Intober is a fun project artists all over the world participate in each October. Every day, there is an official drawing "prompt," usually just one word, and you draw something (usually in ink), and use the hashtag #inktober and post it online. The # key words help others find your work, and you can see what others have drawn too. I'm still learning more about the proper way to use #s, but I've improved.

My personal favorite from Intober and runner up with "likes" on Instagram.

This year I almost did all the days of Inktober prompts, even through NYCC when I was exhausted from drawing at the end of the day. It doesn't have to be a complicated drawing either. Sometimes it only took 5 minutes to sketch something quick, and I tried not to spend over a half hour on any one drawing. Usually I draw them on the subway. All of my Inktober drawings were just with a sharpie or micron - nothing fancy. Not even a pencil under drawing (except one I think). The point is to get you drawing SOMETHING and not worry about perfection. Sometimes it's hard though, when you see others work and it's mind-blowing with detail. But who knows - they could've spent the whole day on it, or a week.

"Rollercoaster of Love" by The Ohio Players, later covered by The Red Hot Chili Peppers

Last year after Inktober, I just stopped because the month was over and there were no more prompts. But that's not the point - the point is to get you in the habit of drawing each day, and this year I had momentum and wanted to keep going! Since I'm very passionate about all kinds of eclectic music, I decided to choose a music theme for every day, calling them Doodle Tunes #doodletune

"Jigsaw Falling Into Place" by RadioHead, from their "In Rainbows" album.

Every day of the week has a different theme. Monday is "New Music Mondays," where I listen to all the new releases on Spotify and pick the song I like best to draw. Even though Spotify changed it to be released on Friday, I like starting the week fresh with new music. Next we have "2000s Tuesdays," because all music from the past almost 2 decades blends together. I've decided to make "Wild Card Wednesdays" to feature any music that doesn't fall into a usual decade category, something random. For "Throwback Thursdays" #tbt I draw a 90s music theme. Fridays are 80s music, Saturdays are 70s, and Sundays are 60s. I will literally NEVER run out of ideas and this has been super fun so far!

For people on my mailing list, please note that I post these Doodle Tunes on my social media - it doesn't link to this blog. I mainly use my Instagram @mindyindy_art to post the drawings to my Twitter @mindy_indy and Tumblr: http://mindyindy.tumblr.com/ and Facebook business page: https://www.facebook.com/mindyindycomics/ By default it was posting to my personal facebook page, but now the official Mindy Indy Facebook page will be seeing more posts. For my friends and family seeing this post on my regular Facebook, please "like" my Mindy Indy page. Technical stuff, I know! I can't post everywhere all the time though. I love the ease of linking to other sites with just a click of a button.

Hope you enjoy the Doodle Tunes, and remember, it's never too late to start drawing every day! You can pick a theme of something you're interested in or passionate about. And if you miss one day, no big deal. Just pick it back up the next day and don't worry about "catching up." You're doing this for YOU. Drawing every day will flex your brain muscles and help you think more creatively, and you'll also get faster at drawing!

This year I tried out Inktober for the first time and it was really fun! What the heck IS Inktober? "Every October, artists all over the world take on the InkTober drawing challenge by doing one ink drawing a day the entire month." Artist Jake Parker "created InkTober in 2009 as a challenge to improve [his] inking skills and develop positive drawing habits. It has since grown into a worldwide endeavor with thousands of artists taking on the challenge every year."

I'd seen some friends in years past posting art on social media with hashtags (#) of #inktober but didn't really pay attention to the movement until I saw an Inktober panel at NYCC this year. Artists talked about how it doesn't matter if you miss some days and it doesn't have to be a perfect drawing, but the goal is to help you to draw something on a regular basis, and you'll realize you're capable of more than you think.

I started more than halfway through October and did 10 Inktober drawings total. I loved just drawing in my sketchbook something that was not part of a larger project for once. There was a lot of freedom in just playing around with physical ink, which I've done less since going more digital with my work. I hadn't tried ink washes for YEARS until the theme of ink encouraged me to think of it, and painting Jupiter like that reawakened a childlike glee.

Here are the prompts for each day of October. For example, for 10/1, you'd draw something that's FAST. But if you missed participating in Inktober, why wait all the way until next year? These prompts can be applied to ANY month! Who cares if it's not October anymore? It's just fun! Not sure if you'd still want to tag your work with the official #, but that's not the point. The point is it helps you get your daily creativity inspiration! If you already did Inktober, and are looking for more prompt challenges, Tentacularly on Reddit has made a November list with 30 prompts and you can use color or anything. Artprompts.org is pretty cool too, where you click a category and it gives you a prompt phrase. My favorite is the "Situation" category.

Cheers to creating more art!

The #inktober sketch with the most "likes" on Facebook (16): Awesom-O for the BOX theme on 10/26/16.

I've struggled with insomnia my whole life. Over the years, I've learned to not eat certain things in the evening and other habits to help get a better night's rest. Of course, avoiding caffeine after 3pm is ideal. But I've discovered that even eating chips as an after dinner snack keeps me awake! They don't have caffeine, but it must be the grease. Most dietitians recommend against eating anything late at night, but being hungry keeps me awake MORE, so I have to eat something. Lately, if I find that my relaxation/meditation CDs/apps (I prefer CDs because the blue light from a phone or tablet can keep you awake) aren't doing the trick, reading a boring book helps a lot.