The first week of Inktober 2019 is over already, and I’m happy to say my ideas on how to approach this daily drawing challenge are working well.

The ten minute time limit is just right. It’s long enough to let me get something done, but short enough that I don’t feel like it’s impossible to find the time. Some days, I drew for more than ten minutes, but never for less. I particularly appreciated it when I was feeling really tired, because it meant I was done when my ten minutes were up.

My pre-determined subjects made it easy to get started, and I’ve drawn all of them: my T. rex dinosaur model, my dog, and one of my shoes, as well as other things, like musicians at a concert. I’ve even taken advantage of my “loophole” that says anything goes and done both doodles and blind contour drawings.

But I think the most helpful idea of all has been scheduling my drawing. I haven’t set an exact time, but instead decided “I will draw after lunch” or “I’ll draw during intermission at the concert.” As I had hoped, it’s kept me from having to drawing just before going to bed, which I did too often last year. Waiting until the last minute meant drawing while I was tired, and rushing, because I was eager to turn out the light.

While I don’t like all the drawings I’ve done this week, I do like a few of them, or parts of them. I learned something from each one, with the biggest lesson being that I need to keep practicing. Fortunately, Inktober is far from over.

How is your Inktober going?