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Inktober 2025 Is Here! · 11 October 2025

Inktober2025 Mustache

Inktober is here! Which means thirty-one days of drawing.

Okay. Full confession here. I started Inktober2025 about a week early. I mean c’mon. If they give the prompts early, I am going to start early. It is just human nature, right? Okay. Maybe not. Many people, including myself, like to procrastinate. Wait until the last possible moment to get things done. That is probably more human nature. But there are some things that I just need to start early. And Inktober is one of them.

If you do not know what Inktober is but you like to draw, you should check it out. It is just a website that has 31 prompts for drawing. And if you are like me, you like drawing prompts (and writing prompts too). There are so many things to draw, but when you get a prompt, you can focus on that one thing for a day. Or however long it takes. I am a simplistic artist. Which just means that I draw simple stuff. I am working to get more sophisticated, but I am still just working on drawing what I see.

Which is an interesting subject in and of itself. You see, apparently we do not always draw what we see. When we draw a person’s eyes, we do not see the shape of the eye or the shadows or the subtle tone changes. Instead, we draw what we think an eye is. We see somebody’s eyes and immediately draw two circles. Simple. Eyes are round, draw circles. But eyes are not circles from different perspectives. In fact, even though eyeballs are round, people do not have round eyes when you consider eyelids, eyelashes, and the surrounding bone structure. Yes, the pupil and iris of an eye are round, but we do not always see them completely. Which means that we ought not just draw two circles when we see eyes.

That single lesson is about all I know about drawing. And I have been working to draw what I see ever since I learned that lesson. I think I have been getting better, but the proof is in the pudding.

At any rate.

Inktober2025 Murky

One of the things that I have decided this Inktober is that I am not going to get rid of my pencil lines. I usually do some basic sketching with pencil before I ink my drawings. I have gotten rid of those pencil lines during past Inktobers, but this year, I am not going to spend my time erasing the pencil lines. Not because I am lazy. Even though I am. No. The reason that I am not going to erase my pencil lines is twofold. One, I want people to see my process. And two (probably the more important reason), I do not want the eraser smudges on my drawings. Oh sure, the pencil marks make the drawings look incomplete or unfinished or something, but that is okay. For like my drawings, I am unfinished. I am a work in progress.

Well, that is about it. If you are so inclined, you can check out my Instagram feed for my Inktober2025 drawings. And yes, I know that this blog post is nearly two weeks late to coincide with the start of Inktober. Ah well. I guess I can start my drawings early, but I cannot plan for my blog posts that much in advance. Still, Inktober2025 is here! Time to get drawing.

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Words and Pictures · 4 October 2025

Sometimes the pictures on my blog posts do not match my words. But that is okay.

There are times when the picture(s) on my blog posts do not match the words. Like the moo zone post having a picture of a sheep with its head sticking up out of the crowd. Part of that is because I get most of my pictures from a service that has long since paid for itself. I get these photos that do not need any attribution. (Presumably because I already paid for the service.) It is a great deal. I have even used the service to grab a few photos that I used on my book covers. That has been a great time saver. At least for those books that have a need for pictures that I cannot make myself. Or that I do not want to make myself.

At any rate.

I have had a few posts where I wanted a certain picture, but could not find a good match so I used something close. I have had other posts where I ran out of time and did not want to search for any closer matches, so I used what I found. And there have been other times when I just enjoyed a picture so much that I had to use it.

The last reason was the case for using the sheep poking its head out of the crowd for the moo zone post. I just thought it was too funny not to use. After all, the individual sheep was in the crowd, but not necessarily following the crowd. Or something like that. But still, sheep do not say, “Moo.” Thus the picture did not match the post. And I was okay with that. Especially since it got me another blog post. This one.

I have thought about doing a blog post or maybe a series of blog posts starting with a set of pictures. I would just use a single word to find my picture (which is required on the service I use), then write about it. Actually, since I have been putting two pictures on most of my posts, I would probably grab a couple pictures and write something to do with them. It could be great fun. And I would even have a title for my post. I would just use the single word I used to find my pictures. It could be great fun.

Or not.

Actually, I do not see a downside to the writing about pictures idea. I think it could be fun. Especially since I am more boring now than I used to be. As if that could really happen. I mean c’mon. More boring than mediocre? That seems hard to do.

Well, I seem to have run out of steam. Which seems par for the course these days.

Oh. One more thought about pictures. I suppose another reason I like the sheep picture is because the one sheep is sticking its neck out. It is being different from the other sheep around it. Maybe that should be a blog post. We shall see.

If you see the sheep picture again, it will probably not be that I reposted a blog post. It may be that I am just sticking my neck out. Or it may be that I just like that picture. Even if it does not match the wortds. Baa.

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Sitting Here Waiting · 27 September 2025

Well, here I am waiting on the day before my blog preview with nothing written so far. (Except the words of the last sentence.)

If you have read my blog for any amount of time, you probably know that I release my blog post on Saturday, but I give a preview on social media (Facebook and X/Twitter) on Thursday. My #ThursdayThoughts post. It works for me. Usually.

Usually, I write my blog on Saturday and get it all ready for viewing. Meaning that I grab a couple pictures and format them for my blog. With the writing and editing, it usually takes about an hour. Or so.

Then there are the times when I get up late or have something else pressing to write. Those are the weeks when I am scrambling to get a blog post out on Wednesday and Thursday in time for my social media preview. It is not a fun time. Even though I am just working up against my own self-imposed deadline. But it is okay. I just giterdone. (Is that a real word now?)

At any rate.

Now, if I was a person who believed that I need to wait for inspiration to strike before I wrote, I would have very few, if any, blog posts. I mean really. Who has the time to wait for inspiration to strike? Not I, said the frog. We need to just write. Like I am doing now. No inspiration. No real plan. Just write. The words will come.

Which is the point of writing, I guess. You just write. The words are not going to wait for you. And you cannot wait for the words. You just need to write. And write. And write. The words will come.

Now, if you are like me, the words might not make any sense when you are done. But that is okay. Every blog post is practice. Even though they count. In other words, whether you are a seasoned writer who understands that the words will flow when you turn on the tap or a novice trying to think of what to write, you gotta sit down and write. Period. Even if it is gibberish. Look at me. I have been blogging since 2006 and still just have a few friends and faithful readers to show for it. Which is okay. Like I said a few blog posts ago (or maybe more), I write for an audience of One.

Well, I am not sure that I accomplished anything. I did not solve any world problems or say anything profound. But I know that I have met another self-imposed deadline. Even if my post is filled with drivel. Ah well. Getting these few words out on the internet is better than just sitting here waiting.