October 31 2021

I was surprised myself, but 2021 was the year of my first Inktober. I didn’t plan to do it this year, because I am learning to draw. I thought it would be more interesting to continue with my programme for the time being to make progress. However, the day before the first of October, my sister offered me to do it with her, and I couldn’t resist.

Every day I posted a new illustration on Instagram, following the theme. I tried to tell a story in each image. I was never short of inspiration, but I often felt limited by my drawing skills. To remedy this, I often chose subjects that were simpler to deal with than the ones I was initially passionate about. Constrained by time, I limited the search for reference images so as not to exceed one hour per day. My sisters and brother-in-law also participated, and it was great to watch their interpretation of the theme after publishing mine. For the second half of the month I was frustrated by these constraints and thinking about how much I would love to master the drawing skills. I would so much like to be able to express my ideas, my stories, my emotions visually.

The Inktober was a great experience. I made 30 drawings, and I’m very proud to have achieved this. Of course, not all the drawings are great and none of them is incredible, but there are a few that I like. In addition, this experience has made me realise my limits, the elements that I have particular difficulties with and the one I was more comfortable with. Above all, the Inktober finished convincing me that I like drawing. I like to draw, even when there are constraints and the rhythm is difficult to keep up with.

Now that October is over, I am resuming my drawing programme and will practice a new subject each month. I will be participating in the Inktober next year and hopefully some frustration will have disappeared. I will also be able to compare the result with the drawings of this year.