Recapping the October Art Challenge

A whole month has gone by since my last email and I know exactly where it went: ART.

october art challenge

I was on the fence about doing an art challenge this year, but my friend Stephanie Burgis inspired me to go ahead and put something together. Because I loved doing the "Autumn Woods" challenge with Deva Fagan, I decided to do "Autumn Hearth" and include all sorts of cozy prompts.

These challenges take sooo much time, especially when I'm organizing them. I have to remember make a post for everyone else, and to respond to all the amazing artwork people share on various social media platforms. Don't get me wrong, I love seeing everyone's work and the energy and inspiration that come from being in a community of artists all doing the same thing is incalculable. I wouldn't do it if it wasn't worth it. But still, it's like having a part-time job that you don't actually get paid to do.

my process

My drawings this year were fairly simple. You might look at them and think, "There are only a few lines, how long could that possibly take?"

HA HA HA HA

For that little bird above, my Day 1 drawing, I had this page of sketches and ideas.

You can see that I ultimately went with the bird on the bottom left, though I altered the shape of the background color to better highly the "steaming mug." Okay, not too bad, I remember thinking. I'll totally be able to sustain this for the next thirty days.

Smash cut to page after page that look like this.

So. Much. Work. Every. Single. Day.

And yet every October art challenge pushes my skills forward far faster than they progress during the other months. The intensity, the companionship, the technical focus on a specific style and medium... it's a creativity crucible, searing and transformative.

And hey, I actually really like several of my drawings! Let me leave you with a few I felt were compositionally more successful than the others.

the aftermath

As is often the case, as soon as November 1st rolled around, I threw my sketchbook into a dark pit and did not look at it again for days. The burnout is real!! I am only now starting to pull it out again so I can do my daily drawing. Hopefully I'll make a full recovery before the end of the month.

Thankfully, my second ceramics class started, and pushing clay around is nothing like drawing. PHEW. I've been enjoying working with a new instructor and trying new techniques. I'll have some pictures to share of those experiments soon! Until then...

Thank you so much for reading,
Jenn