Every October, thousands of artists across the world participate in Inktober, a month-long drawing challenge where artists create a drawing every day in response to a single word prompt. The challenge has grown immensely since its beginning in 2009. On Instagram, #Inktober2019 has over 4 million posts with thousands of artists participating.

Art teacher Melanie Meszko started using the challenge in the art curriculum as a month-long project four years ago. Now, it is used by the entire art department in classes of all skill levels. 

“I saw a lot of people I went to college with that have done Inktober since it started, and I liked the idea of having a challenge that everyone can do together,” Meszko said. “[I want to help my students have] confidence in using something permanent and not worrying about it being imperfect.”

Although for many art students the project is a requirement, many still incorporate their personal art goals.

“I struggle with [drawing] anatomy,” sophomore Zoe Bosman said. “I wanted to practice drawing full-body photos of people and keep them from being stiff and blocky so there’s a lot of movement. I think I have improved on my anatomy so far, as well as composition.”

The daily prompts can be a challenge for many participants. 

“Some days you’re really tired,” freshman Madison Hoffmaster said. “But I’m excited about finishing it and seeing all of it done.”