Art challenges have become increasingly popular and at the start of the year there are a plethora of them to choose from. Some are 30 day ones, others one a week, some per month... just about every combination is there to choose from. There are sketchbook challenges, painting challenges, ones to post your progress online. From Ink-tober to Mermay and Doodle December - a quick social search on Instagram will reveal countless ones to choose from. Why do we do them though? and are they worth the effort?
There are 3 main reasons that we might choose to do an art challenge.
Overcoming artists block - This is something we can all relate to. Whether it is after a break like over Christmas ; overwhelm in terms of the number of ideas we have or projects we want to do ; or just simply stuck for ideas, having themes presented to us takes away some of that choice and decision making that can make art so difficult. Being presented with a list to work through is refreashing and helps to kick start the creativity allowing us to work on other aspects of the work. We still have to decide on the composition we want to do, the materials that we want to use and the techniques that we will apply, but having a subject presented to us makes the whole process one step easier.
Improving our art practice - by having that subject defined for us it allows us to concentrate on improving our art practice. This consistency of turning up routinely, be that daily, weekly or monthly, all give a structure where we set aside time for this one thing. practice improves our practice! Its that simple. what ever we do we will improve in different ways. Some may improve their techniques, become more comfortable using a sketchbook, improve composition, work more detailed or work more loosely.
Being part of a community - when people are working on the same themes its a little like being in a class... you look over onto the next desk and see what others have done. When people post to their social media and use the same hashtag you can easily find others doing the same challenge. Its a great way to see how people interpret the same subject in different ways , and that too can be inspiring. If you are part of a facebook group then even better! We do tend to gravitate and gain support from others doing the same, it seems to be part of who we are.
Creativity unleashed....?
My 25 in 25 art challenge began after a December lull, A few paintings done as gifts, the art materials had been tidied away and although I had several photos saved to work on I wanted something to push me and restart my year. This collection of subjects came not from me but from my followers, and with friends around the world it led to subjects that I had not heard of before. This is also where the dragon and unicorn came in ! I had never said they had to be a real animal and these were both suggested. Would I have chosen to paint a unicorn one day? maybe .... a dragon? probably not. This just shows that by doing a challenge you can expand your ideas significantly. Would I paint more unicorns and dragons now? yes for sure I will do.
What I learned about my art practice
There was one big thing that came out of what I was doing and that was that “less can be more”. I am used to painting very detailed realistic images , when you work smaller that just isn’t possible. As I did more images, I found that for some of them I was taking a less detailed approach. Standing back and looking at them they looked no different, but up close they were a more abstract painting. Colours jumped out up close… the black bird has far more colour than you would expect. The backgrounds became looser. I do love the backgrounds painted by the Animal artist Archibald Thorburn so perhaps there was also a little influence from there.
I generally work on an easel but for some of these I worked flat, did that make a difference? I’m not sure, but it is easy to manoeuvre smaller works that way.
The other thing I found complemented working more loosely was using a long-handled brush. The ones I have are ones I ordered by accident from Rosemary’s when I was in a rush sometime in the last year. A series 305 filbert. I think this contributed on some to the marks being bolder. I still love to paint with my red dot riggers and evergreen riggers so that won’t change, but I may invest in some long handled ones on my next order.
Building a community
Although this is the start of the project for me and a self-inflicted desire to complete it in January (mad I know!) , I hope this will have others take part over the year. My own online community grew as I painted more of the subjects but it also closely involved my lovely followers who had chosen these subjects for this challenge!
So, was the challenge worth it?
Absolutely—but not just because I completed 25 paintings. The true value was in:
✅ Pushing myself creatively – I exploring new ideas and proving to myself that I could tackle different subjects.
✅ Discovering new artistic directions – Who knows? Maybe more fantasy elements will sneak into my future work.
✅ Learning to embrace the unexpected – Not every painting has to fit a rigid plan and the same way of working, sometimes you can veer off in a new direction.
✅ Building discipline and momentum – Having a goal kept me accountable and productive. That said I was always clear that there should be no pressure and no failure with a challenge. If I did 5 paintings or 20 , they would be paintings that I otherwise may not have painted, every painting is a win.
Would I do it again? Without a doubt. Art challenges aren’t just about finishing a set number of pieces—they’re about growth, exploration, and discovering where creativity can take you.
And sometimes… it takes you to a dragon!
Join me with my 25 in 25 art challenge and see where it takes you!
I found your blog and am pleased to be the first one to comment. I love the idea of bringing the animals and music together, they are both so emotive! Great blog...well done and hope you enjoy writing more.