The first online art challenge I ever joined was Inktober, in 2017. I remember it was a great experience, especially because at that time, I wasn’t drawing every day, which made it even more challenging for me…!
Now, there are even more challenges available online—I even think there are now monthly challenges throughout the whole year!—, and October may be the month when you can find most of them. I’ve gathered some of them in this post—all you’ll have to do is pick your favourite and be creative!
Inktober
Well, I couldn’t talk about October art challenges without mentioning the most famous one, so here it is.
If you’ve never heard of Inktober before, it’s basically a challenge where you have one prompt everyday of the month, that you have to illustrate using ink—hence the name.
This list is the official one, by the way, but you can also find a lot of people making their own prompt list. Some famous ones are Goretober (it’s, like, really creepy and gore), but also Linktober (if you’re a Zelda fan, this one might be for you!).
Schroomtober
This challenge is hosted by schrill_art on Instagram, and it’s all about mushrooms! Ain’t that cute? And, she even included some rest days, which I think is quite nice—I find that having a list of prompts to follow can be super overwhelming, depending on how much time you get.
Here’s the list—you might even learn new words or names!
Moontober
If you like witches, music, and don’t have the time to draw every day, this challenge hosted by Magdalina Dianova will surely interest you!, because that’s what it’s about!
I’m not gonna lie, I really, really want to draw a punk witch!
Froggy Fall
Aren’t frogs one of the cutes things in the whole world? Well, with this challenge, you’ll be able to draw them for an entire month! Ready?
Beartober: Autumnal Harvest
If, just like me, you are more of a “bear person”, you may enjoy this challenge, hosted by codibear on Instagram.
Coztober
Here’s another cute challenge to join. This one doesn’t have a prompt each day, so it might be less stressful, and there are also some rest days.
Halloween Hangout
I found this one because of the Over The Garden Wall vibe it had! There are only four prompts in this challenge, so if you’re looking for something that you won’t have to do each day, you could give a try to the Halloween Hangout!
Teketober
If you’re passionate about Japanese folklore, the Teketober challenge might definitely be for you!
Cute Spooktober
Are you easily scared but still want to draw spooky things, because, well, that’s the season? Then why not join the Cute Spooktober challenge! I honestly can’t wait to see what the entries will be like, because I just find this cat extremely adorable!
Drawtober: Harvest
Another 31-days challenge with autumn and Halloween inspired prompts, to get right in the mood of it!
Magicaltober
This challenge is also a “short” one, because it has one prompt per week—so, again, another good one if you don’t really have much time. Also, the prompts are more “guided” than those of the other challenges, as you can see on the list below:
CuteTricktober
Another 31-days challenge where you’ve got to draw cute stuff!
Foodtober
Who doesn’t like food? And even more, who doesn’t like autumnal food?! If you like illustrating recipes, foodies, and other stuffies, this is the perfect prompt for you!
Hexoween
I think this is the creepiest challenge I’ve included in this list, though it still stays rather suitable! There again, I feel like the prompts are a bit more “guided,” which I think some people might prefer. Here is the list of prompts:
Yokaitober
I know I’ve already put a challenge about Japanese folklore, but I still wanted to include this one. There actually have several prompts, so people who don’t feel like like doing all of them can have a lighter version, which I thought was nice.(
(If you look at the post below, the alternative list is on the following slides.)
I obviously haven’t been able to share all the October challenges that will take place this year, because there are way too many of them, but I picked some of my favourites.
October is the kind of time of the year when I wish that days could last more than 24 hours, because there are just so many challenges I wish I could join! Hopefully I’ll find a way to mix and match some of the prompts, so that I can enter several challenges at the same time—ain’t that quite a trick?
I hope this post inspired you, and that you found a challenge that pleases you!
Also, if you have any other challenges that you’d like to share, feel free to do so in the comment section of the post!
Happy creating, and I hope to write again soon!
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Ilona Ro - Illustrations 