365 day drawing challenge list

Art Challenges have become a huge phenomenon in the online art community, and are a great way to be a more recognized and active part of that community. So I thought it would be a great idea to put together the biggest list of art challenges I could.

I came up with the list of 50+ (!) current art challenges, all of which are still being held as of 2021 and all of which have great themes and great communities. Discover them below!

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In fact, there are lots and lots of reasons to participate in art challenges:

They help kick-start flagging inspiration or creativity
They expand your boundaries and challenge your comfort zones as an artist
They set you in a schedule, which can translate into better productivity in the professional world or just for yourself and your own work
They let you practice, practice practice!
They help you get feedback, critique, and guidance on your work
They expose you to lots of other artists and their work
They open up new possibilities
They are loads of fun!

Yeah, there's a lot more I could say about them.

I myself have participated in several art challenges, and have had a really fabulous experience with each and every one of them.

And each of them have helped me grow as an artist and to increase my network and connect with others.

In fact, the only bad thing I can possibly think of about art challenges is that it can be a real hassle getting even basic information about them.

Is this art challenge still running?
What is Drawcember?
What hashtag do I use?
Is there a website?
Are there prompt lists?
Who is Smaug?

This is, I believe, the most complete directory of art challenges on the internet, and I hope it proves to be a valuable resource for every artist, and leads to lots of great experiences.

And while you are participating, remember that it's not just about your own work – equally important is to see what other artists are doing, to learn from them, to enjoy their art and to maybe even offer some of your own comments.

So don't just tag your own work – use the hashtags to follow others as well!

Check out the new helpful resources:

Looking for inspiration? Try the new Art Prompt Generator
Wondering how to price your art? Try the new Art Pricing Calculator

I have not attempted to rank these by size, popularity, genre or theme, or any preference on my part.

If you are looking for a particular genre, like Manga, a particular medium, like inking, or just wondering what are the monthly art challenges, you can simply use the page search on your browser – eg, "March" or "watercolor".

Enjoy the list, and get your work out there!

Art Challenges by Month

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Below is a quick list of art challenges by month. It's by no means an exhaustive list and you will find many more art challenges in the list below. Enjoy!

Month	Art Challenge
January	Any of the below
February	Fairie February, February Faces
March	Magical March, March of Robots
April	April Arts Journey, 100 Day Project, Wizardapril
May	Mermay
June	Junicorn, Childhood week, Doodlewash
July	Any of the below
August	Smaugust
September	Any of the below
October	Inktober, Drawlloween
November	Slowvember, Huevember, November Costume Design Challenge
December	Childhood week, Drawcember

Bonus: Random Art and Drawing Prompts Generator

If you are feeling stuck, or you are looking for an inspiration for your next artwork, then check out my random art and drawing prompts generator. It's a completely free and easy web app designed to help you spark your creativity and get moving again anytime you're feeling a little stuck.

Check it out here: Random Art and Drawing Prompts Generator

Coloring Challenges

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3 Marker Challenge

Why not limit yourself?

The 3 Marker Challenge is a bit of a phenomenon these days.

As much a fun party game or activity for kids as a social media challenge, it has super simple rules. Choose a black and white drawing, select three color markers at random and color it in.

Some people prefer very simple images to color in, but using extremely complex pictures is a fascinating exercise, and can teach you a lot about color, about your own techniques and about illustrating in general.

If you want to do this as a proper art challenge, you can post your work on social media using the #3markerchallenge hashtag.

And if you'd like more guidance, and nice b&w images to download, you can check out the sponsored challenge at colorit.com.

Huevember

Hue thinks of this stuff? 🙂

This is a great art challenge, which will really stretch your expressive ability in many areas by constraining you in one specific area.

The idea is brilliantly simple – draw something every day in November with a single dominant hue. You can use different hues, but the hue of the day must be clearly the main visible color of the image.

You can use any medium, traditional or digital, and you can draw anything you want, and in any style or genre.

