Drawing the way through October
Students and teachers participate in month-long art challenge
October 31, 2019
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.”

My name is Jharna and this is my first year writing for The Roar. I am currently a junior in the IB program. I enjoy reading, writing, singing and playing...

This is my first year on the Roar staff, and I am the Editor in Chief. Besides writing for the newspaper, I am also in the IB program. I enjoy hanging...