- Arts
American comics short-story creator, concept artist, illustrator, and animator Jake Parker created Inktober in 2009 as a challenge to improve his inking skills and develop positive drawing habits. It has since grown into a worldwide endeavor with thousands of artists taking on the challenge every year.
Inktober is a month long art challenge that is focused on improving skill and developing positive drawing habits. Every day for the month of October anyone participating in the Inktober challenge creates an ink drawing under a particular prompt and posts it online. Prompts this year included words like ‘trunk’, ‘arctic’, ‘lesson’ and ‘ornate’.
Inktober at Hangzhou International School was begun last year by Upper School Visual Arts teacher Ms Janet McGifford, and this year continued under her guidance with the assistance of Design and Communication Specialist Ms Lisa Kerry, who says:
"It was inspiring to see students continually drawing and creating together—the artist workshops sparked a real buzz and a shared creative energy across the community."
Also new this year was the addition of three visiting artists, who all addressed their own prompt in special workshops attended by students, parents and staff.
On 21 October we welcomed Swiss artist (and HIS parent) Nela Fletcher, who works with drawing, photography, and film. Capturing movement through drawing is one aspect of her practice, alongside exploring how the body interacts with various spaces. Her work is held in public and private collections. Inspired by the Inktober prompt ‘blast’, participants used nibs, brushes and ink to create a collaborative artwork full of energy and movement.
A week later Czech artist Lucie Loosova, also an HIS parent, took on the prompt ‘skeletal’. Lucie’s work bridges theater, costume, and visual art. Since moving to China in 2014, she has embraced Chinese ink painting, creating her ‘Happy Birds’ series that unites Eastern brushwork with Western imagination. Her hands-on workshop that used different ink and paper, and drawing, painting and cutting techniques to create one-of-a-kind artworks.
Finally on 30 October it was the turn of artist and HIS community member Maria Erika for a creative workshop where participants channelled the spirit of Henri Matisse to create their own abstract piece of art.
Working across oil, acrylic, watercolor, and digital media, Filipina Maria is deeply rooted in portraiture while exploring abstraction. Using the ‘puzzle’ prompt, attendees ‘painted’ with scissors, cutting and arranging colorful paper and cardboard into dynamic shapes and compositions, assembling these vibrant pieces into a unique puzzle.
"This year the sense of community and achievement that many students felt having their work displayed and the pride in the skills they gained from the workshops given by Nela, Lucie and Erika were highlights for me," says Ms McGifford.
"I was also pleased to hear the many conversations about language and how engaging with diverse prompts not only sparked creativity but also enriched many students' vocabulary."
We can't wait for Inktober 2026, which promises to be even bigger and better!