Reflections on Inktober

​Written by Scott Edwards

​Every year the month of October rolls around, and thank goodness for that. Being my favorite month to watch movies, mostly because there are horror movies on 24/7, and closing out with Halloween in grand fashion, there is nothing not to like. But over the past couple of years I have started to notice something else going on during the month of October and that is many artists putting their ink to paper for a wonderful event called Inktober. At first I thought that this was just something that would only happen for a year or two, but now I see that it is much more than that and it is a time to shine for artists everywhere. With a drawing or painting a day, it has filled up my social media feeds with magic once again and even though the month is over, it is definitely something that will stick in my head for months to come and here is just a taste of what you get when you start following artists during this epic month.

KEVIN GENTILCORE

Anybody that knows Kevin knows two things about him, one, he will sign anything at a con, as he demonstrated by signing an onion this year at DCC, and two, the man has an incredible love for Metal. Even though I am still learning about this type of music, Kevin has put it front and center this year for Inktober, forcing me to take note at how awesome the music really is and how passionate fans of this music genre are as well. Kevin’s Metal Inktober is nothing less than awesome, with some familiar faces and some album covers that I will need to pick up.

​Kevin on Inktober:  'To me, Inktober is just a fun excuse to practice inking. I do my comics digitally and I don’t have a lot of spare time to just screw around and draw for the hell of it. Inktober allows me that time and focus to just screw around.'

You can follow Kevin on Twitter and Instagram and on Deviantart.com.

ROBERT ELROD

I have never backed down from the work that Robert Elrod has brought to the table, making a point to own many of his originals and I continue to watch as his art gets better with age. I guess you can say that Robert is like a fine wine when it comes to artists, since he seems to be able to create so many great visions in his mind and turn them into reality when putting his ink to the page.

You can follow Robert on Instagram and make sure check out his website. 

PHIL SPAULDING

Having traveled to a number of cons, I always find myself walking by Phil Spaulding’s table in awe and I never know where to start in building a collection of his work. With his taste for the macabre, I have always loved seeing his new creations and what made his contributions to Inktober such a treat, is that not only was this his first year participating in the event, but what he brought to the table was absolutely amazing and I can't wait to see what he has in store for us next.

​Phil on Inktober:  'This is actually the first time I did Inktober, but for me Inktober is about challenging yourself to not only become better in the medium, but to advance your creativity. Challenging yourself to draw something every day allows you to break free of the normal routine of whatever you normally are working on and see what other creative ideas you can come up with.'

You can follow Phil on Facebook and on Instagram.

RON ROOT

Don’t ask me how I have missed Ron Root at all of the shows I have gone to, but I have and it is just a shame because I have been missing out by not having his work in my art collection. Connecting with him late this year, I have been privy to seeing some of his fantastic pieces and if you are like me, you need to see more. I will just let a taste of his work do the talking, since I have been left speechless this Inktober by his art.

Ron on Inktober:  'Inktober to me is 30 days of practice. A lot of the time it can be hard to find time to practice for practice sake. Inktober is a time for me to practice working with ink. I really enjoy inking. The tranquil and stoic art of it gives me a chance to think. Not just about inking and art, but a chance to think about life (and sometimes death if you look at my work). As artists, we get enamored with projects that consume us. Inktober is a great opportunity to stop and smell the roses. Or in this case, the ink.'

You can follow Ron on Facebook and on Instagram.

SKYLAR PATRIDGE

​One of the greatest things about having several artist friends is that they are willing to introduce you to their artist friends and that is how I met Skylar at Denver Comic Con this past year and what a joy it was to meet her. Not only is she fun to talk to, but she's extremely talented with the brush and being able to watch her create for several months now, I am most definitely a fan. Her unique take on the macabre, (if you can’t tell, I like that style) shows just how talented she is at bringing haunting images to life.

Skylar on Inktober: 'I would say that Inktober is a really a month of drawing for myself. I've always gravitated to the macabre. Inktober is a perfect excuse to swim around in the melancholy and really attempt to evoke an emotional response from the viewer (and myself)!'   

You can follow Skylar on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. 

JASON MEENTS

I know that a lot of my favorite artists have a little bit of a dark side, but I am not stuck only on that, especially when it comes to Jason. The Tykes Style of art that he has perfected is refreshing and fun and I have really grown to love it. The light heartedness of his artwork is never lost on me, actually most of the time it puts a big smile on my face. This year Jason did an 80’s Toons Inktober bringing back all of our favorite cartoon characters from the finest era of cartoons, the 80’s!

Jason on Inktober:  'This Inktober my theme of 80's cartoons was so much fun for me and really brought back so many fond memories of the shows. In year's past with cons or work I just wasn't able to keep up. So this year I really wanted to stick to it and challenge myself. I picked a theme that I hoped my love for would make it easier to power through. It was definitely a challenge but so much fun and so worth it. I'm planning to take all those pieces from my Inktober and combine them into a book with my rough sketches for each to kind of show a bit more of the process in creating them.'

You can follow Jason on Facebook and on Instagram.

This is just a taste of what you can see during the month of Inktober when you follow an artist during October, and really you should follow these artists period because there is much more to see year round. If you are an art junkie like I am, you see all of these wonderful drawings and wonder how to get your hands on them. I will not lie, there is a long list of these that I would love to add to my collection and hopefully over time I will be able to collect just a small amount of originals from all of these great artists. But until that day, I will be happy in just admiring their art and watch as they continue to grow in their craft, because this is the stuff that dreams are made of.