In this last soggy week of September, I (and thousands, maybe even millions of others worldwide) will be gearing up for the famous month of Inktober. Anyone, including kids, can take part in the Inktober challenge – just pick up your favourite pen, start drawing, and don’t stop! The Inktober website even provides a handy list of daily prompts, with some excellent inspiring words such as underwater, filthy, mysterious and screech, but you can find other examples online or even make up your own.

Although I’m a fan of felt tips, art brush pens and even the humble ballpoint, my favourite go-to drawing tool of choice is a good old-fashioned nib pen with Indian ink. For these kinds of projects I don’t sketch anything out in pencil first, which makes for many discarded ink-splattered bits of paper. This year I plan to escape my black ink safety zone by using more colour and drawing other things than just cats, which as you may know, could be a challenge.