How to finish Inktober strong!💪

The end is in sight! Are you still in?
‍

We here at SVSLearn are bigs fans of Inktober, the art challenge where you do one ink drawing a day every day of October.
‍

It makes a great training ground for professional assignments because it teaches consistency, work, and creativity under pressure. You learn how to finish daily assignments whether or not you’re in the mood or “feeling inspired.”
‍

These are essential skills for professional illustrators. Everyone has days when they don’t want to sit down and draw or when they’re fed up with a seemingly endless project. But the ability to see it through, regardless of how you feel, is what separates the pros from the amateurs.
‍

If you struggle with this, don’t beat yourself up. Here are five tips to staying consistent and finishing Inktober (or any long project) strong.
‍

1. Habit Stacking
‍

One of the hardest parts of long challenges is remembering to fit new habits into your day. Simplify by connecting your drawing practice to something you already do daily. You could sketch while waiting for the bus or ink during your lunch break. Perhaps you could commit to inking a certain number of illustrations while the laundry runs or the baby naps. Try linking the practice you want to develop to a routine or habit you already have. This will help you remember to follow through and give you a designated time to complete your goal each day.
‍

2. Plan Ahead
‍

Inktober may be a daily inking challenge, but who says you can’t do some work in advance? Take time at the beginning of the week to review the upcoming prompts and even sketch out some concepts for your illustrations. This allows you to get much of the design and drawing grunt work done early so you can enjoy inking during the rest of the week
‍

3. Forget Motivation
‍

Motivation feels amazing; it gives you so much energy to hit your goals and stretch yourself. The downside is that just like all other feelings, motivation dulls with time. Professional illustrators don’t depend on their emotions to make them draw every day; they follow through because they’ve committed to it. Forget motivation and focus on integrity. Think of how proud you’ll be when you’ve finished the challenge and let that thought sustain you when you don’t feel like pulling out your pens.
‍

4. Reward Yourself
‍

Who says you have to wait to celebrate your progress until October 31st? Create small rewards for yourself all along the way! Maybe you get to listen to an audio book while you draw, or for every page you ink you can watch 30 minutes of your latest binge show. Find ways to make the work rewarding, even on days you don’t feel like creating.
‍

5. Create a Community
‍

It’s much easier to stay consistent when you’re accountable to someone. Whether that means posting your work online every day, sharing it with a friend, or convincing some of your friends to take the challenge with you, it always helps to have people cheering you on and holding you to your word.
‍

And that’s it - 5 tips to staying consistent this Inktober! Did any of these tips help you? Do you have a suggestion of your own? Head over to our free forum and share your insights with our community. And don’t forget to tag your Inktober projects on Instagram with #svsink so we can see what you’re working on!