What do you do
when you have some free time and a pen in hand? You start doodling. While some can only manage a
scribble, there are those who can create masterpieces. With Inktober, the
challenge is to ink sketch with a pre-set prompt list in mind; one theme for
each day of the month of October. Every October, artists all over the world
take on the Inktober drawing challenge by doing one ink drawing a day the
entire month. Jake Parker, an artist based in the United States of America,
created Inktober in 2009 to improve his own inking skills. However, since then,
the challenge has caught on worldwide.
Fabian Gonsalves, an
illustrator from Calangute, follows the latest trends in the cartooning world
and it is no surprise that as soon as the month of October begun, his ink work
was one of the first from Goa to hit social media. He followed the challenge
last year too, where he created artworks around his adventures with his
labrador buddy Jake, based on the various themes of the month. This year, even
though he’s busy with the upcoming visual showcase of Cartoonists and
Illustrators of Goa 2017 in November, he is trying his best to follow the 31
days of illustrating with ink, featuring the adventures of ‘Piggyboy and Oink’.
The rules are very
simple, make a drawing in ink, post it online, hashtag it with #inktober and
#inktober2017 and that’s it. The challenge can be followed daily, on alternate
days or even once a week as it was aimed to help an artist improve their
drawing skills.
Rohit Chari, an
illustrator and designer from Panjim who specialises in personalised
caricatures, has taken up the challenge this year. “I could see the art
community and art enthusiasts uploading their pen and ink artworks on various
themes, which I found fascinating and interesting. At first, I didn’t know what
the challenge was all about, but through fellow artists, I learnt more about
it. I will be uploading my artwork in the evening. It’s so much fun and pen and
ink is so satisfying. I get to show my skills besides digital artworks and
paintings,” explains Rohit.
“Normally, we don’t
get to practice pen and ink or artwork on paper as the demand these days is of
digital artworks, which is time saving. We don’t get to try our traditional
techniques or skills. This challenge gives me that reason to push myself. I
don’t take it up as a competition. I just wait to be done with my other work
and start today’s Inktober sketch,” he adds.
Interestingly, every
artist is free to select which list they would like to follow. Nadia Azavedo
from Caranzalem is an artist and illustrator who took up the challenge last
year but didn’t follow it consistently; something she wishes to remedy this
year. “I have planned what I would like to draw and I love exploring the
possibilities with the traditional ink and pen medium. The challenge improves
my skills and shows where I am lacking. Every day it is an itch to sit and
complete one drawing for the day. I am following a fairytale list by Simon
Fletcher rather than the standard Jake Parker list. The themes are based on
fairytale characters,” says Nadia.
Esuf
Mataji from Porvorim is working in film production yet his love for sketching
and illustration lets his creative juices flow from the digital medium to the
traditional ink and pen. “I took up the challenge last year but this year I am
more serious on completing it. I sit after work to draw and it gives me a break
from the computer and digital drawing, to actually sitting with a pen in my
hand. I have already planned what I want to work on for the rest of the month,”
says Esuf.
