JOIN USIt’s October — sorry ‘InkTober’ — again, and artists across the globe are picking up their pens for some themed doodles.
Started as a challenge by US-based illustrator Jake Parker in 2009, it has, over the years, become a worldwide movement of sorts. To be part of it, you only have to pick up your pen, draw something and post a picture of it on social media, hashtagging it ‘#inktober’ and, this year, ‘#inktober2016’. And do it the entire month.
Several Bengalureans have taken up the challenge. Prajwal Acharya, a full-time artist is giving the challenge his first shot this year. “I follow Jake Parker, and found out about it last year, but by then, half the month was up,” he says. Parker has uploaded an “official prompt list” for 2016 on the InkTober website for those who might want to follow it. “Since this my first time, I’m going by it,” says Prajwal.
The engineer-turned-artist hasn’t been able to keep up with his one-a-day quota of doodles. “I was travelling for a week and just got back,” he says. So he’s come up with a solution, though perhaps not strictly in keeping with the InkTober rules: he’s rolling three themes into a single
doodle. “I’ve just finished 7, 8, 9 (lost, rock, broken),” he admits. Bhavana S N’s Instagram page features 31 sketches from last October. The user interface designer at an information technologies company does sketch regularly, “though not every day”. “I tend to sketch during my coffee break, or whenever else I’m free. I make illustrations that depict women,” she offers.
Like Bhavana, animator Jatin Rosh brings out his sketchpad when he breaks for lunch. “Even though the work I do is related to art, I don’t get enough time to do personal sketches,” he explains. Using ink-on-paper or any other non-virtual medium, Jatin thinks, helps enthusiasts like him hone their skills.
This can be quite a challenge for anyone who works in the digital space, adds illustrator Ojoswi Sur. “But once you sit down and start, it feels great,” he says. “But if you find yourself faced with a creative block, something like InkTober is great because you can see so many people working under the same umbrella. But keeping this up throughout the year might not be possible,” shares Ojoswi.
Sonaksha Iyengar, an illustrator, is not entirely new to InkTober. “I’ve been following the movement closely for quite a while now, and I did a few sketches last year,” she says. She started on October 2 this time but has managed to squeeze in an extra sketch along the way. “Having a restricted medium (ink-on-paper) helps gives you a push to be creative,” she elaborates. “Inspiration can come from a conversation, something I’ve read or listened to or even dreamt.”
MTech student Sachin Prabhu doodles at the stroke of midnight, “when the ghosts walk”. Rather fittingly, he began his first InkTober with a sketch of Neil Gaiman’s Caroline, the title character of the popular novelist’s first book for children, a horror-fantasy.
“I’m depicting characters who have influenced me in some way,” he says. Those from ‘V for Vendetta’, the ‘Batman’ series and the anime ‘Death Note’ are part of his doodles. He weaves a quote from them into his sketches. On October 15, former president Abdul Kalam’s birth anniversary, Sachin deviated from the norm. “I decided to draw Kalam sir instead of a character out of a book,” he says.
Graphic novel writer Sreejita Biswas is using InkTober to create her own characters.
“I’m making strips each day — I haven’t been uploading them all — and I’ll put them together in a graphic short story,” she says. “It will be a post-apocalyptic story.”