At the beginning of October, BRIDGE created an online event titled “BRIDGE x Inktober” that put a twist on Inktober, an art challenge created by Jake Parker in 2009. Inktober provides participants with prompts every day in October, encouraging them to improve their sketching skills, build positive drawing habits, and share their creations online! BRIDGE combined Inktober’s 2020 ink prompts with terms that are inspired by “What is Solidarity?” Arriscraft Lecture Series, WASA events, and online learning. Every day, participants were challenged to merge both prompts to create an insightful and fun drawing and submit it to be featured on BRIDGE’s Instagram page.
Some of the prompts from this event included “Sleep x Pandemic,” “Trap x Native Land” and “Float x Spiritual,” all of which brought together Waterloo Architecture students and members of the Cambridge community. While some students committed to sketching every day, other students decided to leisurely join the challenge whenever they could, both of which were welcome!
“In the beginning, I tried to draw a few when I had time, just to save up for the days that I know I would be busy on. But as assignments and studio work pile up, it got harder and harder to stay on top of it,” elaborates an MA student, Wendy Yuan, who is currently studying remotely from Richmond Hill, Ontario. “It was amazing to see all the creative works that other talented artists have drawn! But at the same time, I started to get a little embarrassed of my 3-minute sketch. But overall, it was fun to come up with something overlapping the 2 prompts per day.”
“I’m really happy we hosted this challenge because it motivated me to actually draw something every day.” says Dani Grabke, a 3B student at the University of Waterloo School of Architecture, who has been actively participating in the challenge for the entire month of October, “I feel like since I started university, I dedicated less time to myself and to hobbies I used to enjoy. Participating in Inktober made me realize just how easily I can fit drawing into my daily routine. I hope to keep it up!”
Amy Shin, a 1A student at the University of Waterloo School of Architecture, states, “I don’t sketch often, but participating in Inktober definitely made me do more of it” and another 1A student, Dean Ngyuen says “I thought it was an amazing starting event to my first year in BRIDGE and I had a lot of fun coming up with an idea for the collaborated prompts.”
Leanne Li, another 1A student, is amazed at the effect that sketching once a day can have on you. “Honestly, this event showed me how much drawing for half an hour a day can make me take my mind off things from the craziness of school!”
Maully Gupta, an MA student studying remotely from Delhi, India was also very passionate about the project: “Being a part of University of Waterloo school of Architecture has always been a dream. Due to the shift of the course online, I was worried how connected I will be to the school and the community while sitting in another country. But being a part of BRIDGE has definitely bridged the gap I thought there would be. ‘Inktober’ is officially the first online event that I am a part of as one of the new co-directors; and it’s been a beautiful month of organizing, discussing, brainstorming, and sketching. A big shout to all the people who were a part of Inktober and made such amazing sketches every day, and [I am] really proud of the BRIDGE team in making it a successful event.”
This event could not have happened without the initiative of many BRIDGE students. Firstly, Lydia Xia, Dean Nguyen, Leanne Li, and Amy Shin collaborated to create the colourful posters. Amy Shin was critical in organizing submissions, and Dani Grabke was a core founder and participant in the event, posting daily on the BRIDGE Instagram using the templates created by Wendy Yuan and Maully Gupta. Thank you to this awesome team who made this event possible!
To wrap up Inktober, BRIDGE is hosting one final drawing challenge to give participants one more chance to share their work and spread their message. We’re asking ANYONE to submit one (1) ink drawing by November 7th at 11:59 pm of ANY of the 31 BRIDGE x Inktober prompts for a chance to win a prize from the local Phidon pen store!
Submit your drawing here:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSempfNbswWH7nN-FvVdIFOijVQKUDwlVrArljGVMqOa5gMFmw/viewform?fbzx=4966742622191999636
Voting will occur on the @bridgearch Instagram on Sunday, November 8th, so be sure to cast your vote for your favourite drawing!
Thank you to everyone who participated throughout the month of October and we cannot wait to see your creations for the final Inktober x BRIDGE slam off!
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