You can also change the hue's saturation or value – just not the hue itself!

Mark all of your daily submissions with #huevember, and check out what others are doing as well – this one has a large community.

More info at matthieudaures.tumblr.com.

Drawing and Sketching Challenges

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6 Minute Daily Sketch Challenge

A great way to get into a productive routine!

If you are so busy that you have recently found that even art is taking a back seat, as little as six minutes a day devoted to your work can make a huge difference.

This art challenge asks you to do just that, and then post your dailies on social media for the art world to see.

In addition to setting a routine, and re-setting priorities, this is a great exercise in quickly seeing and realizing a concept or image, and you might be surprised at how wholly realized such a quick sketch can be!

There are no rules, so just draw every day for 100 days, and every day post that day's work with the tag #6minutesketch.

20 Art Styles Challenge

A very popular, if somewhat difficult, art challenge, 20 Art Styles asks you to draw the same character in 20 different styles.

There are many blank meme templates available for downloading, with different styles already specified (like famous fine artists, animation studios, etc), or you can simply create your own meme with a five box by four row format.

Once you have completed the meme you can upload it on social media with the tags #20stylechallenge and #20styles.

There is no official web page for the 20 Styles challenge, so just create, post and see what others are doing!

Childhood Week

Two weeks a year to remember and share.

Beatrice Blue's Childhood Week art challenge takes place for one week in June and one week in December.

You are meant to "remember and show each other our childhood with either paintings, photographs, anything fun!"

Beatrice will post a prompt list before each challenge week, as well as a fun music playlist to listen to while you're in the process of creative reminiscing.

Be sure to use the #childhoodweek or #childhoodweek2021 (current year, of course) tags when posting your submissions.

For more information, please go to Bea's website at beatriceblue.net/childhood.

Check out my interviews with Bea here:

Ep.71: How to make the best out of every situation with Bea Blue
Ep.206: Beatrice "Bea" Blue on the importance of enjoying the journey

Drawcember

A great way to pass the time during those cold winter days.

Drawcember was originally started by Disney Creates, and has had other sponsors and organizers along the way, but last year (2019) there was no official sponsor.

Nonetheless, it has a huge community, and is well worth your participation.

Simply make a new drawing every day in December, using the prompt list(s) posted online in the weeks before December.

Many of the prompts are winter/holiday/Christmas related, but they are just a starting point for your own imagination and vision.

Remember to tag your posts with #drawcember and #drawcember, and then sit back, enjoy a hot cup of cocoa and wait for the raves.

Drawlloween

"Draw upon your artly craft,
Engrave each Drawllotheme;
Summon forth the work you hath,
Enchant us with your dream.

From eldest age to youngest child
Everyone take part
Evoke the spirit, and perchance,
The world may see thy art."

Taken from the Drawlloween website

Drawlloween may be the most fun of all the art challenges, and is certainly a great way to get in touch with your inner child artist.

Using the prompts on the website, or your own spooky imagination, just create a new Halloween image every day in October.

Any medium is acceptable, and the organizers encourage "creative uses of art supplies."

Tag your art with #drawlloween2021 (with the current year) or @drawlloween. More information can be found at drawlloween.blogspot.com.

Draw 50 Things

Professional illustrator and teacher Will Terry has created the Draw 50 Things art challenge to help people with drawing complex illustrations.

The idea is to draw a picture which tells a story, has at least one character, and – here's the kicker – also has at least fifty other identifiable objects!

You can post your completed artwork on social media – just make sure that all fifty objects are identifiable, and that you tag it #draw50things.

While the art challenge is free to anybody, it is also associated with Will's Draw 50 Things online course, which costs 30 dollars.

Draw This Again

A wonderful way to check your own progress as an artist – or, I suppose, to see how good you already were!

Draw This Again is an art challenge that asks you to find an old piece you have drawn, inked, painted, digitally rendered or made in any medium and do it again.

