In 2009, Jake Parker decided to challenge himself to create an ink illustration every day for a month in hopes of improving his inking skills and instill positive drawing habits. Thus Inktober was born, and since then, thousands of artists around the world have participated in the challenge and Inktober has become an annual celebration of creativity and the magic of ink. 

High contrast Inktober illustrations by Coke Navarro

We’ve curated a moodboard of some of the best Inktober projects from Behance and spoked with artists from around the world about their experiences participating in the challenge.

Connecting with the Creative Community

“It's a great opportunity to create a series of artwork while having thousands of people rooting for you,” shares Brussels-based illustrator and graphic designer Herlinde Demaerel. “The sense of digital community and a healthy amount of peer pressure really help being productive, and it’s also a great time to experiment with personal ideas or graphic styles.”

Soft ombre Inktober illustrations by Herlinde Demaerel

Like Herlinde, wildlife illustrator Rohan Dahorte found the motivation to stay consistent over the course of the entire challenge through the community: “Being a part of this huge artist community and watching them post something unique every day and get inspired was a good enough reason to participate. I met and connected with new artist friends through social media.”

Endangered species Inktober illustration by Rohan Dahorte

As a wildlife illustrator by profession, Rohan chose to focus on endangered species for Inktober. “While drawing, I would often do some research on them through the Internet to know more about them. But unfortunately, most of them that I researched were facing issues like deforestation, global warming, pollution, and many more that are leading to their extinction. This made me want to draw more of them and work towards animal awareness and conservation through art.”

Cowboy character illustration for Inktober by Antonina Kasyanikova

Designer Gamal Assay decided to take part in the challenge to “exercise and improve [his] skills, and to try a new style of line art illustrations challenge prompts.” In addition to following the provided prompts each day, he tried to add an additional layer of interpretation into each of his illustrations. 

Minimalist Inktober illustrations by Gamal Assy

Staying Consistent Throughout Inktober

Staying persistent while adopting any habit is a challenge. Sometimes the right preparation can help guide you throughout the entire journey.

Ink on paper illustration by Amandine Comte

Gamal started preparing his color palette and art direction ahead of time in September so that when October came along, he was ready to hit the ground running. “I was sketching my ideas at night, and started working on them the next day, day after day, I was so excited about my results.” 

Venus animated GIF by Antonia Czuth

Herlinde’s advice for staying consistent throughout the month is to start from the same place each day: “ When I start a new drawing, I always keep my previous drawing in the same file, to color pick from and to and make sure the two drawings present nicely next to each other. That way, with very little effort you can have a coherent look or see a gradual evolution in the series.” 

Spooky Inktober illustrations by Tavo Montañez

See more Inktober projects

Search for more Inktober project on Behance or browse our curated moodboard featuring some of the best Inktober projects on Behance.