To Ink or not to Ink(tober)? That is the Question.

     So, Inktober. 

     Normally, I am big into Inktober and I like pledging to draw something every day. Generally, I do not make every day. I average about half and never regret it. This year, however, I'm questioning whether to take part again. I do have to specify here. I will be still be trying to draw every day in October. That isn't in question, even if I know I'm going to be too busy to draw every day. Its whether I will be working in only ink and whether I will be using the hashtag. 

     Part of my hesitation is due to the creator of Inktober himself. I won't go heavy into the allegations and legal issues... I'm not a lawyer and I've done minimal research on it. If you're in for the long haul, here's a good Reddit post going over in much better detail what I touch on ever so briefly below. 

     In 2019, the creator started claiming Copywrite on personal art books released with Inktober in the title. This means that a lot of artists who take part and then release their art as an Inktober book for their fans couldn't release it without a lot of hassle and legal work on a book that he has nothing to do with, but that he created the event. This year the controversy is that the creator has been accused of plagiarism by an indie artist/author who released a very similar book 2-3 years ago on inking.   

     As I said, I am not going to get into my personal feelings on him claiming Copywrite on artists' work that he had nothing to do with except that they originally posted them all under the Inktober hashtag, nor will I be talking about the lawsuit. I don't know enough about Copywrite law, I haven't read either of the books involved and while I've done a handful of research, I am in no way qualified to say yeah or nay on any of it. 

     What I can say is that all of the hubbubs is making me unsure if I want to be attached to the name this year. Also, while normally I work with only ink and love it, I would really love to get more sketching time in on my Surface. Drawing digitally is a completely different set of skills than painting in any sort of traditional medium, even if mine is a bit closer since I'm missing some of the cooler tools that the paid programs give you. 

     All that said, I'm just not sure yet. There are other options out there. Artober, Midnightober, OCtober, Witchtober... There's one for digital-only, as well, though I can't remember the exact name for that one. The question is which of these options is a fit for me. 

    Honestly, I don't really have an answer yet. I'll probably look into what my friends are choosing to do and see how open the options are. What do you think? Are you still interested in seeing any drawings I do during the month? Let me know below or on FB.