Scholastic Bugs
This year, I am participating in the Inktober52 art challenge (Created by the incredibly talented Jake Parker) in which there is a weekly prompt to inspire artists to continue developing their skills by creating ink pieces.
I don’t want this art challenge to JUST be a skill honing process, though. I want this practice to also serve a shareable function. I want my art to mean something to someone.
One of my major sources of inspiration comes from my personal study of human history and the wild ride we’ve been on since our journey began nearly 200,000 years ago.
In order to share some of that inspiration with you all, all of my Inktober submissions will stick with the theme of “Scholastic Bugs.” Each week I will highlight someone that has been influential in the progression of our species and draw them as a bug. “Why?” you might ask… well… because bugs are cute (sometimes). And... I can do whatever the heck I want. And maybe at the end of these 52 weeks (or however long I’m able to keep at it) I’ll compile them all in a small picture book.
The main thing is, I want to share with you some of the people that I find inspiring. I hope you can take away something from each of my ink submissions as well as find something new in our human history to be grateful for.
Like John Lennon, I want to encourage you to “imagine!”
It's what makes us who we are. This experience of wonder is a central part of being human. We tell stories, create art, read books, and watch movies all to imagine what it would be like to do something exciting, to live a day in somebody else’s shoes, to grow as an individual.
Our brains have the amazing ability to create hypothetical situations in which we can entertain ourselves with things we have never actually experienced firsthand.
Use your beautiful brain!
Dream!
Pursue your passions!
And no matter how old you get, never stop imagining!
We have the opportunity to keep pressing forward, knowing that if it weren’t for the accumulation of human knowledge, we would still be living (and dying) in caves.
It is humbling to look back at our beginnings. The vulnerable and curious animal known as homo sapiens has come a long way! Humanity’s incessant desire for knowledge continues to propel us into new and uncharted territories of discovery.
We all have the opportunity to see farther than our predecessors, not because we are smarter, stronger, or more determined than they were, but because we’re all just standing on the shoulders of giants.
