365 day drawing challenge

Jun 1
5 min read

Yep, I'm giving it a go. 365 days of drawing. I have toyed with doing a challenge like this for years but there were things that I would always stop me in my tracks. I'd give myself a lot of reasons why I couldn't undertake such a task.

To some artists or creatives, a 365 day drawing challenge might seem trivial. Like they eat this shit for breakfast. On repeat.

'Isn't that what you're meant to do as an artist?'

'Of course I do that everyday, no big deal. It comes with the territory of being a creative.'

'If you don't do this, then you do not take your art seriously’ (I actually read this in a book recently).

So much judgement! And let's not get judgy over this. We are creatives and we all do things differently. For me, everytime I started, I found it daunting to think of that commitment, EVERY SINGLE DAY. I also know many creatives who find this type of thing daunting and maybe it doesn't suit their flow. I found this was the reason I had. Sometimes I would create with such eagerness that there weren't enough hours in the day, other times I wouldn't even go into my studio space. Sometimes that would be for months.

The problem I found that when I did this, I felt a disconnect from who I was. One minute I was keen, proactive and in the pursuit of being a better artist, learning and being curious. The next minute I wasn't an artist at all and I'd let that part of me go completely. It would all come to a grinding halt. And then I would question if this path was even for me. This is the part I hated the most because it leads to second guessing, it lets in the doubt and all those awful feelings of 'can I even do this?'

When it was never about whether I can do the art or not. If uni has taught me anything, it is that I am a very creative person. Even when I took a long break, the ideas didn't stop. I couldn't turn them off, which at times, I must admit was incredibly annoying.

After my most recent hiatus from being in the studio (which I'll write about shortly), I had a lot of time to think about my creativity and how I have always flip flopped between making and not making. It also got me thinking about my goals for this year and habits I want to build. For as long as I can remember, I have always been inconsistent (with anything) and scared of commitment. This year I wanted to change that. In a way, I think it has taken me a long time to accept that I am the one getting in the way of myself, which is brutal truth.

Before this moment, with this shift in mindset, I would've seen a challenge such as this a chore. To show up and do a drawing/sketch/painting, whatever really as something I had to do to be an artist. In fact, every other time I've tried to do any sort of daily, monthly art thing I've ended up either stopping or hanging out for it to end. As I said, I would have many reasons, not enough hours in the day, too tired, running around after the kids, homework, work, life. Everything.

However, this time, things are slightly different. All the responsibilities are still there, plus more but how I am approaching it mentally has changed. I mean really, I don't have to do anything, I get to choose to do this. No one is keeping me accountable, no one is checking up on me, this isn't homework and no one would give a shit if I stopped.

But I am showing up to my sketch book every day because I am giving myself the time and permission to do something I truly love and something that I will never be able to shake. I am making my creativity the priority above everything else and making a commitment to show up so that my internal thoughts, ideas and my imagination have somewhere to live. And that kinda feels amazing. I am so lucky to be able to do this and give myself time in the chaos to just create. I want to learn to be more disciplined, to say 'yes' to this because it is important to me.

Now in saying all of this, I have put some parameters in place so I am not overwhelmed by choice. My ADHD brain does not function well when there is too much choice (more on that later). Normally I let my creative brain go in all directions in my art but I can also find this crippling because there is so much you can make art with! Seriously, anything goes in art. So, I've given myself some guiding rules. They are loose (because again, if it gets too rigid, I'm very likely to get bored and ditch it) but let's say it's something like flexible fencing. If that isn't a thing, it is now. As I get more comfortable with this challenge and showing up, the fence perimeter will move. Baby steps.

My guiding rules:

Start small: By this I mean, I am using a small sketchbook. Something I can take anywhere with me. This seems obvious but I would always attempt to use something large and it would get annoying. The size would feel overwhelming and I couldn't carry it around easily.

Materials: I am limiting myself to pencil, ink pens and a charcoal stick. In the beginning anyway. This stuff is to take anywhere with me and I only need 2-3 things. What's easier is if I use an ink pen then I only need that and my sketchbook.

Themes: I've given myself some themes to focus on because I also want to build my skills. I want to build my skills in drawing architecture, imaginative storylines, characters and plants. That might actually seem like a lot but they all intertwine. In my head anyway. I also want to get better at hatching. Something I explored briefly in a uni subject.

Location and time of day: I do the drawing in the morning or somewhere close to. Think before midday. That way it keeps the creativity flowing for the rest of the day and I can wait to get into my studio and make stuff. I also take the sketchbook anywhere. Generally a quiet space where my thoughts have space to breathe. I don't do this in the evening. I find that at night I am too tired for this activity. In the evenings I want to journal, knit, do other things that keep me sane.

Time: about 15-30 minutes. Enough to capture detail but not so long that it becomes a whole finished artwork, thus exhausting me and having to be perfectly finished.

And that's it.

I hope that in doing this I will keep going beyond the 365 days. At this point it definitely will. I'm enjoying that small amount of time and space just to do the thing that keeps my soul happy and content.

Here are some of the small sketches I've done so far. I might update this down the track and add some more. Or maybe create a gallery of drawings.