Summary

An artist reflects on the personal and artistic growth experienced through the completion of a 100-day drawing challenge, which involved creating a daily drawing on a post-it note as a means to maintain a consistent art practice.

Abstract

The artist embarked on a 100-day drawing challenge with the aim of creating a low-pressure environment to foster a habit of daily art-making. The project's simplicity allowed for flexibility, requiring only a single line on a post-it note to count as a drawing. Over the course of the challenge, the artist dealt with a wide range of personal events and emotions, using the drawing process as a form of reflection and expression. Displaying the accumulated artwork on the wall provided an opportunity for self-critique and the development of a personal aesthetic. The artist discovered a preference for drawing people, particularly self-portraits, and recognized the value of small, consistent efforts in building a substantial body of work. Despite facing moments of creative block and disinterest, the commitment to the project helped to overcome these challenges and led to a deeper understanding of personal creativity. The collaborative aspect, shared with a fellow artist, was also highlighted as a crucial factor in maintaining motivation and accountability throughout the 100 days.

Opinions

The artist believes that small, daily creative actions can lead to significant accomplishments over time.
Regularly creating and reflecting on her work helped the artist to identify her preferred subjects and themes.
The practice of drawing was found to be a powerful tool for processing emotions and events when words were insufficient.
The artist found value in self-evaluation and used her wall of drawings as a way to understand her artistic likes and dislikes, which contributed to her growing confidence as an artist.
The project was a personal testament to the importance of consistency and the ability to adapt one's creative process to fit within the constraints of daily life.
The artist emphasizes the importance of community and shared goals in sustaining artistic endeavors, especially when facing the temptation to give up.
The challenge demonstrated that even with minimal time commitment, maintaining a regular creative practice is achievable.

100 Days of Drawing — Learnings From an Artist Who Never Commits

Well, I’m as surprised as you are

Behold. The completed collection from the 100 days of drawing project.

“Come on, let’s do a 100 day project”.

It’ll be easy, she said…

I stared into my hot chocolate as the room began to close in on me. My heart beat ticked into runner mode.

“I’ll do it with you. We can hold each other accountable”.

“OK, but on one condition — I do this on my terms. I need to make it super easy for myself to achieve, like stupidly easy. Otherwise I won’t do it, I’ll get too overwhelmed by the bigness of it and freeze”. My mind flashed to the 100 unfinished projects already sitting on my studio floor.

“I will draw for 100 days in a row. But it only has to be on the size of a post-it note. AND a drawing counts even if it’s only a single line on the paper”.

That felt better. No pressure, low standards, I can do this.

And I did!

Here’s what I went through…

Close up of two drawings i quite like from the project. I liked the colour palette and mix of drawing and collage.

A lot can happen in 100 days

During the time of starting and finishing my project I have made drawings about the new friends I’ve made, went on several trips, a wellness retreat, started playing football, facilitated my first workshop, had a break up, got back together, got a terrible rash all over my body, had a friend die, got news my dad’s cancer is terminal… sheesh.

It made me slow down and reflect.

There is so much life in each day.

I’m now an art critic

In a good way though. I decided to tape all my work up onto my wall so I could feel like I was achieving. A bit like having a star chart as a kid.

I found I really enjoyed having a body of work to pull from, for once. I would sit on the floor in front of said wall and see what I liked and didn’t like, sitting with why something worked or didn’t work for me.

Then, leaning into what I liked more.

Over time I could feel my confidence in myself building. Confidence in my art as a practice. I felt more like an artist. Look! I’m doing it! I am that.

A snapshot of some of my favourite drawings. I liked how they looked like a series, with colour and texture in common.

Small can be big

It adds up. Doing one 5–10 minute practice is nothing on one day. But over time it becomes big.

In the past, my attitude was that I needed to clear 2 hours or do art for a whole evening. And when I couldn’t find that time, I would end up doing nothing. I would actually spend 100 days thinking about making art instead of doing it!

I’ve proved to myself that I actually can be consistent, it just needs to be small. Minute. Minuscule.

I found my muse

It me! I never realised I like drawing myself and people more than anything else. When I first began the challenge, I thought I’d want to collage more than draw. The mix of both is beautiful I think, but it’s not the same for me if it’s just collage.

I found that I am most creative at night and like to draw a reflection of my day. I focus on what stood out to me, an event or emotion. Positive or negative.

It’s funny how I remember what I was doing on the day I drew these, I remember why I chose to draw each piece. I don’t think I would if I hadn’t captured it.

Sometimes I just don’t wanna

Insert tantrum here. There were several days where I wanted to NOT draw. I couldn’t think of anything to draw, was uninspired. Or I hated what I did. Or I forgot and then had to creep into the bathroom so I could turn on the light and quickly doodle something so I didn’t wake up my partner but also didn’t miss my goal.

Even with those odds against me, I did it anyway. In the past, I would’ve just not drawn. Given up. Moved on and probably not created anything for a while. But I realise you have to take the bad with the good. It ebbs and flows like good days and bad days, and that’s ok. Keep going.

Art helps me when I have no words

Draw first. Then write. Not the other way around. My approach in the past has always been to write my feelings, then make some art from it. Maybe that’s why I never end up making anything!

It’s been nice to realise the drawing helps me then put words to my feelings. It helps me understand myself better, whatever I’m trying to express or articulate.

The artist, moi, with her completed treasures. Feeling pretty chuffed.

It takes a village

Lastly - and maybe the most important - how integral collaboration has been, doing it with my friend and fellow artist, Jade.

We gave each other the space to be individual artists, doing our own thing (she did abstract watercolour) but we came together over a shared purpose of wanting to commit to a regular art practice. And being faced with the same issue of never being able to stick with anything.

By sticking together, we both managed to create art every day, for 100 days.

Thanks for reading, you’re the bees knees.

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