Five Reasons You Should Accept My Daily Drawing Challenge

There’s something about sharing a struggle that makes it easier.

There’s something about sharing a struggle that unites people, too.

And if you’re anything like me, you will have days when it’s a struggle to keep your practice going.

There are days when it seems like you flow along and nothing can go wrong (although not so many of those in my experience). Then there are days where it feels like you’re wading through treacle, and every inch of forward progress must be paid for in frustration, doubt and sweat.

I have a lot more of those.

I do find though, that sharing the daily struggle with a group of like minded people can make the world of difference on those ‘wading through treacle’ days. It can make the difference between keeping going and letting it slide.

Why Sharing Your Practice Helps

1. It keeps you accountable. If you’ve committed publicly to a bunch of people that you’re going to draw every day – and more, to show what you’ve done – it can be just the kick you need to finally get your sketchpad out and draw something.
2. It keeps you inspired. It’s much easier to practice when you’re feeling inspired. But inspiration is fickle, too inclined to abandon us if we don’t feed it regularly. Sometimes seeing someone pushing ahead with something can be just what you need to light your fire.
3. It gives you ideas. None of us can create in a vacuum. Seeing what other people are working on can be a great way to keep our ideas fresh and moving forwards. It can give us ideas for simple exericses that we can do that will help us keep moving forwards.
4. It keeps you motivated. Seeing that other people find this thing difficult too can help us get over the negative feelings that can result when we miss a few days. Too often, we end up feeling like it’s some personal problem we have. We’re lazy. We’re just not committed enough. Seeing that other people share the same feelings helps you to see that it’s not just you.

So I’ve come up with an idea, a way to share our struggle – and to share our inspiration.

For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been sharing my daily practice. Every day, I’ve been taking pictures of my daily practice drawings and sticking them up on Google Plus. Often they’re not that great. But they’re evidence that I’ve made the effort to sit down and practice every day.

It’s been working pretty well, but if I’m going to stick at it, I need your help. I need you to join me.

So here’s my challenge to you:

I want you to commit to drawing something every day for the next two weeks. That’s all, just the next 14 days.

For two weeks, every day, draw something. Then take a picture of it. Then show it.

Here’s how:

I’ve just set up a regular practice community on Google plus. It’s free to join. All you have to do is click on this link and join up:

Daily Art Practice Community

And I’ve got something a bit special to encourage you..

I said there were five reasons, but I’ve only listed four so far. So here’s the fifth one:

At the end of the two weeks, on the 15th of October, I’m going to give away two free memberships – for life – to Creative Triggers, the core skills art practice community I run. We have almost 200 members on Creative Triggers now, and many of them are posting their practice daily on the forum.

That’s how I know this sharing thing works, that’s how I know it keeps you motivated and striving towards your artistic goals.

At the end of the two weeks, I’m going to pick two winners, people who have posted every day – or nearly every day – and have helped encourage other people to do the same by commenting on their posts too.

All you have to do is show up once a day, every day for two weeks, and help your fellow artists.

I think you can do it.

Actually, I’m sure you can. Here’s the link again:

Daily Art Practice Community

Best wishes,

Paul

Posted: October 2nd 2013