Last month, as if I didn’t have a million other things going on, I decided to join in on Inktober.  Have you heard of it?  I had seen artists do this last year: a drawing a day for the month of October, usually spooky-themed, and usually done in ink or pen.  And just because I wanted to make it a little more fun, I asked Myla (the 6-year-old) if she’d like to join me.  This was a challenge because 1) I wasn’t sure if she’d be able to keep with the theme for the whole month, and 2) it sort of limited what I drew, as I had to sort of keep it within something that fit both of us, and wasn’t TOO creepy for her.

I made my own rules, so it didn’t feel like pressure:  if I wanted to add color, that was fine, and if I didn’t get to it one day, I wouldn’t stress it too much.  But Myla was already full of enthusiasm, so we got started.

Day 1: VILLAIN.  Elle Driver from Kill Bill, and Megamind (who’s she said is special because he’s a villain who turns nice).

Day 2: BEETLEJUICE.  This is one of those characters that she didn’t really know, because she’s not so into creepy things…but with things like that, I tell her about them, and she gets the jist.  My Beetlejuice is wearing a shirt of a guy named Beetlejuice from the Howard Stern show, and hers is the cartoon version, holding beetles in his hands.

Day 3: WITCH.  Bellatrix LeStrange from Harry Potter, and the Playmobil witch from a show Myla likes called Super4.

Day 4: SKELETON.  A “real-ish” LaMuerte from Book of Life (with Myla finishing the body) and Turbo fighting Vanellope from Wreck-It Ralph.

(And since LaMuerte looked a smidge too boring in black & white, I added a little color later to spice her up…)

Day 5: WEREWOLF.  Old school Teen Wolf and Aisling, the little wolf-girl from Secret of the Kells, who’s sniffing another girl…like ya do when you’re like a dog.

Day 6: EDWARD SCISSORHANDS.  Another character she doesn’t personally know, but she’s always been fascinated by.  I told her the story, and she loved it.  (Hers is crying because he has no friends, poor guy…)

Day 7: WEDNESDAY ADDAMS.  It was a Wednesday.  It was another character she didn’t know.  I used to LOVE the old Charles Addams drawings as a kid, and devoured his books and drawings.  I told her about the movie characters, which cracked her up (especially Thing).

Day 8: HELLBOY. Again, I did NOT let my 6-year old watch Hellboy, but she’s seen him around (especially at conventions), and always liked the fact that he’s a good guy who was supposed to be bad but CHOOSES to be good…and she really digs that he loves cats.

Day 9: VAMPIRE.  I drew Vampira–and here’s a little trivia break:  I learned that she created the character and hosted a show of horror films in the 50s and added campy comments to them.  In the 80s, studios wanted to recreate her show, but cast the actress who now plays Elvira in her part, pulling her look and the style of the show directly from hers.  Since she created the Vampira character (based loosely on Charles Addam’s Morticia drawings!), she tried to settle in court but lost. Strange, the things you learn, when looking up references.  Aaanyway, for Myla’s piece, she drew Drac, Mavis, and the curly-baby from Hotel Transylvania.

Day 10: SWAMP CREATURE.  Old-school (and quite dapper) creature from the Black Lagoon, and the Missing Link from Monsters vs. Aliens.

Day 11: ALIENS.  My very favorite Twilight Zone episode “To Serve Man,” and a tiny Gallaxhar from Monsters vs. Aliens.

Day 12: ROBOTS.  (Can you tell I love Twilight Zone?)  Uncle Simon from a creepy episode of the ‘Zone, and a sweet little C3PO (even including his silver leg!  Aww.).

Day 13:  MAD SCIENTIST.  Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein, and Dr. Doofenshmirtz from Phinneas and Ferb, having some trouble with one of his “innators.”

Day 14: ZOMBIE.  This one was tricky, since they’re one of Myla’s absolute creep-outs.  So I tried to keep it harmless with Michael Jackson from Thriller (she even liked the video, although I didn’t show her the full beginning skit).  She drew the zombie “Bad Guy” from Wreck-it Ralph.

Day 15: MUMMY.  Myla has a thing for mummies–they fascinate her!  She even has a bedtime book on the whole ancient Egyptian embalming/mummification rituals (yeah, for some reason, THAT doesn’t freak her out at all!  Haha!).  Old school Karloff and Akhmenrah from Night at the Museum (she has a little crush on him), both catching some Zs.

Day 16: Another WEREWOLF.  Eddie Munster, and the wolf-dad from Hotel Transylvania, covered in his wolf-pup kids.  (Side note: I can’t see Eddie Munster without thinking of Ben Stiller playing a grownup Eddie in a skit on SNL…)

Day 17: GHOSTBUSTERS.  Apparently, she already knew Slimer from a “Just Dance” song they did at school.  “Who ya gonna call?”

Day 18: CREEPY SMILE.  Really just an excuse for me to draw a goofy Nacho Libre smile, and for Myla to draw the Animaniacs.

Day 19:  WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE.  I had initially planned on drawing the kid from the movie, but then remembered I had once made her a Max Halloween costume when she was 2 or 3, and decided to draw her now, as a wild thing, roaring her terrible roars.  She drew the goat-one…plus a flying wild thing she made up.

Day 20: FLYING MONKEY.  Easily my very most favorite characters in the Wizard of Oz.  I went for a realish-version, and she drew the cutest, most adorable BABY flying monkey that I’ve ever seen.  (Seriously, I LOVE that little guy!  Can he be my pet?)

Day 21: QUEEN OF HEARTS.  We’d just been reading “Through the Looking Glass” at bedtime, so we thought the Red Queen would make a fun topic.  From the movie, and from the Disney cartoon.

Day 22:  BAT.  An old-school Bat…man, and Stellaluna.

23: NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS.  A handsome Jack, and a real-ish Sally.

Day 24: GREMLINS.  Myla once fell in love with a Gizmo doll she got in a gift shop, so I drew Spike, and she drew the cutest little Mogwai.

Day 25: Another SKELETON.  She wanted to draw a skeleton again, so I chose a soggy little skeleton kid based on a character created by the talented Matthew Gordon.  She drew a little guy from a book they’d read at school called “Skeleton for Dinner.”

Day 16: Another FRANKENSTEIN.  Bride of Frankenstein, and Johnny Stein from Hotel Transylvania, pulling down a disco ball.

Day 27: GIANT.  The ship-giant from Time Bandits (one of my all-time favorites), and the lady giant from Into the Woods, tearing down trees.

Day 28:  CAT.  Old-school Cat…woman, and the Cheshire Cat.

Day 29: GOBLIN KING.  We both love the Labyrinth.  I drew Jareth and his goblins.  Myla drew an “inappropriate” Jareth on the toilet (because bodily functions crack kids up)…then added another, drawing him when he transforms into an owl (so I couldn’t help but post them both).

Day 30: CREEPY OCTOPUS.  A category she completely created, because she wanted to draw a vampire octopus from Octonauts.  This one stumped me for a bit, until I remembered the COOLEST “creepy octopus” of all: Davy Jones from Pirates of the Caribbean, with his heart chest.

Day 31: DRAGON.  Admittedly, we were at the convention in Austin and couldn’t really go out with a bang, but hey–we tried!  Myla drew a “rain dragon” (which is how she describes drizzly days), and I drew the sad little Gringott’s dragon from Harry Potter.

So  there we are!  A drawing a day for October.  And honestly, Myla was the motivator the whole time, asking me excitedly every morning, “what’s our drawing of the day today?”  We both picked the topics–she was so good at coming up with themes that we both could do.

Anyway, I hope you all had as fun an October as we did with Inktober!