Today, I want to talk about personal art challenges.
I have three points to address: What is a personal art challenge, why they’re important, and how to choose one.
Let’s get started.
Personal Art Challenges
What Are They?
A personal art challenge is just what the name suggests. You personally challenge yourself to do some art-related thing for a specific period of time.
What’s the Purpose?
The purpose behind a personal art challenge varies from artist to artist. In my experience, challenges like this also vary from situation to situation.
For instance, a few years ago, I wanted to learn plein air drawing, but I couldn’t seem to make myself do it. So that fall, I gave myself a challenge to get outside and draw regularly. I did that for a couple of years, sometimes for one month, sometimes for two. That was one personal art challenge.
Last year, after months of stagnation on more “serious” drawing, I decided to sketch. One sketch a day six days a week. Any subject, any paper, any colored pencils (or only one color.) I also decided to make each sketch 4 x 6 inches, which removed that decision from the table.
In other words, I kept this personal art challenge simple.
Both challenges resulted in a body of work that’s not exhibit-worthy, but that stretched me in one way or another. The Sketching Habit also demonstrated how much improvement is possible with as little as fifteen or twenty minutes a day sketching.
Art challenges are also a good way to motivate yourself to learn a new medium, a new technique, or explore new subjects.
How to Choose (or Design) One
The first thing to do is decide whether or not you need a personal art challenge, or if goal setting is better. There is a difference.
Goal setting is the best option if drawing time is effortless. When you’re making art regularly and just need a target to aim for, then set a goal. I talk more about that in this post, so I won’t go into detail here.
If you’re struggling to make art, however, then a personal art challenge is probably better.
So what do I mean by “struggling”? Let me share a few of my struggles.
- I can’t finish anything
- Drawing is a bore
- I can’t seem to make time to draw
- There’s no joy in drawing; it’s a chore
Those are just four of my struggles over the last couple of years. I have reasons for thinking I reached this point in my art journey, and perhaps I’ll talk about them at a later date. Suffice it to say it was getting increasingly easy to let each day end without having put pencil to paper at all.
Since I wasn’t making art on a regular basis, a goal wasn’t the answer. I’d set goals for each of the last two years and didn’t meet them.
So a personal art challenge was the answer.
I set a personal art challenge on July 3, 2021 and more than met it by the end of the year. It put some joy back into drawing. It also revealed a subject I loved to draw but had forgotten about (trees and branches.) The best part is that by the end of the year, I saw definite improvement in the way I drew and in the results. Win-win-win.
Do I Recommend Personal Art Challenges?
Yes.
And no.
There are times when a personal art challenge is a good idea. As I mentioned above, I spent a lot of the last two years struggling with making art. A personal art challenge was exactly the right thing for me.
If drawing has gotten stale for you, or if you just don’t know what to draw, then a personal art challenge is a good idea. Even if it’s short-term, say a month or two, it may be exactly the kick-start you need.
But if you’re in the groove every time you pick up a pencil and start drawing, then you don’t need a personal art challenge. Just keep doing what you’re doing and you’ll be fine.
Want to read more posts like this? Sign up for Carrie’s free weekly newsletter and be among the first to know when she publishes new articles.
Thank you for this article.
You’re welcome, Clarence.
Great article Carrie. I guess I am kind of doing my own art challenge. It became harder for me to find the time with a new puppy who seems to want all my attention all the time. So… I had to get up earlier to get more done to then carve out some art time in the afternoon where puppy could nap in a puppy proof room while I do the art. I had to tell myself not to feel guilty for taking time for myself. Without my art I am not as happy a person as I am with it. In short, I need that time to refresh which makes me a better family and animal caregiver overall. So… I would say… carve out art time and don’t feel guilty about it.
Gail,
Thank you for reading this post and for leaving a comment.
You are right. There are times when we artists just have to close the door and draw.
Or step out onto the front porch or into the back yard and draw (weather permitting, of course.)
I too have been wondering where the joy of sketching went when there was a time you could search my purse and find paper and pencil in it ready for any wait time I found. At the airport, waiting for soccer practice, sitting at very long train crossings, or snatching alone time in my car at a park.
Personal challenge is more of a nudge like eating salad and not watching mindless tv. It takes prioritizing to sketch for our own good.
You are certainly right about making sketching a priority. It’s all too easy to let time be swallowed up by mindless activities when that time could be put to better use by bringing out the pencils and paper!