October is an incredibly creative month, with a number of art challenges running all around the world. We’ve put together a list of our top 11 favourite challenges that you can take part in every October!
Best October Art Challenges
1. Inktober
With October already in full swing, make sure to check out the Inktober Art Challenge! Founded by Jake Parker, Inktober is based on promoting growth, improving your skills and sharing your work with fellow artists.
Each year, Inktober puts out a prompt list that you can follow throughout the month. These serve as your inspiration and hopefully get your creative flow going! There aren’t too many rules, with the main one being that you have to use ink. Share your work on social media using the hashtag #Inktober #Inktober2021.
Check out our article on Inktober 2021 for more information regarding the creator, rules, inspiration and more!
All about Inktober
Read all about the Inktober art challenge with more information regarding the creator, the rules, inspiration and more!
Also make sure to visit the Inktober.com website for more information.
2. Drawlloween
Also based in October, Drawlloween has no media restrictions and is monster themed. Creator and fellow artist Brian Soria created this challenge with Halloween-loving artists in mind.
Drawlloween also puts out a new prompt list each year, including a wide range of themes and topics. Make sure to use #drawlloween or #Drawlloween2021 to share your work with other artists on social media!
Find out more about Drawlloween at their website: drawlloween.com.
An alternative prompt list for Drawlloween comes from Chad Wehrle.
3. Doodlewash
Each year, Doodlewash puts out a different art challenge. This year, the theme is Autumn Fun! The rules are limited, other than having to use watercolours, drawing materials or a mix of both. With this emphasis on watercolour use, the Autumn Fun challenge is centred around both autumn and Halloween themes.
If you participate and would like to share your work online, make sure to use the hashtags #doodlewashOctober2021 and #WorldWatercolorGroup if you used watercolours. Check out the Doodlewash prompt list for 2021:
Check out doodlewash.com for more.
4. Tinkerlab
Brought to you every October, Tinkerlab has created their own October art challenge – Tinkersketch! Although centred around an Autumn theme, the Tinkersketch prompt list is inclusive enough to accommodate artists in all parts of the world. The challenge is intended to invite artists to experiment with their drawing skills, in a fun, stress free way!
Use the #Tinkersketch hashtag to share your sketches on social media.
Check out tinkerlab.com for more.
5. Witchtober
As I’m sure you have guessed – the theme of this October challenge is Witches. For this challenge, there is no limitation as to what media you can use, just make it witchy! Unlike the other October challenges, Witchtober has a number of prompt lists created by fellow artists. We’ve added a couple examples below by Annie Hsu and Arturo Rose:
The Witchtober 2021 Promt List by SgathanAdopts
Make sure to use the #Witchtober and #Witchtober2021 when sharing your work.
6. Inkt-tober
Created by Patrizia Kruger, Inkt-tober is centred around tattoo art. The aim is to inspire artists to create as many amazing tattoo-style illustrations as they can during the month of October. This is a great opportunity for aspiring or professional tattoo artists to create some new, exciting October-themed designs for your clients!
Make sure to use the hashtag #INKTtober when sharing your designs online.
You can find out more about Inkt-tober and its creator at trishargh.com.
7. Goretober
Started in 2014, Goretober is centred around, you guessed it, gore. As with the other challenges, Goretober puts out a prompt list for artists to draw inspiration from. There are no rules regarding tools or media, simply use whatever you prefer; traditional or digital mediums.
You can use the hashtags #Goretober #Goretober2021 when sharing your art.
8. Artober
If drawing beautiful landscapes is one of your passions, then this is the October art challenge for you! Why not join Brellian in her challenging art challenge?
The rules for the #brellianartchallenge are
1- Create a work of art
2- Post it*
3- Hashtag it with #brellianartober
4- Repeat
She advices you to post daily or you every 3-4 days, but that you always should try to be consistent with it! Artober is about growing, improving and forming positive habits. The more consistent you are, the better.
