So, Craptober.
Just āInktoberā , but intentionally kind of crappy.

Click here for way tooĀ muchĀ introĀ text involving personalĀ bloops etc. and question marks

I have that issue where I would like to draw, butĀ IĀ justĀ don't.
Possibly in part because I'm afraid of it looking like crap??
So I never learnt the joy of simply making marks on paper to just make SOMETHING that I might have in mind. Which, as I understand, is pretty flippin' helpful in gaining the mileage to make art that doesn't look like crap???
I already started talking about this in my intro post, but intentionally crappy Inktober (or craptober) then seems like a good way for me to just jump the flip in, and I'm going to make my standard not too much better than this kind of crappy eldritch tripod wolf I hastily drew when making a joke to my D&D group:

and maybe this will help me overcome whatever paralysis I have in doodling anything, as maybe I'll learn how to draw without that unconscious expectation that every drawing I make must be this undertaking for which I must contribute a sizeable amount of time, effort, and energy???
And the thing is, at this point in my life, I actually kind of like the way kinda crappy art looks like! So why am I afraid of making it myself????
Which is why I want to participate in Inktober this year, but with intentionally crappy drawings.
I want to be able to make silly doodles for pleasure without too much expectation of them being anything. To draw without fussing over every detail like what i am doing to some extent with just this post aa.
And maybe doing this challenge will help me figure out what to draw in the first place when I think that it's time to draw something but don't want to treat it like an exercise or anything (like I have been with drawabox.com and suchh).
Rules of Craptober
- Follow the typical rules of Inktober
- VERY optional is ink. We're doing Craptober now, so draw with whatever crap you want, so long as it doesn't intimidate you too much
- The main skill we're developing for Craptober isn't inking nor drawing itself (tho those can certainly happen incidentally) ā it's overcoming the perfectionism that keeps us away from drawing at ALL (or, at least, nearly as much as we'd like)
- With that said, if you DO use pencil, I would still avoid erasing, as nothing coaxes perfectionism more than being able to continually edit your work. Maybe avoid CtrlĀ +Ā Z if you want to do this digitally. Commit to whatever you put down and nod approvingly that your work is going to look extra crappy for Craptober
- And tag with #craptober and/or #craptober2022. TaggingĀ withĀ #inktoberĀ isĀ optional
- VERY optional is ink. We're doing Craptober now, so draw with whatever crap you want, so long as it doesn't intimidate you too much
- Draw at a skill level well below what you are capable of
- Even if you have a lot more skill now, you want to recreate the headspace that kids tend to have, where they shamelessly draw just for fun without thinking too much about it kids are pretty chill with things like this ā be chill
- If you draw one day and feel reluctant to draw the next day because you want to live up to yesterday's standard, then lower today's standard
- Identify mental roadblocks keeping you from drawing every day and consciously add rules to beat them
- For example, if you're reluctant because of time issues, set a time limit on how long you can draw for. Even a 5-minute doodle every day is infinitely more than no drawings at all
- If fixating on certain skills holds you back, like perspective or making sure that you put every line down with confidence, then invent rules that limit your NEED to use these skills ā you can always train them more deliberately outside of Craptober
How I'm going to do Craptober
- This is all about combatting perfectionism, so I'm going to do things to sabotage perfection
- For example, I'm going to skip the first day of Inktober. Which looks to be Gargoyle this year. Which is too bad, but also kind of a relief?? Eheh. That way, if I miss a day, then I won't have to feel too down, since I had already missed a day from the beginning if i miss like all but a day or two thoā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ (next year aa)
- I'll start with a daily time limit of 5 minutes digging for references, and 20 minutes of actual drawing
- I'll add an additional maximum of 20 minutes if I'm really feeling the drawing, but any more than that will set up too high of expectations for FutureĀ Me
- I can also adjust the times between days since adhering to the same rules every day sounds like another kind of perfection that I could avoid??
- I'll probably also consider setting up a time limit on how long I can spend actually POSTING my crapdrawings, too
- I'll also be tagging #inktober and #inktober2022 in addition to #craptober and #craptober2022 in order to increase possible visibility in case anyone else also wants to participate, but I would ordinarily not give myself the anxiety of letting really crappy beginner doodles show up in the same results as other people trying to perfect their inking abilitiessss. š š š
I feel very nervous posting work well below my standard online outside a one-off context, like a Discord conversation. But in a community as new and cool as cohost, I feel like it'll be a lot easier to get over that anxiety.
I don't know if anyone else would participate, but maybe if I can get myself to actually put SOMETHING out there, I can set an example such that maybe other people can feel less nervous about attempting a challenge like this?? But ultimately, I'm mainly doing all this for myself, anyway.
And, in some ways, participating in this challenge would also beat the perfectionism of wanting only good art posted online and associated with your name. Once I put this stuff out there, I would have blemished this ideal of being a good artist to live up to when it comes to deciding whether to upload something on the internet. I want this low pressure when it comes to posting anything.
If other people do start contributing to #craptober, I want people to be able to look at another's work and think not "Omg their art is so much better than mine why do I bother", but instead "Hmm, their work is crappy, but I think that I can do a crappier job..."
This is also a fun opportunity to reference fun art or styles that deliberately seem to work against certain drawing foundations, like perspective and all that. I would post examples, but I don't want to imply that their art is crap ā but I definitely do ššš them in all their unconventionality aaa.
And if it's already in the middle of October, and you're just discovering this, remember...
āØšāIt isn't all or nothingāšāØ
Joining something late is a good exercise against perfectionism, after all.