CHENNAI: After a tiring day, we just want to hit the bed, but this month, it’s all about art as it is Inktober. CE catches up with some Chennaiites, who unleash their hidden artists for this challenge.
“I wanted to do it last year but couldn’t complete it. It is indeed a challenge,” says Shikha Karn, a media professional, who does a mix of Madhubani and Mithila designs with doddles. This year, she started the challenge only on October 2 and aims to finish it. “This time my theme is to sketch Indian monuments like Bodh Gaya, Taj Mahal, Amer Fort and more.”
Nandini Sathyamurthy, a student, has also chosen a theme. “My theme is drag queens, I feel the LGBT community bring about new innovations in fashion and makeup. This is sort of a tribute to that,” she smiles.
Another student Pravekha Ravichandran goes by the ‘prompt’ (list mentioned in box) but he does line drawings and writes on them too. Kirthana Ravi, who runs a fashion label Arodhi, draws the whole day, yet she looks forward to this challenge. “I couldn’t complete last year. Now every day, I draw based on the prompts. More than just drawing, I look forward to seeing what others have done with the prompt. They can be interpreted differently,” she says and Pravekha concurs. “It is encouraging to see people draw different things based on the same prompt. It makes you think better,” he says.
Unlike the others, Sharanya Subramaniam, an executive producer at a media company, successfully completed the challenge last year and is very excited to do so this year too. “I initially had no idea about Inktober. I started sketching on medium sized post-its. I am not an artist and doing this was really liberating. Last year, I sketched randomly and this year I am following the prompts,” she says.
The Inktober challenge has had a different effect on each of them. For Shikha, Pravekha and Nandini, this disciplines them. “This challenge is for people like me, who love to draw but have no time for it. This makes you push yourself,” says Shikha.
Pravekha adds, “A lot of people I know are into this challenge and at the end of the day it is not a competition but how you can better yourself as an artist.” Nandini feels she has become organised now. “When I did it last year, the sketches were random. But now I can see myself focussed on a theme and digging more to do better in that,” she points out.
Sharanya did not just stop with the challenge. She went a step further and made a sketch every day. “It was meditative. The first few days my sketches weren’t that great. But as weeks passed, I compared the sketches and noticed a stark difference. That pushed me. I also started taking classes for kids, and encouraged many of my friends to take up the challenge this year,” she smiles. “Spend at least five minutes every day and draw what you like. It will take some shape; as you do it, it gets better.”
On the other hand, some seasoned artists have taken on this challenge too. Says cartoonist Devanathan, “I came to know about Inktober through my daughter and she encouraged me to do a series this month. As a cartoonist, by default I spend time sketching, but this challenge makes me look at things differently. My theme is Namma Chennai, and I am sketching everything related to the city from traditions to monuments. Earlier, we used to scour for inspirations, but now it is all available in a hashtag. I am aware of the prompts and I eagerly wait to see how people have interpreted it.”
What is Inktober
American artist Jake Parker, in 2009, gave a challenge to himself to make a sketch everyday to improve his inking skills and develop positive drawing habits. That has now become a worldwide phenomenon, where artists everywhere take to pen and paper, especially this month.
Prompt list
Swift, divided, poison, underwater, long, sword, shy, crooked, screech, gigantic, run, shattered, teeming, fierce, mysterious, fat, graceful, filthy, cloud, deep, furious, trail, juicy, blind, ship, squeak, climb, fall, united, found, mask Rules Make a drawing in ink, post it online, hasthag it with #inktober2017 and #inktober, repeat everyday of October
You Can Choose
You can do it daily, or go the half-marathon route and post every other day, or just do the 5K and post once a week. Whatever you decide, just be consistent with it. INKtober is about growing and improving and forming positive habits, so the more you’re consistent the better.
(Source: mrjakeparker.com)