Journal Play: InkTober 2025

JOURNAL PLAY: 
HAVING FUN WITH INKTOBER!

Hello & Welcome Back to A Time to Play. I have so much fun here sharing with you all the ways I play each day to provide you with some inspiration for your own playtime, which is so vitally important for our well being! 

Today I am sharing about my Inktober 2025 experience. Inktober is a month long drawing/art challenge that anyone can join in and do. Using the hashtags, #Inktober and #Inktober2025, as well as joining the Facebook Group for Inktober, I have been able to enjoy being a part of a world wide community of artists who joined in for the challenge. 

I have heard of Inktober before; I was familiar with the challenge as I saw other artists engaging. 
In the past, I have not been an artist who enjoys using prompts to make art. 
My own life experience has always been reliable fodder for making art consistently. 

I had looked at previous Inktober lists with prompts and never felt motivated to join in. 
Last year I did a few prompts that I felt would be fun and did some videos showing my process. (if you go to my YouTube Channel linked on this page, go to my playlist, In the Studio with Dawn to find those videos.)

But this year, I decided to go for it and engage DAILY with the Inktober prompts for 2025. 
​And I had so much fun! 

Here are the first 15 drawings from Inktober 2025. See list of prompts below for reference.

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I wanted to share with you how I incorporated my Inktober sketches into my daily routine so it didn't become something else to do, which can be a hindrance to being part of such a challenge. 

I keep a daily journal practice. In the evening I write a narrative summary of what I want to recall from my day, and then I choose a word that summarizes something I want to remember that was meaningful. I've been doing this for many years. 

In the past several years. I've turned that word into abstract art, using colored pencils and pastel crayons for color and texture. So I decided to use that space where I create abstract word art and instead use the prompts for Inktober! Yes! 

So many of the drawings I did for the challenge include the word prompt in the design, and sometimes the word itself is the main design element.  I found this fun and challenging at the same time! 

Here are the next group of drawings from Inktober 2025.

There are some drawings where I used a reference, while others I just created my own concept. I had fun coming up with ideas for each design and being able to bring that idea to life. I use fine pen for all the drawings. I also labelled each one with Inktober 2025 for future reference so I would know what they were for. 

Here is the Inktober 2025 prompt list so you can reference it with the drawings: Mustache, weave, crown, murky, deer, pierce, starfish, reckless, heavy, sweep, sting, shredded, drink, trunk, ragged, blunder, ornate, deal, arctic, rivals, blast, button, firefly, rowdy, inferno, puzzling, onion, skeletal, lesson, vacant, award. 

I shared each of my drawings on my Instagram stories and in the Inktober Facebook group. 
Do you join the Inktober challenge each year? Did you do it this year? I'd love to hear from you! 

Now that I've gotten used to using a prompt for these drawings, I decided to join a new challenge called Doodlewash, so stay tuned for that here at A Time to Play! 

And if you want to join me for my daily postings, follow my Instagram @RefreshwithDawnHerring. 
​Check this page on my website for all my social media links. 

If you would like to subscribe to my YouTube Channel, I'm @RefreshwithDawn there. 

It is my delight to share my art journey here with you; I trust it has been a source of inspiration for your own playtime, whatever that might look like. I'm cheering you on as you make time to play each day! 

Thanks for stopping by and you're welcome to leave a comment, follow me on social media and join in my community where we celebrate Playtime! 

Remember to Play Every Day! 

Dawn Herring, Artist and Your Fun Guide to Play!