Everyone in some way or form has this thirst for art, whether it’s doodling in a notebook, paint by number, or even collecting vinyl. 

During October, this thirst is usually quenched with decorating for halloween whether it be indoors with figurines and trinkets or outside with lights and carved jack-o-lanterns. 

Illustrator Jake Parker created something perfect for aiding people with this urge to create–Inktober.

Inktober is an event for artists all around the world to participate in order to develop positive drawing habits. It consists of completing drawings according to the posted prompts either once a day or once a week. Participants include students in high school, college, and artists who ink for a career.

As Jake Parker was growing up in Mesa, Arizona, he knew he wanted to be an artist. He began illustrating for companies such as Marvel and Dungeons & Dragons and illustrating for movies such as Rio and Epic, and then his own work starting with Missile Mouse in 2008. Missile Mouse is an action comic book following the adventures of a big-eared mouse in space. After developing experience with paper and pen, Jake became interested in using the body as a canvas, or inking. Inking is a term used to describe the art of tattooing. Jake began inking in 2009. He started Inktober to develop positive inking habits such as hatching and stippling. Hatching uses closely spaced parallel lines to create tonal or shading effects, and stippling uses small countless dots to create an image or design.

In October 2011, Inktober grew in popularity and had people all over the world inking or practicing inking all throughout the month of October. In later years, Inktober evolved into an event for all types of artists, not just tattoo artists. Jake Parker’s desire to improve his inking skills turned into a worldwide event promoting positive art habits for artists everywhere. The effects of Inktober can be observed in our very own school.

Some of Cheyenne’s art teachers include Inktober activities into their curriculum. One of these teachers, Mrs. McCall, a Drawing and Painting One and Two teacher, said “I wanted my students to be drawing outside of class and to get them to share their art.” McCall tasked her students with doing one drawing a day according to the Inktober prompts, and then post them on social media to share with other artists. McCall has been assigning this project for three years now. 

When asked about the best part of Inktober, McCall said, “I am happy with the body of work the students end up with when they’re done.” McCall’s students thoroughly enjoyed the Inktober assignment. 

“I thought the Inktober assignment was really fun and engaging,” Sophomore Lily Hartsfield-Wickes stated. “It got me drawing at home which I usually don’t do but I enjoyed it” 

Overall, Inktober is a great event for all types of artists to participate in regardless of skill. Mrs. McCall keeps some of the students’ best work, and the prompts were very well expressed in their drawings. Inktober’s goals were most definitely accomplished here at Cheyenne. 

Jake Parker has a website with information, prompts, and everything else you may need to do with Inktober. Parker also has his own website for more information about him and his work. You can access these sites at  inktober.com and mrjakeparker.com.