Sketch-A-Day Challenge

Day 2: thinking of my son

I participated in a self-imposed month long, daily sketch challenge. I did this because I wanted to improve my sketching abilities and technique with faster sketching in order to help me edit for details on the go. I tend to lollygag when I sketch, and this was sure to challenge my “perfectionist” side.

I gave myself a 10-minute time limit (per sketch), which goes by fast for me, but helped me draw more, think less. It was good to work on eliminating this hesitation. Sketching is practice and I always end up getting caught up in details before I’m even near finishing–maybe that’s just my sketching style, can anyone else relate?

One of the most exciting things I experienced was a little more ease with drawing. I’m a more relaxed sketcher in that I worry less about someone looking over my shoulder, especially while sketching outdoors. By the second day I’d already had a set of mantras I would remind myself:

Day 2: My mantras for sketching in public with watercolor brittlebush sketch.

 

Our cat, “Cholla” (Choy-yah); colored pencil.

I got brave and tried other drawing media: watercolor, pen, colored pencils. This was very challenging for me as I’ve always been a sketch-it-out-in-pencil-first kinda gal (mantras one & five repeated often). It is hard for me to jump in without the “safety”of a pre-sketch, but also a bit of a lesson in not being perfect, or putting too much value on a preliminary part of my process that no one ever really sees anyway!

Have you ever participated in a creative challenge online? Poetry, painting, sketching, photography? There are countless varieties that appeal to just about any creative expression.

 

Jackrabbit memory sketch, pen.

I find online challenges to be a great muse, a fun source of inspiration. They are a consistent way for me to learn from others and a chance to improve upon my skills.

I would love to hear your experiences with any online daily, monthly, or yearly challenges you have tried in the comments below, share your wisdom and experience!

 

 

 

 

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11 Jan This entry was published on January 11, 2015 at 4:17 PM. It’s filed under Art and tagged public sketching, Sketch a day challenge, sketching. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.