It's Inktober! Follow these artists from around the country

Hello! You're reading the CBC Arts newsletter, and if you like what you see, stick around! Sign up here, and every Sunday we'll send you a fresh email packed with art, culture and a metric truckload of eye candy, hand-picked by our small and mighty team. Here's what we've been talking about this week.

Hi, art lovers!

Ever tried a one-a-day art challenge?

Actually — are any of you in the middle of one right now?

It's Inktober, after all, and for anyone who's never stumbled on that particular hashtag, Inktober's an annual art challenge. The rules are beyond simple: just draw something every day and share it.

There are official creative prompts you can follow if you're into "structure," and if you're not — well, you can basically tackle the assignment however you want, which is why we cherry picked a few Instagrammers from around the country to give you an idea of the many, many ways it can be done.

Get inspired, and if you're trying Inktober yourself, hit reply! We'd love to see your work.

Naz Rahbar (@naz.rahbar)

Eva Eskelinen (@evelmiina)

Salini Perera (@salini.banana)

Great Zeus! Remember Salini from this newsletter? She's sketching the whole pantheon of Greek Gods for Inktober.

Melissa Cormier (@armcstudio)

So, this is a cool approach. Melissa's planning to create one enormous piece by the end of the month, using the Inktober challenge to produce (and share) a new section of the work day by day.

Sebastian Curi (@sebacuri)

Nicole Jang (@oh.nicolejang)

The title of this one? "B for boredom." The Vancouver artist is doing an "alphabet of emotions" for Inktober.

Rosena Fung (@rosenafung)

Thinking about the alphabet and emotions...eat your feelings with Rosena Fung, who's doing the ABCs of snacks. C is for Cheetos and celery and cheese.

Nicole Xu (@nicolexu_)

Daily portraits!

Zoe Si (@zoesees)

Daily doggo cartoons!

Sweeney Boo (@sweeney_boo)

Daily superwomen!

Jen Woodall (@funeralbeat)

Christine Wei (@christinewsart)

Christine is illustrating a poem every day. Atticus, eat your heart out.

Karen Thürler (@carookas)

Amanda Martin (@ajmartinart)

Inspired to get drawing? This message from Amanda's Instagram is a great little nugget of encouragement: "I know a lot of artists get overwhelmed or discouraged just thinking about Inktober. Don't do it for anyone but you. Don't do it for the likes or favourites. You'll always end up chasing that instead of trying to hone your craft and develop as an artist. [...] Being able to see your skill develop and get better over time is one of my favourite things. Keep going and don't give up!"

You've got to see this

Be in the room for the beginning of a powerful new artistic collaboration - Adrian Stimson features on this week's episode of In the Making, and the doc teases his collaboration with General Idea's AA Bronson, a project that's going to address the residential school trauma that's affected Stimson's home of Siksika Nation in Alberta. You'll see some emotional moments in the episode, to say the least, but the shared family history they uncover is so incredible that we're not going to say anything more except that you should click that link right now.

Is there an after-dark art festival where you live? - Whether you call it Nuit Blanche or otherwise, night-time events popped up all over Canada the weekend of Sept. 29, and we reached out to organizers from Kelowna to Cape Breton to show you what you missed.

'I play music with brainwaves' - Maxime Michaud does. He really, really, does. We found the Montreal artist in Portugal, where he revealed how he turns the electricity generated by his own heart and brain into sound.

Follow this artist

Victoria Sieczka (@badbloodclub) - In keeping with this email's "October" vibe, give Victoria Sieczka a follow. The Vancouver illustrator designed our profile pic this month, a creepy/cute Halloween pumpkin. Find out more about her art and current obsessions in this quick Q&A.

Got questions? Typo catches? Fresh Inktober sketches you'd like to show off?

We're always around. Hit us up over email and we'll do our best to get back to you.

And if someone forwarded you this message, and you like what you've read, here's where to subscribe for more.

Until next time!

XOXO, CBC Arts