My Inktober 2024 Journey

To say that October was a BIG creative month for me would be… an understatement. But let’s rewind.

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that I was going to give Inktober a go. This is a goal I’ve set for myself in the past, but never achieved, because I simply didn’t make it enough of a priority. But this year, I was determined. Determined to give it my very best effort. I made the commitment to create one ink drawing each day following my own prompt list to tell the story of the little bird skull girl, Ivy. In the beginning, my plan was simply to write a couple of sentences each day about the scene. Spoiler alert, that’s not exactly what happened…

Instead, I ended up writing an entire book.

Trust me, I’m just as shocked as you are. For as adamant as I’ve been that I’m not a story writer, I’m a story painter, I guess it was finally time to let words have their say. I set the goal of a couple sentences each day simply to see if I even could write somewhat of a story, but along the way, it turned into something so much more. As the story developed, I realized that it was so many pieces of my own heart knitted together with words instead of brushstrokes. This story of everything I’ve felt and all the things I’ve learned over the past few years. A story of grief and loss. A story of uncomfortable change. A story of loneliness and directionless. A story of learning to see the good and search for it even when it’s hard.

Don’t let me scare you; it’s not all that sad. It wouldn’t be me if it wasn’t full of coziness and whimsy, too! But it’s also a reminder that hard blessings are still good blessings. The kind of blessings that only come in these most uncomfortable circumstances.

Anyhoo, I began writing this email with the intention of sharing the technical skills I learned during Inktober, but I guess we’ll save that for another day. So, here are a few of my favorite Ivy Inktober drawings!

If you’d like to read more of Ivy’s story, I’ve been posting the drawings and story snippets over on Patreon (all tiers can see them, including the free tier!)