You then post your before and after pieces side by side on social media with the hashtag #drawthisagain.

While there isn't a central information page, you can see lots of great memes at boredpanda.com/draw-me-again-improved-skills.

Draw This in Your Own Style

An art challenge that allows you to stay in one comfort zone while perhaps at the same time moving out of another.

Draw This in Your Own Style is an art challenge where an artist posts artworks, often OC (original characters), and asks you to redo them in your medium of choice.

You then post it on Twitter with the #drawthisinyourownstyle tag and receive feedback and comments from a healthy online community.

You may also recreate an existing art piece from any source and post it with the same tag.

More information at drawthisinyourstyle.com.

Magical March

A great art challenge to get in touch with your own inner magical anima – whether you are a woman or a man!

Every day in March you draw a magical girl character.

There are no set guidelines for style or media, but many submissions are in classic or modern anime or toon styles, including manga, Disney, Tim Burton and Chibi.

In the weeks before this drawing challenge many people will post prompts lists, which you can use to gain inspiration and focus, but they are not required.

Just post your daily Magic Girl on social media with the hash #magicalgirl or #magicalmarch.

Mermay

What is a Mermay?

Mermay is an art challenge all about mermaids.

Every day in May you draw a new mermaid, using whatever medium you prefer, and post it with the tag #MerMay and (for next year) #MerMay2021.

You can use the provided daily prompts for inspiration, but it is not required.

This is one that I personally have participated in, and it was a great experience, especially because of the lovely images created by so many of the artists.

Such beauty and such talent is a real inspiration, and helped me appreciate my own work more too!

More information at mermay.com.

Check out my interview with Holly Fae who creates Mermaids, here:

Ep.195: How to implement art in business with Holly Fae

Junicorn

As soon as you're done with MerMay…

June is all about unicorns.

Junicorn is an art challenge where you draw a different unicorn every day for the entire month. And, as the sponsors say, "deep down we all desire to be a unicorn!"

It is associated with the freepik website, which offers paid courses and other services, but the challenge is free, and if you win you get a free premium account on their site.

You can also, as with any of these art challenges, simply post your Junicorns on social media with the #junicorn tag to share your work and see others' Junicorns.

I really like typing Junicorn.

For more information, see freepik.com.

Sketch Daillies

A simple Twitter based daily art challenge, Sketch Dailies posts a new prompt every day, from which you are asked to come up with your own daily sketch.

While the prompts are mostly characters from fiction, cartoons and comics, they can be anything, including birds and animals or even the first photograph of a black hole.

Just check the daily feed, create and post, making sure to use a #Sketch_Dailies or @Sketch_Dailies tag.

More information at twitter.com/Sketch_Dailies.

Slowvember

Started by Jake Parker, founder of Inktober, Slowvember is about shifting gears.

While Inktober sets a pretty hectic pace, creating a new piece every day, Slowvember, as its name suggests, is about slowing down and focusing on a single artwork.

Or, as Jake puts it, "make one thing and make it beautiful.

When posting your work, you should tag it #slowvember – and don't just post the finished piece, but show your process and progress as you go along.

Check out my interview with Jake here:

Ep.22: Finished, not Perfect with Jake Parker

Speed Drawing Challenge

Does taking your time always yield better results?

Professional illustrator Mark Crilley created the Speed Drawing Challenge to challenge his colleagues to let go of their perfectionist tendencies and get back to the basics of illustration.

SDC has, however, become quite popular with not just established or professional illustrators but artists from all levels, backgrounds and media.

The challenge asks you to draw a character in 10 minutes, then again in 1 minute, and finally the same character in only 10 seconds.

You then post your results side by side, with the #10minutes1minute10seconds hashtag, to let other artists see and comment.

You can check out Mark's YouTube account here for more information and inspiration: youtube.com/user/markcrilley.

The Sketchbook Challenge

Sponsored by the Brooklyn Art Library, The Sketchbook Challenge is a 28 day drawing challenge to fill a sketchbook, and is intended to "help you cope with your creativity while you are stuck at home."

