It's that time again lads

[rynling]

i made a realistic art challenge for this october! give it a try!
https://twitter.com/jrjresq/status/1574810257825693699

I am mentally preparing myself to appreciate and support every artist who does Inktober. But at the same time, I am getting very sick and tired of timed social media art challenges. Make content for the content machine? How about I don't! I think I will do a "go outside and enjoy the perfect weather" challenge instead.

ETA: I am in fact going outside! The Woodlands Cemetery in West Philadelphia is extremely nice, and extremely empty, and extremely free. As much as I love horror, I'm not actually "goth" in any way shape or form. I don't have any special attraction to cemeteries, but I am very turned on by free and readily available streetside parking.

I find drawing graves to be a little morbid tbh, but there's a lot of shade and plenty of trees and flowers to sketch. I equipped myself with a super cheap discount hardcover sketchbook from the bargain bin of the ghetto Michael's, as well as a free plant photo identification app, and both have been serving me well. As an added bonus, the Woodlands is right next to the UPenn Hospital complex, and it's apparently where all the hot doctors and lab techs go jogging. Obviously I'm not trying to pick up people in the cemetery, but I can't say I don't appreciate the view.

Comments

[lassarina]

Always appreciate the view where you find it. And I'm glad you're enjoying outside!

I like doing NaNo because it provides some adrenaline and pushes back the winter doldrums by another month, but otherwise, I'm not so into timed challenges.

[rynling]

I'm not wired to do NaNo myself, but I have nothing but admiration and respect for anyone who does the challenge, as well as for the challenge itself.

Again, I am thrilled to support anyone who does any variation of Inktober, and I'm not above buying or even preordering Inktober zines. I love art! Still, I feel like the rush of Inktober content benefits social media platforms without benefiting most artists. I see a lot of people burn out every year and leave social media entirely, and I can't help but resist the "survival of the fittest" atmosphere that Inktober engenders. Also, I find the social media silence of many artists during the months preceding and following Inktober to be a little sad. Idk, Inktober has always bothered me in a way that NaNo never has.

Which is to say: GOOD LUCK on NaNo this year! I will be cheering for you!!

[lassarina]

I can see why Inktober would be bothersome in that context! That sounds really frustrating and overwhelming (and I agree that the "post/complete something every day" is really....non-beneficial to the artists. Especially when their audience probably gets super overwhelmed at so many people doing the thing at once.)

I have modified my NaNo process - I aim for half the word count goal now, because I've proven I can meet the higher goal and I realized I was using the higher goal as kind of a stick to beat myself with, which is not good. 25k still gives me a challenge and a reason to get more words happening without being so high that I either can't recover from more than one missed day, or burn out doing it; I really liked doing it this way last year.

Thank you! ♥