typically don’t freak out if I’m struggling to create something or come up with an idea. A lot of people think being creative means waiting for a great idea to pop into your head, but the truth is a lot more boring. If I waited for the right mood to strike, I would never have gotten any of these drawings done. Creativity can be hard work, and you just have to start somewhere to get the ideas to come. I learned set an alarm in the evening to remind me to draw. That kept me from getting lost in a Netflix spiral. Most people think that discipline and creativity are opposites, but I’ve always found that giving yourself structure helps you become more creative.
Let your growth be the measure of success.
When people find out I draw, they always say “Oh I could never be an artist, I’m not very good.” But the only difference between a bad artist and a good artist is practice. Some people might have more natural talent than others, but talent alone won’t get you anywhere. Sure, I’ve always loved drawing and have some natural ability, but the only reason I’m as good as I am is because I practiced, and because I keep practicing.
Were all of my Inktober drawings good? No, not even a little bit. But I got to play around with different styles, and I learned a lot about drawing in Procreate, and I can see improvement in my work overall. And even though not every drawing was a winner, I still have 31 more drawings than I did at the start of October.