The library will send each participant a blank 28 page sketchbook and then give them a different prompt every day for inspiration.

There is also a 14 day drawing challenge, which is specifically focused on portraits using a different medium than you are comfortable with.

These challenges are donation-based on a "Pay What You Wish" model, and proceeds help support the Brooklyn Library of Art.

More information at brooklynartlibrary.org.

Character Design Challenges

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Character Design Challenge

A challenge that will build your character – and, you can win a prize!

A monthly art challenge, Character Design will publish a new theme on the 7th day of every month, and you have 30 days to create and submit your character.

You must stick to the theme, and they only want full figures with minimal or no background or other elements. You can use any medium you like.

This art challenge is organized and run by Character Design References, and more information can be found at characterdesignreferences.com/challenge-rules.

100 Heads Challenge

Can you draw 100 heads in 10 days?

If so, or if not, you're ready for this art challenge, which builds your discipline and your craft, as well as really honing your skills in portraying human expressions and facial features.

When you are finished, or at any time along the way, you can post your work with the hashtag #100headschallenge.

This is an especially interesting art challenge as far as following the posts of other artists, as it provides so much insight into different techniques and styles.

The 100 Heads challenge was started by Ahmed Aldoori. Check out his interviews:

Ep.39: Ahmed Aldoori on Talent and Discipline
Ep.194: What's new with Ahmed Aldoori

February Faces

A daily art challenge for the shortest month of the year.

February Faces is a great way to practice your skills in capturing emotion and expression and make your portraits better and better, and to get some great feedback along the way.

And it's just that simple – draw a different face every day in February.

It doesn't even need to be a human face.

Kick in the Creatives is the host of this art challenge, and you can tag them in your posts if you like, but be sure to at least include the #FebruaryFaces tag.

The website will publish a list of daily prompts, but remember that there are no rules and the prompts are only for focus and inspiration.

For more on this art challenge, go to kickinthecreatives.com/february-faces. Or just draw and post!

March of Robots

The name says it all!

A new robot every day all throughout March. You can draw them or create them digitally, but be sure to hashtag them with #marchofrobots or #marchofrobots2021 (using the current year, of course).

This is a big contest, which has a lot of followers and was originally started 7 years ago, so you will get lots of feedback and exposure from participating.

Even if you aren't into robots, they're admittedly really fun to draw, and part of the whole art challenge scene in general is to push ourselves in new directions.

More information at chocolatesoopstudio.com.

Kaijune

The name of this art challenge, Kaijune, is a combination of Kaiju – a genre of Japanese monster movies (think Godzilla) – and June, the month in which it takes place.

Created by Riley Phillips of Warner Brothers, this drawing challenge is about drawing a different monster every day of the month.

You can recreate an existing monster or image, or create a new beast, and you can work in whatever medium you'd like. Just use the #kaijune hashtag.

More information at kaijune.tumblr.com.

Sailor Moon Redraw

A pretty specific art challenge, Sailor Moon Redraw asks you to, well, redraw Sailor Moon.

There really aren't any other details or rules – simply draw, paint, sculpt, digitally render in any way, even cosplay the popular manga character Sailor Moon, aka Usagi Tsukino, the superheroine in her eponymous series.

There doesn't seem to be a central website for this art challenge, but you can see lots of different takes on Sailor Moon by following the hash on twitter.com.

Six Fanarts

The brainchild of Melissa Capriglione, who is thrilled that her idea is helping other people get through their weeks of isolation.

Basically you draw six portraits of popular characters – from anywhere – and post them together in a meme using the tags #6fanarts or #sixfanartschallenge.

You can tag Melissa as well, and she says that she loves seeing what others are up to, but it isn't reuired.

Either way, you will get lots of exposure and feedback from the community of artists.

For more information, you can see Melissa's disclaimer statement here.

Smaugust

Smaug is dead, but you can bring him back to life!

