Octoblore 2021: A Retrospective
Interview with ten artists across the fandom on the highs and lows of the 31-day annual challenge!
First up! Meet (a few of) the Octoblore 2021 artists
Ashley - AshySaucy
Cami - olympic.help
Laura - Takenbythestyx
Rebecca - _cloggedtoilet_
Nate - Nateillustrates
Csenge Ágnes - @csenge_a_lexebb
Smol Doodle - _smol_doodle
Doodletopia - Doodletoopia
Alex - Agrunkart
April - Aprilsketcho
What was the toughest part of the Octoblore challenge?
Cami - I think it was keeping my posting schedule because I have a project were I'm posting a drawing for my friends' bdays so there were days were I had to double post. So I think that was the toughest part.
Ashley - Drawing content everyday. I started the prompts the day after it was announced. So from September 7th - Octoblore 31st I was drawing every single day. Even though I started early the prompts still caught up with me in the end.
Laura - For me, the toughest part was keeping up a healthy pace and avoiding getting burnt out. There are a couple of days I can tell by looking at the piece where the burn out was hitting a bit too hard and I was struggling to keep moving.
Rebecca - Keeping up with the daily prompts.
Nate - Sitting down to draw them every day.
Csenge Ágnes - Drawing men.
Smol Doodle - Sticking to a prompt list and trying to draw for every day. I didn’t find all of the prompts to be as inspiring as last year, so struggled to think of interesting original concepts for some days.
Doodletopia - It really forced me to find new poses and compositions!
Alex - Finding time. I work a full time job so it was hard but once I found time it was therapeutic for me to work on my art.
April - Stopping! 😆
What was your favorite part of the challenge?
Cami - That my friends and I were doing it all together so we would encourage each other with some of the prompts. One of my favorite parts was also the organization of what I was going to do for each one. I'm a control freak so I had lists of backup options for each day and i loveeed it🤣.
Ashley - To challenge myself and see if I could do all the prompts! Usually drawing would take me days to complete one piece, and I got it down to 2 days a piece! Day one - sketch and lineart. Day two - flat coloring, shading and details. And I found that I was experimenting more, and actually improving! So fun to see the progress!
Laura - Since I did the daily prompts, having 31 different pieces to make gave me a lot of opportunities to try new techniques and styles. If I didn’t love how one turned out, I didn’t need to try it again and I could just move on to the next prompt.
Rebecca - Seeing the creativity throughout the community!
Nate - The interactions from everyone in the fandom! These were my most successful posts ever on Instagram and Twitter.
Csenge Ágnes - Drawing Athena (and Pallas),
Smol Doodle - Seeing other interpretations of the same prompts by other creators. Most people went from the daily list and it was fun to see the different directions people went in from the same starting point.
Doodletopia - I loved that I had the chance to draw characters I didn't pay attention to so far, like Aetna and Hephaestus!
Alex - This helped me grow in my art skills. I’m a late beginner in art. Also connecting with other amazing artists and cosplayers who are so talented and I’ve learned so much from them!
April - This was probably my favorite prompt list ever. Very fun, easy to come up with ideas.
Any advice for creatives who want to participate next year?
Cami - Do whatever makes you happy!!! There's no such thing as a stupid idea, all of them are incredible!! Also don't feel pressured for doing all the prompts (on my first year I only did 5 and this year I finished them all) so please please please don't feel pressured!!!! And if you ever have a doubt with what to do for a prompt we are all here to help you (as a fandom we are a family) and we will help you and hype you up!!!
Ashley - Start early! Don’t let perfection slow you down! This is all for fun! And enjoy challenging yourself!!
Laura - My advice would be two things: plan as many prompts in advance as you can and work ahead of October. I had all but a handful of days planned before the month started. This allowed me to have references and ideas ready to go when I got to each prompt. I changed several before I actually got to them, but I knew I had an idea for each day no matter what. I also had several prompts done before the month began. This gave me the ability to work at a more comfortable pace as drawing a full piece each day isn’t feasible for me. Having a buffer allowed me to keep up and I wasn’t close to the edge until the end of the month."
Rebecca - Stay organized, don’t feel like you have to do every single prompt, write your ideas down, create a separate Pinterest board for inspo and references, get ideas from friends if you’re stuck on a prompt, and start early if possible!
Nate - Plan your ideas ahead!
Csenge Ágnes - Stay away from the comment sections if you don't want drama. Comment about how Persephone and Hades aren't 100% perfect if you want drama.
Smol Doodle - Don’t feel pressured to create and post every day; only create for the prompts that make you happy.
Doodletopia - Just go for it! If you skip a day, just jump to the next one!
Alex - It’s all about having fun! Whether new or a pro, this has been a great opportunity to connect with the LO community while growing as an artist. Putting yourself out there is scary but it was a great experience!
April - After I see the prompt list, I do a list of ideas so that I’m not overwhelmed when the drawing days come. Also don’t worry about every day! There are plenty of every other day or weekly prompts! Draw one or all 31! We just want to see your art!
What is the piece you are most proud of?
Many thanks to all the creatives who spoke with us about their Octoblore 2021 challenge experience! Be sure to follow them for more of their work and people to connect with for 2022’s inevitable challenge.