It is common knowledge that the point of October is Halloween, what with dress up and ghosts; pumpkins, with carving and all the pumpkin-y food; and boots, scarves, and sweaters.

But that being said, I recently found something that outranks basically all but Halloween in my list of reasons to love October.

Inktober.

31 inked art pieces in 31 days.

Started in 2009 by artist Jake Parker, it has since grown into a worldwide event.

At this point, many popular artists have created their own iterations of the basic prompt. Like @missupacey ‘s Witchtacular or @lyfeillustration ‘s Goddess Lyfeink16.

This year I have been following many of these artists working through Instagram. I also happen to just browse the art the rest of the world is doing.

It has, thus far, been a really really cool experience because no matter the level of art experience, people who like art are united for a whole month.

The best part is that since it is a self challenge, there aren’t really any hard and fast rules. The art is really up to the artist, they can choose to follow a prompt for all 31 days, parts of a prompt, no prompt, or only certain days.

While I don’t consider myself an artist per say, I do really enjoy art, so I decided to take part in the challenge.

It has been an amazingly eye-opening experience so far.

While I hold no candle to the likes of @missupacey or @lyfeillustration, I have found that I have grown so much in technical ability and ability to translate my creative vision into an actual tangible image.

But most importantly, since starting (a day late albeit) I am finding that I feel happier.