Inktober 2024 – An Inspired Garden-Themed Challenge

November 4, 2024

Searching for a theme to follow during Inktober 2024, I was delighted to learn one of my favorite podcasters and nature journal educators, Bethan Burton, shared her original list of 31 prompts. Named “Inktober in the Garden,” she cleverly chose each word to represent a different phase or activity encountered while gardening. To quote Bethan, the prompts are “aimed to get us thinking in different ways about the beauty of our cultivated space.” 

Living in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, where it’s now Spring, Bethan’s garden theme was very timely for her.  However, October in central New Mexico where I live, is smack dab in the middle of Fall, so I relied on past gardening experience to create my daily ink drawings.

I hope you enjoy my 31 Inktober2024 tiles, inspired by Bethan Burton’s “Inktober in the Garden” prompts. I decided to only complete one tile/day; in the morning while sipping a cup of tea, I’d sketch a drawing with only ink (using a Pilot Varsity nib pen). Then later in the evening I added the color coaxing pigment from my limited number of Venus Spectracolor colored pencils (the remains of a 40+ year old set which constantly break and refuse to blend). 

A big thanks to Bethan for sharing her Inktober2024 prompt list, and for being a constant inspiration through her podcast Journaling with Nature, and for bringing the world-wide nature journaling community together for her annual International Nature Journaling Week, where we can explore, share and celebrate a passion for nature. To learn more about Bethan and nature journaling through her podcast, participating in future International Nature Journaling Week, sign up for her Blog and Newsletter, follow her  YouTube Channel and Instagram account, visit her website at: https://www.journalingwithnature.com

Here’s a bit more about this thing called Inktober

Inktober was originally created by Jake Parker in 2009, and since then has been deemed an annual event that takes place throughout the month of October. The rules devised for participants were, and still are, pretty simple …… Every day 1) make a drawing in ink; 2) post or share it; 3) hashtag it with #inktober; and 4) repeat.

Since 2009, there’s been an official prompt list shared every year by Jake and his Inktober group (https://inktober.com). But there are also many alternate lists generated, which participants can follow if they wish, or they can choose to work from their own prompts.  Also since 2009, participants have not only worked in only ink, but have created colored drawings. Actually any media is fair game (wonder if anyone uses collage?), as bending the simple rules seems to be the norm.  As Jake notes on the Inktober webpage, “you can do it [Inktober] daily, or go the half-marathon route and post every other day, or just do the 5K and post once a week. What ever you decide, just” remember “Inktober is about growing and improving and forming positive habits, so the more you’re consistent the better.”

And if you’re interested in participating in future Inktober events, just do it! Find a prompt list or create your own, and join the month-long party beginning each year in October! 

This concludes my 9th year of Inktober!
As always, thanks for stopping by!