Since the start of October, a diverse array of drawings have slowly been filling up the display cases next to the art classrooms. The subjects of each drawing are all so unique, but there’s one thing they all have in common: the only medium used is ink. The reason for this is because some art classes, such as AP Art and Advanced Drawing, have been following an event called Inktober.

Inktober is an event that happens every year for the entire month of October. The rules of the event are simple: Draw a picture every day, ink it, and post it to social media with the hashtags #inktober and #inktober2018.

Prompts are given daily, and they aim to encourage artists to stretch their imagination to draw whatever they interpret the single-word prompt as.

Inktober was created in 2009 by Jake Parker, a freelance Utah illustrator. He started it to improve his own inking skills and to develop positive drawing habits. The goal of this month-long challenge is to motivate anyone to pick up a pen and start drawing regularly.

Parker acknowledges that it can be hard for anyone to get themselves into the habit of drawing, and it can be even harder letting yourself make mistakes without beating yourself up over them. “It’s more important to finish things at the cost of perfection,” Parker says. “The more things you finish, the closer you get to perfection some day!”

Inktober is an event that has become widely popular since 2009. Artists all over social media post their work every day during the month of October. The tag #inktober currently has more than 10.9 million posts. Prompt lists are available all over social media, so the rules are really just up to the artist. The true way to succeed at Inktober is simply to draw.

Even if you’re not that into art, or don’t follow artists on social media, looking through the #inktober tag can still be worthwhile. There are so many new, creative drawings every single day, and seeing what other artists come up with helps with art block.

Park City High School students are using Inktober to express themselves creatively while also improving their artistic skills. The challenge is less about creating a perfect masterpiece every single day than it is about growing and improving from your last piece, experimenting to see what you can do better, and getting comfortable with tools that you might not use all the time.

So, if you happen to pass by the art display cases, stop to check the pieces out. And if you’re looking for a challenge, remember, Inktober is always around whenever you want to do it!