100-day project - episod 1

 Preparing for a long challenge

In February starts a 100-day challenge (the 18th this year), where people commit to do something for 100 days in a row. The challenge can be about painting with gouache every day, drawing something every day, etc.

Discussing about the challenge with other artists, I decided to give it a try this year. But, with the experience from my "failed" Inktober challenges, I decided to set up some clear objectives and try to do most of the brain work before hand. Here are a few pieces of advice to take some of the pressure off when strating an art challenge!

What to think about when starting an art challenge

Starting a 100-day challenge can be quite intimidating. Actually, when I first heard about the chalelnge, I thought it would be crazy to try it out. I had no idea what I could do during 100 days, and what the challenge could bring in my artistic life. 

After a few days, I went back to the discussion on the challenge, and I got quite inspired by what other people wanted to do. That's when I started to really think carefully about the challenge...

1. Set up clear and achievable results

I think that there are many reasons which can make someone want to start an art challenge. A first advice that I have, is to be clear as to why you are starting a challenge. This will help you stay motivated throughout the challenge, and refocus on your objectives when the creativity or motivation is low.

One first question that I had was: How different do I want this challenge to be from "normal" daily practice? Pondering the question, I realised that I did not have any objectives for my daily art practice apart doing arts (which is a good objective per se). However, I had lots of other ideas and projects that I never took time to explore / finish, as I usually went for a "lazy" comforting art during my daily practices. 

I created a page on "OneNote" to keep track of the challenge. I began to make a list of all the things I had always wanted to explore, and all the ongoing projects that I wanted to close. I decided to use the challenge as both a time of practice and closure. 

Here are my objectives :

- Work on some painting series. I have been wanting to do series of painting for almost a year now, but never took the time to actually plan them and work on them. For the challenge, I defined two subjects that I want to turn into series: seascapes and paths

- Work on "subjects of interests". There are a few things I want to get better at, but never actually took time to work one: clouds/skies, water, faces. For each subject, I found Skillshare classes that I plan on taking during the challenge.

- Finish my "tree sketchbook". More than a year ago, I started a sketchbook with 30 trees inside. I stopped after the 10th tree, and so I dedicated 20 days of the challenge to finish the sketchbook.

To work on these objectives, I also decided to add an "art supply" goal: use a variety of art supplies, that I don't usually go for. In particular, I want to explore more acrylics,  watercolors pencils / watercolor markers, and mixed media. I also want to draw more, especially on tone paper.

An important note here, even if I have some objectives in terms of result, the point of the challenge for me is not to achieve incredible art. I want to take the challenge as an opportunity to work on projects that are important to me, and to enjoy the process of working on these projects. I do not plan on producing a finished painting every day, as I will explain in a coming section!

2. Think about your workflow

Another interesting thing to think about is... you! What could impede you in tackling the challenge? Thinking about the potential obstacles, and a way around them are a nice way to feel a little bit more prepared and reassured before starting the challenge.

A common issue you may have, is to lose the motivation: no ideas what to do next, no time on your day to really do something, to much pressure to make finish pieces each day, etc.

Think about each of these problems, and try to find a way around them. For instance, when it comes to finding time for the challenge: When are you most creative? When is the best time of your day to do arts? Do you need to set a time limit each day for the challenge? Do you need to have a specific time-slot dedicated to the challenge?

I don't usually have issues to find time for arts on my day, but one of my biggest issues is to find ideas on what to do each day, which leads my to my second advice...

What to do before starting the challenge

Now that you have more or less defined the peimeter of your challenge, what to do before D-day? One thing that I really have a hard time doing, is to prepare for art. Looking out for an idea, finidng the supplies, preparing the canvas, etc. All of this just takes me out of the creative flow. So what I do now, is try to do most of the leg work / brain work beforehand, to make it easy on myself!

1. Find references - build your creative database

One issue that I face, is to have this urge to paint, let's say, cascades, but have no reference images. Or else, staring at my blank sketchbook, and finding no idea what to draw here... Feeling the same?

To solve this issue, I have been collecting reference pictures for a few months now. Whenever I see a landscape that triggers my creativity, I save it on a special collection. I also differentiate between "inspirations": photos I do not own, arts from other artists, that just give me the urge to take my brush and paint something; and "references": photos I have taken, and that I use to create my own art. I add key words to them, to make sure that I can easily find them back. With this database, I am sure that whenever I want to make art, I will find inspiration to draw / paint something. 

To prepare for the challenge, I made sure I had enough references for all the subjects that I want to draw, and that they are easily accessible.

2. Plan in advance your challenge

Linked to this first issue, I want to make sure that I know what I can do each day. For each of my objective, I have created "artistic actions". For instance, I know that I want to paint a specific mountain path for my paths series. To make the final painting, I will need: 1 day to work on a sketch with markers, 1 day to make quick studies with pencils, 1 day to do a loose watercolor on a watercolor postcard, 2 days to make gouache studies on white and beige papers, 1 day to try the subject with oil pastels, and 3 days to make the final painting with acrylics. All in all, almost 10 days for a small acrylic painting, making sure that I stay true to the challenge: using a variety of art supplies, taking time to study the subject, and working on my series.

I did this for all of my objectives and ideas. Thanks to this plan, every day of the challenge I can just pick one of these actions, and I have no pressure to find what to do next.

Of course, this is just a frame, and if I realize I need one more day on an action, there is no obligation to follow the plan! I can also move from one subject to the other, find another reference that I loke more than the one planned... 

The preparation is here to help you, not constraint you!

3. Prepare as much as you can before

Like I said, preparation is a step I don't like... So, before the start of the challenge, I made sure all of my supplies were ready to be used. I taped my papers, put gesso on whatever surface I wanted to use for acrylics, etc. 

In a nutshell, I made sure that when the challenge will start, I will just have to open my computer to see my plan, grab my prepared surface, and immediately start drawing / painting!

And my final advice: make it fun! 

The challenge is about growing your skills and confidence, not about putting so much pressure that it kiills all the fun. It does not matter if you stop the challenge after 17 days, and start again the year after. It does not matter if you art piece are not looking as nice I you would want them to. It does not matter if you take 5 years to complete the challenge. The only thing that matters is that the challenge brings something to your art! So relax, and enjoy!

I will keep you posted on how the challenge works for me in the next episods of this blog series! Stay tuned :)

To be continued...