Every day in August, you are asked to draw a different dragon.

That's about it – there is little online about specific rules or guidelines, although you can get lots of different prompts lists with just a little searching.

Make sure to put a tag your dragon – #smaugust.

This is a pretty big art challenge, with lots of participants on all the social platforms.

And it's good fun, and generates some absolutely incredible images.

Still, there are all levels of artists participating, and even the most basic images are embraced by the community – these people really love dragons!

Toon Me

Have you ever wondered how you would look as a toon?

Toon Me is an art challenge created by Marvel artist Rene Cordova, in which you take a photograph of yourself and then render half of your face in toon style.

When completed, your half human-half toon creation can be posted on social media with a #ToonMe hashtag.

This is an especially fun challenge to participate in, and it is also super fun to peruse other artists' postings.

Witcher

This is not a proper art challenge per say, but such a popular phenomenon right now that I thought it should be included.

Two hashtags are seen all over the arts community's social media these days – #witcherOC and #witcherlass.

These are meant to identify artwork done by fans of the new, incredibly popular Polish-American TV series Witcher, currently on Netflix.

#witcherOC designates artists' visions of original characters which might appear on the TV show, while #witcherlass is for original artwork depicting female witchers.

And, just like almost any art challenge, you can make your own artwork for either category, post it on social media and get tons of feedback and exposure.

Wizardapril

This challenge is a brainchild of Nathanna Erica, an illustrator and paper artist from Sao Paulo, Brazil.

For the whole month of April you and other artists come along on a magical journey of wizards, potions, spells, wands and everything else inspired by the worlds of Harry Potter, Fantastic Beasts, Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland and many others!

Find more information on Nathanna's instagram and if you participate, don't forget to tag your creations with #wizardapril!

If you want to learn more about Nathana, check out the interview:

Ep.124: How to get paid for doing what you love with Nathanna Erica

Photography Challenges

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30 Day Photo Challenge

There are actually scads of 30 Day photo challenges out there, and you can find prompt lists all over the web and start with any of them right away.

One of my favorites, though, is the art challenge hosted by footprintsandfancyfree.com.

With an especially creative prompt list and vivid explanations of each prompt, this is a great art challenge for any artist who wants to shift their focus, or for photographers who just need a little inspiration.

You can post to their Facebook page, or to social media with the #fff30 tag.

More information at footprintandfancyfree.com/30-day-photography-challenge.

365 Day Photo Challenge

A whole year photo challenge, 365 Day asks photographers to look at and capture subjects and themes they might normally not.

The Expert Photography site has created a year long calendar with prompts for every day. You may interpret the prompts in any way you like, and shoot in any style you like.

While there are paid online courses associated with this art challenge, you may also participate by simply posting your daily pics on social media with the tag #365daysphotochallenge, or get more information at expertphotography.com/365-photo-challenge-calendar.

Creativity Challenges

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100 Day Project

Be creative in whatever way you'd like.

The 100 day project, which is run by Lindsay Jean Mason, is about being creative and about starting and sticking to something.

Your project can be artwork, dancing, writing, knitting or sewing, interior design, music, gardening or anything else – literally anything!

The contest, which is run through Instagram, uses #the100dayproject as a hashtag, and begins on April 7th of every year.

More information at www.the100dayproject.org.

Different Art Style Challenge

A great meme-based art challenge that makes you stretch your own techniques and style.

Using a 9 square template, you are asked to draw a character (including yourself) in 9 different styles, such as Disney, Simpsons, Tim Burton or whatever you'd like.

You then post your artworks on social media using the #stylechallenge tag to share it with the community.

You can also tag your work with the different styles you used.

You can see artworks from different artists here instagram.com/explore/tags/stylechallenge/

Left Hand Challenges

More properly known as Dominant Hand Challenges, these are not one specific art challenge but a series of community challenges throughout the web.

The usual method is to draw something with your dominant hand, and then draw the same thing with your other hand.