9. Drawtober
The Drawtober art challenge is a bit different, this art challenge is a community driven art challenge where they challenge artists to explore their creativity in any medium with each submission.
They encourage you to be creative and that you should be thumbnailing ideas out and not just to settle with the first idea that comes to mind. They also encourage you to share your initial sketches into your stories so that they can share them on their Instagram stories to other artists for inspiration.
They also give away daily awards to the artists that “go above and beyond with their submissions”. The physical rewards and badges will be announced later, so be sure to follow them on Drawtober. Don’t forget to tag them with #drawtober2021 and to tag them @drawtober for a chance to be featured.
10. Creeptober
Of course kickinthecreatives also has an art challenge waiting for you this ‘Creeptober’.
Get ready to create something ‘creepy’ every single day throughout October.
You can create anything you like in this challenge. If you prefer to draw, paint, carve, sculture or photograph anything from the prompt list: everything is fine, even mixing it up. It’s all about being creative.
Don’t forget to tag with #creeptober!
If you are having trouble to think of topics, then you can use their alternative Creeptober prompt list.
11. Obscutober III
Nikolas Tower is a young artist from Greece and has created the Obscutober III art challenge. Similar to most other art challenges we’ve discussed the goal is to draw one different picture every day, based on a daily theme from the list.
Tag your artworks with #Obscutober or #obscutober2021.
Need some illustrating resources?
Check out these great Photoshop ink brushes from Grutbrushes, Artistmef and Eldar Zakirov to get started on your digital ink drawings with realistic, responsive and natural brush styles.
44 Free Photoshop Brushes
This free download brings you a huge variety of different ink brushes that you can use for line art, calligraphy, painting and a much more. The brushes imitate a lot of painting styles, from pen drawing – to more like Chinese art. Special effects are included: Spray, wet edge, grunge. If you use Photoshop, this one is a must have!
63 Brushes for Inking in Procreate
For only $14 you will receive a collection of 63 brushes for realistic Inking in Procreate. The brushes imitate real instruments like sharp nib pen and flat nib pen, bristle, round, and flat brushes loaded by ink, ruling pen and folded pen, some of them make some nice spatter like real instruments do. A number of spray and splash brushes are to give liveness and fine naturalness to your art.
Alternative Art Challenges
Did you miss this months art challenge? Don’t worry! Be sure to check out our list of Yearly Art Challenges. If you don’t want to participate in an art challenge, but if you’re just looking for some drawing ideas, be sure to check out our drawing ideas generator! By the way, are you participating in Huevember?
Let us know in the comments what your favourite art-challenge of this month is! Which one are you participating in or did we miss one?
Do you want to improve your drawing skills? Make sure to read our article where we take a look at the Best Art Classes you can follow online. Combining an art class with an art challenge is a great way to get started! You could also take a look at our curated top 10 of drawing books to help you improve your drawing or for extra inspiration or new techniques.
If you’re curious about other art challenges coming up this year, make sure to check out our overview of yearly art challenges or our art challenge calendar. If you are looking for drawing inspiration, make sure you check out our drawing ideas generator.
Resources
Interested in taking part in any of these challenges this month? We’ve got some resources just for you to give you a kick start!
Traditional Drawing equipment
Check out the sketchbooks, pencils and other tools below that will help you build a daily routine in practicing your creative skills.
Digital Brushes
If you’re a digital artist, make sure to check out these great Photoshop and Procreate ink brushes from Grutbrushes. These realistic, responsive and natural brushes will inspire you without a doubt. Grutbrushes offers a lot of free samples, so you can try anything without risk. Check out our Grutbrushes review if you’d like to know more and see more (free) samples.
Digital Hardware
A drawing tablet could definitely help you in your creative flow too. Most drawing tablets are touch sensitive and are highly accurate. The main advantage of a drawing tablet is the natural feeling when drawing. They are perfect for creating detailed illustrations, drawings or digital paintings.
