2025 Inktober Alternative Prompt

Inktober is amongst us! I am feeling very unprepared and a little behind but I am excited for another Catober with all of you. As always a quick little intro, I am a very tiny artist who is trying to make it in this art world. Last year I revamped my website and opened my tiny shop with a few prints, stickers and postcards.

I created this Inktober alternative because I wasn’t excited about the prompts they were giving out and who knows maybe you’re like me and just needed a fun drawing prompt.

Last year was my first time creating my own drawing prompt and I decided that drawing cats is just a fun alternative. I had such a blast, I am even surprised people joined me! I was ready to do my 2024 Catober alone but omgosh so many amazing artists joined my tiny little art prompt. I am still amazed that people found my Catober drawing prompt and enjoyed it as much as I did. It brought me so much joy, validation, and a boost of motivation for round two.

Quick Links

2025 Catober Prompt
Catober Rules
Tips and Tricks
2025 Catober IG Art Group

New to Inktober

Inktober is a drawing challenge that happens for the entire month of October, so many amazing and creative artists join the daily challenge following a drawing prompt. It’s a really good time to challenge yourself, connect with friends, and feel part of a bigger art community.

So how does Inktober actually work? The official Inktober releases their art prompt list with a single word per day. Their rules are pretty simple, your drawing must follow the word for the day and be created in ink. I didn’t really like the medium restrictions so I wanted to shake things up and create my own drawing prompt that lets you use any medium except for AI.

What I love about a daily art challenge is how it keeps you accountable and motivated to create. So far, I’ve completed two full Inktobers and one Catober, and I’m excited to add another year to my Catober badge.

2025 Catober Drawing Challenge

Catober is what it sounds like! Drawing cats all of October, we embark on a drawing challenge amongst so many others who are also challenging themselves this October.

The rules for 2025 Catober are simple, you must draw each prompt per day and a cat must be included somewhere in your drawing. Some of the days are very specific and other days are a bit more fluid. The prompt is meant to be a guideline, I don’t want you to feel restricted so if you want to be more creative and do a spin off of the prompt, then you are winning and I love it.

You can use any medium from pencil, paint, color pencil, digital illustrations, paint or ink. The only thing that is not allowed is the use of AI of any sort, let’s activate our creative little brains.

Here are a few of my favorite digital illustrations I created for 2024 Catober. I even have a few postcards available here.

How to Join Others This Catober

To join the fun with others and see what other people are doing just make sure to add the prompt list image as your second image and use the hashtag #Catober2025art. I will also be sharing some tags in my stories and all in the art group.

To join the fun with others:

Add the prompt list as your second image
Tag @artbystepho
Use the hashtag #Catober2025art

I also created an instagram group chat so we can all share our work.

2025 Catober Art Group

Catober Tips For Daily Drawing

I know it can get a little difficult drawing everyday so I created this little list of tips and tricks to help people accomplish the 31 drawing challenge. I know I’ve gotten fatigued midway but hopefully these few tips help you finish and just so you know it feels so good to finish so stay strong!

Plan out your sketches ahead of time
Keep your sketches quick and loose
Don’t obsess over perfection
Try pulling color swatches from photos or illustrations
Set a time to draw daily
Unmotivated, watch sketchbook tours or “draw with me” videos while sketching

Join the 2025 Catober Drawing Challenge

Drawing cats is my jam, so doing a daily cat drawing is so exciting and I hope you want to join this challenge too! I am excited for you to join me and hopefully we can finish and share our pieces with each other. Remember this is meant to be fun, its a guideline feel free to have as much fun as you want!

Happy Drawing, see everyone out there!