Not so much of a challenge for the very few ambidextrous artists out there, but a lot of fun, and often quite illuminating, for the rest of us.

Just post your images side by side with the tag #nondominanthanddrawing to share your work, and see what other artists have come up with.

And don't be embarrassed by your non-dominant side – it's all for fun!

Doodlewash

A website with great art challenges every month.

While many web sites seem to host art challenges only to sell their products or classes, doodlewash appears to just want to have fun with it and help artists in the community.

A different member of doodlewash will post a prompt list every month, with ideas of what to sketch or to paint in watercolor.

You can post your work on social media using the tag #doodlewashjune2021 (for the month I'm writing this article – make sure to change the month and year to work with the current art challenge). You can also include the hashtag #worldwatercolorgroup if you are using watercolors.

You can also post on their website if you become a member of the Doodlewash Club, but it is not required.

More information can be found at doodlewash.com.

Faerie February

Once you create your first fairy, she can help you with the next 27.

Drawing, painting or digitally rendering fairies is a really magical experience, which gives full but focused reign to your imagination and allows you to make rich and beautiful images.

Faerie February is about making a new fairy every single day during the month, and posting them for others to see and delight in, even as you see and delight in all of theirs.

Be sure to tag with #faeriefeb and/or #faeriefebruary.

You can get detailed instructions, and a new prompt list, at faeriefebruary.com, but don't be intimidated by the incredibly sophisticated fairies on display there – this art challenge is for artists from all levels!

Fauna Focus

Turn to nature for inspiration.

The Fauna Focus art challenge brings a new animal into the spotlight every month, and asks you to create artwork of, based on or inspired by that particular animal.

Every type and medium of art is welcome, as are artists of all levels. A great way to practice specific skills, get feedback from experienced judges and to learn more about the spotlight animal every month.

You may post your finished pieces on the Fauna Focus website, or through social media with the #faunafocus tag.

More information can be found at their website, faunafocus.com.

Isolation Art Challenge

A 30 day art challenge for people in quarantine because of coronavirus.

Isolation AC allows you to work in whatever traditional medium you'd like, but doesn't want digital art or photography pieces.

Other rules are that you should only post work made during isolation, that you follow the themes they provide, that you are kind and positive in your feedback of others' work and that you don't talk about the virus.

Isolation Art Challenge is a private Facebook group, and you can join and get more information at facebook.com/groups/isolationartchallenge.

Tic Tac Toe Challenge

"Inspiring Creativity 8 ways each week," the Tic Tac Toe art challenge offers a cool twist for crafters.

Using a prompt sheet in the form of a tic tac toe board, this weekly challenge asks you to select a horizontal, vertical or diagonal line and use those three prompts to craft a new piece.

When posting, use their #tictactoechallenge tag as well as the tag for that week's specific challenge.

More information at tictactoechallenge.com.

Tinker Labs 12 Months of Art Challenges

The 12 Months of Art Challenges gives a new word prompt every single day of the year, for a total of 365 word prompts.

These prompts are meant to be used and interpreted any way you would like, and you are asked to work in whatever medium you prefer.

You can join in whenever you want, and participate as often as you'd like. Just make sure to post your work on Instagram with a @tinkerlab or #tinkersketch tag.

More information at tinkerlab.com/art-challenges.

Painting Challenges

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Abstract Art Challenge

Interested in creating abstract art, but don't quite know how to proceed?

The 42 Concepts to Paint challenge may be for you.

Courtney Hatcher has developed a prompt list of 42 concepts on which to base non-representational art, and her page has lots of ideas about how to get started.

This is not a social media art challenge like most of the others, but simply a personal art challenge you can take on to work in a different style.

If you still want to post your work, gain exposure and even get some feedback, you can use a generic hashtag for social media – #abstractart would be the most popular and effective in this case.

For more information on the Abstract Art Challenge, Courtney Hatcher's page can be seen at cghatcher.com/42-abstract-concepts-to-paint.

