Stress-free Inktober

We're about a week into Inktober 2019 and I just wanted to take a moment to get my thoughts down on how this week has compared to previous Inktober projects.

This is my 5th consecutive year taking part in Inktober. Each year, I've had a specific project in mind aimed at completing one piece of art every day and each year has come with stress.

This is in part due to my goal of completing a full piece of art (sometimes with the aim to sell) in a day. Sometimes, finding the right amount of time is easy, sometimes it was a real struggle, especially in the earlier years when we had a very small child to look after.

This year I wanted to try something different. I wanted to acknowledge that sometimes I don't have a lot of time and not stress about "finishing" something each day.

Anyone who has followed my art Instagram account for any amount of time will know I've been chipping away at a comic for the first half of this year. Heading into October, I felt inking these pages would be a natural project for Inktober.

There are many benefits for me.

I'm still being productive. I'm getting my comic done one panel at a time while also taking part in the daily Inktober challenge.

I'm also not stressing about "finishing". I'm working on A3 paper which is double the size I've worked at in the past so I knew straight away a target of "a page a day" would be out of the question. So I've settled on a target of at least one panel a day.

When I get a panel done, I'm well aware that it's just one part of a whole work in progress. The unexpected plus is I'm not feeling guilty about not "finishing" something every day. Even to the point where I'm quite comfortable taking a larger panel and working on it over a couple of days.

Reading this post back, it does seem like a no-brainer. Taking a step back and not stressing seems obvious but also quite hard to deal with when you're in the thick of posting every day (and also seeing the amazing work others are posting too).

I think I've hit my stride this year. I'm dedicating time to my comic and fitting it in amongst the family time at home, rather than disappearing every evening to work.

I'm enjoying this project much more than the previous ones.