Are you looking for an interesting way to expand your drawing skills and develop a personal style? Try making a drawing a day. This is a fun project that will allow you to explore different artistic techniques in a simple daily routine which won’t take more than a few minutes each day.
Photos and drawings via CakeSpy
The key to maintaining your momentum on a drawing a day project: setting a few simple rules. Far from impeding your creativity, these “rules” are suggestions which can provide a fun challenge, and will help you remain consistent and stick to your project.
Let’s get creating! Here’s how to take on a drawing a day project.
Choose an amount of time
How long your drawing a day project goes on is up to you. Maybe it’s just a week, maybe it’s a full year. Or maybe you want to take it easy and see how it goes, like a month-to-month lease. Choose a goal that seems challenging but reasonable. If you’re having a ton of fun, there’s no reason why you can’t keep the project going.
Choose a size
Keep your drawings consistent in size. This will make them easy to display, whether it’s online or in a handmade book. Placing the drawings side by side and putting them in a poster frame could be a wonderful way to present your project later.
Consider a theme
For some, having a theme, be it as loose as love or as strict as inspiring shoes, can be a great motivator. If this method appeals to you, go ahead and make a theme for your project.
If you don’t like that kind of structure, don’t declare a theme. Let yourself draw whatever the heck you like.
Experiment with different media
A drawing a day means that you can experiment with a variety of different media. If you always use pen and ink, try pencil one day, or maybe marker or watercolor. This is a comfortable way to try out media that might have seemed daunting in the past. Allowing yourself the chance to experiment with media you normally wouldn’t use is part of the enjoyment.
Be consistent
You don’t have to be consistent with the subject matter or the media, but do be consistent with making time for this project every day. Some days it may come very naturally, other days it might seem like a thing you don’t want to do. If needed, set a timer each day for an amount of time that is only dedicated to this project. It doesn’t have to be long — even five minutes will do. You may find that once you get going, you don’t want to stop. All you needed was the prompt to get started.
Document your progress
Sharing is caring! By snapping pictures of your daily project and sharing them on social media, your friends and family can follow the project. Even if you’re just scanning them for your personal use, it will be wonderful to see all of the finished pieces side by side when you’re finished.
Observe what happens
Like any adventure, you won’t be exactly the same at the end of the project as when you started. Take a few moments to evaluate what surprised you. What you liked and didn’t like. You might just learn some new things about your artistic and creative process, or discover things that you enjoy creating.
If you need subject matter for your drawing-a-day project, check out Crafty’s Sketchbooks: Drawing the Everyday class with Paul Heaston, who shares an inspiring range of ways to use pencil, ink and watercolor in your own on-the-go “studio.”
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