April Arts Journey

Make your own card of the day.

The April Arts Journey is a great way to delve into spiritual or new age art, to try new styles or to bring your own way of seeing and doing into an already surprisingly diverse sub-genre.

On 22 days of the month of April, you select a prompt card from the Major Arcana of the Tarot, or randomly draw one, and then either create your own version of that card or another image prompted or inspired by it.

More information can be divined by visiting mastodon.art.

Daily Paint Works Monthly Challenge

A new art challenge for painters every month!

A great website and online community for painters, Daily Paint Works is also a great place for monthly painting art challenges.

Each month a community member will post a new theme or topic for that month's art challenge, and any member is free to post a submission.

Rules are simple, but especially stipulate that you should start your painting after the challenge is posted.

All submissions will be available for sale on the site as well – in case one of your own art challenges was to start making money.

Please see dailypaintworks.com for more information.

Fox and Hazel 30 Day Watercolor Challenge

An art challenge specifically for people who use watercolors – or want to start.

This art challenge is about quick watercolor sketches more than complex, fully realized pieces, and so is a great way for new watercolorists to show their work without worry and get some good feedback and pointers.

At the same time, it is great for advanced and established painters to do a bunch of quick paintings, to get back to the basics, and to break free from obsessive completionist tenancies and publish something they may not be sure is "finished."

This art challenge is meant for the Instagram community, and you should tag your paintings with #foxandwatercolour.

For more information, visit foxandhazel.com.

The Critique Me Challenge

Are you stuck or need help with your painting?

This is a special kind of art challenge for the Daily Paint Works website.

Normally their challenge posts are not just for feedback and viewing, but also to sell the paintings.

But the Critique Me challenge is for people who are maybe having some trouble with a particular piece of art – what should I do next, what is wrong with this, what am I not seeing?

Posting your work on this art challenge will let you receive constructive criticism and advice from the site's community of artists.

The only rule is that any reference to selling the posted artwork will disqualify the work, and it will be removed.

You must register to participate, but membership is free. More information here: dailypaintworks.com/challenge/the-critique-me-challenge/14.

Artist Promo Challenges

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ArtVsArtist

An interesting concept, ArtVsArtist seems to be as much about getting the artist out there as it is about getting the art itself out there.

This art challenge asks that you create a collage, using their pre-made template, which includes 8 of your original artworks around the outside and a photograph of you in the center.

Just tag your piece #artvsartist and post it on any social media site.

Though there is no main web page, you can download the template from many different sites, and you can see lots of postings at instagram.com/explore/tags/artvsartist.

Face Your Art Challenge

An art challenge which asks you to analyze and describe your own work.

A double entendre, "face" here means drawing faces, and facing your own work.

You are asked to draw 9 different faces (though you can draw different things) and collage them into a 3×3 grid of squares.

Then you look closely at your work, identify mistakes and weaknesses, as well as strengths, interesting aspects of your style or craft, anything at all.

Write a summary of your analysis and post it with the meme, tagged with #faceyourartchallenge. And make sure to check out other postings, which can be quite illuminating regarding artists and their relationship with their own artwork.

To see the home page of the artist who started the Face Your Art challenge, Chao, go to www.chaoillustrations.co.uk.

Crafting Challenges

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Just Add Ink Crafting Challenge

A great exercise for crafters, Just Add Ink provides a different challenge theme every week.

Simply check their site's Challenges section to find this week's Craft challenge, create and post your new craftwork and link your post with them.

More information at just-add-ink.blogspot.com/search/label/Challenges

Paper Craft Crew Challenges

Another great crafting site that offers weekly art challenges.

Using their posted image as inspiration, you let your own creativity go wild, making a new paper craft piece and posting an image on social media with that week's hash.

Remember to include their prompt image in your post, and link your submission back to their site.

With all of the great reasons to do art challenges, Paper Craft Crew lists only one, and maybe the best one of them all – because it's fun!

