A quick guide to Inktober

You may have seen people talk about Inktober recently. But what is it, and why should artists get involved in it?

Inktober

During October, artists draw a sketch once a day throughout the month and ink it (hence Inktober). There are various ways people do this- There is the official prompt (above) which gives artists a theme to do this and allows them to focus without having to come up with their own themes or ideas.

However, you don’t necessarily need to stick with the official prompt. If you look online there are a whole load of other prompts available. Indeed, some artists have their own themes, such as the example below!

#Inktober2019 Day One. Featuring 1945’s #TheScarab!#Inktober #Inktoberverse #CharacterDesign #PublicDomain #CharacterRedesign pic.twitter.com/HqYyhKVew5

— Ben Allen (@BENECILIN) October 1, 2019

I really like Ben Allen’s idea with this- take public domain superheroes and reinvent them. It’s a really cool idea and I love seeing the concepts he comes up with.

If you find yourself getting stuck during Inktober (and fancy a change from the official list), we also have our writing prompts here to give you a different form of inspiration (artwork by Elie Renard Delisle Lafortune).

Another potential form of inspiration is our roleplay forum (link here, thanks John Paul Guerra for setting up, plus a shoutout to Van Hikari, Som, Louis and all the regulars!)

Foxtober 2019

I also saw someone describe this month as Foxtober on Twitter, so decided to come up with an additional Foxtober list for people who fancy a different set of prompts.

 

The sharp ones among you will have noticed that the prompts (like the writing prompts) make various references to the comic. However, how you choose to interpret the prompts is up to you.

My creative tips

While I am a writer and not an artist myself, I have found a few creative tips can help when you are dealing with a creative block. First of all, we have a creative tips playlist on our Youtube channel (link below)

Broadly speaking though for Inktober, here are a few tips-

1. Aim for a sketch per day but don’t beat yourself up if you don’t hit it exactly
2. Try not to agonise too much over an idea- think of it as improv and come up with an idea you can quickly sketch out.
3. Try to keep it simple- You want something that won’t take up too much work
4. Use the time you’ve got- I find I work easier with a film on in the background. Work breaks, riding on the bus, going for a coffee, all of these are potential places and times to do your work. If you find it hard doing it at home, try drawing in a cafe or going outside.
5. Influence is all around you- Look at DVD covers, artists online, other artists on social media etc.
6. Remember, this is not a race. Do what you feel comfortable with. If you feel stressed out or your hand hurts you can stop when you want to and take breaks. Being creative is good but equally physical and mental health need looking after too!

Make it Reynard City and get a prize!

If you do an Inktober/Foxtober pic featuring AK Girl, Wondervixen or any of the other Reynard City characters you could win a special digital prize from us. We have various exclusive items available- All you need to do is post it on Twitter, Deviantart etc with the #reynardcity or tag us in (Polycomical on Deviantart, Reynardcity on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram). Alternatively, you can email it to us reynardcity@gmail.com or send it via private message if you prefer.

Also you could be featured in our Fanart Friday video at the end of this month, for those who missed it here’s our first one we did last week.

Not doing Inktober?

Even if you are not doing Inktober, you can still show support by looking up the artists who are posting throughout that month, liking and sharing their work, as well as donating to their Patreon, Ko-Fi or buying prints/merchanfise from them.

In our case, donating to our Patreon, Ko-Fi, Paypal or sponsorship packages allows us to support our artists, as well as helping us get out to events like London MCM later this month (info in the video below). A big thank you to everyone who has generously backed us, the artists who make this happen and many more. Check out the Special Thanks playlist to find out more about everyone who has made this project real!

https://youtu.be/2bKdEeDiODM