Taking on Long Challenges (or: Monkey Moments)

[OffBased]

On Jan 1st, I challenged myself to draw a monkey every day for the whole year. Didn’t matter what else I did if was a monkey in there.

I had a few reasons for doing such an arbitrarily long, dumb thing:

• The dragons in my comic are most heavily based off of monkey anatomy, so I can indirectly get some practice drawing my characters when I draw monkeys.
• Most of my art in 2020 was very conventional. If I wasn’t drawing fanart, I was drawing something with the same styles or subjects I’m used to. I thought that having to make something every day would lead to more interesting ideas or new ways of expressing them.
• I really want to get better at illustration. If I can speed through one of these everyday, I’ll surely get quicker at sketching/inking/painting, right?
• I like monkeys.

I (usually) post what I drew that day on my Instagram story, then I compile them all into a regular post on Fridays. You can see ‘em all here if you’d like.
My track record isn’t perfect, but I’ve drawn at least one monkey most days. Sometimes I’ll have loads of ideas and I don’t which one to pick. Other times, it’ll be 9PM and I’m still grasping at straws for anything new. The latter has been happening less often.

It’s not even the end of March and I’ve the most satisfied I’ve ever been with my art. I think it has a lot to do with this challenge. I’ve been feeling more creative, I’ve been finishing more things that I think look good, I like drawing hands now??? It’s freaking sorcery.

Three months in, I’m still not totally sure if I’ll keep it going? Even if I’m at this in July, I think I’ll still be considering giving up. Just trucking along for now. Taking it day by day like I always do.

Have you ever gone through with a big challenge like this, art/writing related or not? Did you accomplish what you originally set out to do, or did you have to change the rules as you went? Or did you stop altogether for some reason? What did you gain from attempting that thing?

Here are some of my favorite results so far:

[gabriellabalagna]

Okay, so I've taken on quite a few pretty crazy challenges, so I get what you're feeling.

For example, I did a version of the sketchbook slam challenge/600 page sketchbook. Now that it's over, I'm glad I did it. But if the challenge was really weighing on me more than it was benefitting me, then I would have considered giving it up.

What I learned was, going forward, to be more careful of what challenges I set and try to keep them more doable. Also, I learned how to stick with something. Additionally, I learned drawing daily isn't for me, as I need mental and physical breaks. Finally, I got a lot of practice in and got a lot faster.

Hope for you all the best with your monkey challenge!

[Legendofgenii]

I’m trying to do a sketch a day - even if it’s just panel sketches.

I did just take some time off (art block I think), but I’m not too strict on myself.

[OffBased]

Ooh I’ve heard about that one! Seems like a lot of drawing to do in such a short time. That’s great that you learned how to keep going with something until it’s finished! Anything that can help with doing something consistently is a win in my book. And the fact that you learned more about how you work in general is icing on the cake.
I can see why you wouldn’t want to keep up something so rigorous though. Sometimes you need that break, or just time to do literally anything else. At least you got through!

[OffBased]

I’ve seen your stuff in the sketch-a-day thread! Even a chill challenge like that is great as long as you’re getting something out of it

[Kaydreamer]

Neither of these were overly long challenges, but they were very meaningful to leading me to the point where I am today.

The first was an Inktober challenge in 2018, which is the first I ever actually finished. The sense of accomplishment I felt after that was enormous. I then immediately hopped on to doing Huevember, which, while I ended up finishing that one late, really re-sparked my love for digital drawing, inspired me to buy an iPad, and made me think "Hey, I think I'd like to do this as a job instead of teaching."

The next was a two-week challenge I set myself over the April school holidays of 2019. It was a test for myself. I was very weak at drawing environments, so I figured I would paint one digital environment for every working day over the two-week school holiday period. That would do two things; one, it would give me a sense of how quickly I could improve, because I knew I needed to address a lot of weaknesses if I were going to quit teaching to pursue art. Two, it would prove to me that I had the discipline to do something artistically challenging and intimidating every day, and if I was still enjoying myself by the end of those two weeks, I could trust that I'd respond similarly in a professional role.

The longest 'challenge' I've set so far would be actually making my comic! I've never taken on a project of this scope before, and I'm still super inspired and having a blast with it.

[OffBased]

I don’t really care how long your challenges were. I’m glad they were beneficial to you at all!

It’s so gratifying to get something like Inktober or Huevember done. You’ve committed all this extra time to something and the results are plain to see. And sometimes all you need is that spark to get more serious about your hobbies.

Ah, environnements. A weak spot for a lot of us It seems that was a successful test of your skill at the time. Finding out how you improve or even what to do to improve can be hard. And it looks like you’ve done that now that you’re confident enough to post your comic. I can’t wait to see more pages of Blue Star Rebellion and your other Dragonfeathers projects!

[nathanKmcwilliams]

Last year I managed to do all of Inktober plus the bonus challenges they had. It really pushed me for sure.
Besides that I do draw something everyday, though that's less of a challenge as I just really like drawing XD.