More information at papercraftcrew.com.

Check out my interview with "Paperwolf" here:

Ep.43: Wolfram Kampfmeyer (Paperwolf) on how to succeed on Etsy and Dawanda

The Paper Players Crafting Challenges

A great site for all kinds of Crafters, The Paper Players has been offering weekly Crafting challenges for years.

Simply check their website for this week's challenge, create and post your piece and link back to the site.

And once a month TPP has a Clean and Simple challenge, to help you keep your work simple, attractive and focused.

More information at thepaperplayers.blogspot.com.

This Old Thing Fashion Challenge

Wear your artistic vision proudly!

A fashion challenge involving designing clothing seems a natural fit for this art challenge list, but what about a challenge involving how you dress?

To me it seems perfect, as it challenges you to bring your artistic sense, creativity and vision to your daily clothing choices, and think about them more actively every day.

And This Old Thing limits you to the palette you already have may, which may require even more imagination.

This Old Thing asks you to pull one item out of your closet, dress it up in a new way and post the results on Instagram with the tag #thisoldthingchallenge.

More information can be found on Instagram.

Frequently Asked Questions about Art Challenges

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What is the 10 Day Art Challenge?

The 10 Day Art Challenge is a popular art challenge for students, who are given a specific shape, color and texture and have ten days to create an original work of art in traditional media (that is, not digital art). Information can be found at 10 Day Art Challenge, and more art challenges can be found in this article above.

How Can I Challenge My Art Skills?

One of the best ways to challenge your art skills, and to grow as an artist, is to participate in one or more of the many art challenges currently available to the public. They are almost always free, fun and challenging in the best ways, and allow you to get lots of feedback as well as checking out other artists' work. A very complete list of such challenges is available in the article above.

What is the Face Your Art Challenge?

A fun and fascinating experience, the Face Your Art Challenge asks you to draw 9 different faces into a 3×3 collage and then write a critical assessment of your work, and post it all on social media for others to see. This process can help you not only grow as an artist, but gain valuable insight into your process and your relationship with your own art. More information can be found at www.chaoillustrations.co.uk.

What is Drawcember?

An extremely popular art challenge, Drawcember asks you to create a new drawing every day in December and post them on social media with the #drawcember tag. This is a great way to get feedback on your work, to check out others' art and to just have fun during those cold winter days. More info is in the article above.

What are Some Fun Art Challenges?

There are actually tons of really fun and valuable art challenges, like Inktober, Kaijune, Drawcember, Mermay and more. Almost all of them are free and easy to get involved with. They are all great ways to improve your skills, get feedback on your work and see other people's art. For a list of over 50 current art challenges scroll up.

What is the 30 Day Drawing Challenge?

There are many different 30 day drawing challenges, all asking you to make a new sketch or drawing every single day for 30 days, either to share with an online community or just for yourself. Either way, it is a great way to improve your skills and your discipline and grow as an artist, and the online challenges can provide you with invaluable feedback and networking possibilities. You can check out the article above for more details.

What is a Huevember Challenge?

A brilliantly simple and really fun art challenge, Huevember is about drawing something – either with traditional or digital media – every day in November with a single dominant hue. Post your daily drawings using the #huevember tag and check out other artists' work using that day's hue. More info can be found at Matthieu Daures Tumblr page, or above.

What is a Kaijune?

The name of this fun and popular art challenge, Kalijune, is a combination of Kaiji – a genre of Japanese monster movies (think Godzilla) – and June, when it all happens. The challenge is to draw a different monster every day in June, in any traditional or digital medium, and post your results using the #kaijune tag. More info at kaijune.tumblr.com or above.

Can Inktober be done Digitally?

Yes, your Inktober drawings can be done as digital art. Although Inktober, which is possibly the biggest art challenge in the world, was originally focused on traditional pen and ink drawing, they recognize digital inking as an equally valid and valuable skill. You can find out more at inktober.com or above.