The Flickerblogger: Done Doodled Again

As September came to a close, my anticipation escalated for this year's edition of Inktober - the annual October-long celebration of pen and ink art creation. Thirty-one days in the month are assigned thirty-one different drawing prompts. Artists then create their interpretation of the daily theme through whatever medium they choose (although ink is clearly encouraged). Two years ago, Football Jason participated and his daily art displays encouraged me to climb aboard. Last year, I drew more pictures in a month than I had done in years. Along the way, I had an absolute blast. This year, participation among my friends exploded and it. was. awesome. Clayton, Rebecca, Sethel, and Robert all shared their (mostly) daily interpretations. Each day included an excited social media search of their names to see what they had created. I loved every second of it.

The fact that several others joined this year was not even the highlight of Inktober 2019. No, that distinction belongs to the kiddos.

Robert's Keaton loves drawing and did a drawing for every single prompt. Even though his tonsils were surgically removed from his body during the month, he did the whole dang thing.

Mackenzie and Carson started the month but, as a testament to the commitment that this requires, petered out as the month continued. Despite their early exit, Mackenzie already said that she would try again next year (with some pre-drawings happening to get ahead of schedule). Since she stopped, I have found her randomly grabbing some pencils and paper to sketch at the kitchen table.

My nephew Chase got all excited when he saw my interpretation of the prompt "Dark" -- a drawing of Batman perched on a roof. When I went to his house this past weekend to celebrate his sister's birthday, he proudly ran up to me with a stack of tracer paper that was covered in Spider-Man drawings.

As someone who has spent his entire life drawing pictures instead of doing important things like paying attention in class or taking notes or reading or whatever, seeing the excitement from the little artists about something I adore is amazing. If my sketches get them inspired to draw more pictures, then so be it! I hope they continue drawing all year and the 2020 version of Inktober has even more little people participating.

As for me, I tried to push some boundaries this time around. Capturing motion, drawing people, more complex drawings - things I tend to struggle with. Some of the final products ended up great (hello, "Injured"). Others could be a lot better ("Ripe" did not really finish the month strong). All in all, this year was more enjoyable and more fun than the previous year and I hope you enjoyed the art along the way. In the meantime, keep doodling people!