Online art challenges are events organized by other artists online, with a specific theme or guidelines and a set time frame. Challenges are great for artists and creatives who are looking for inspiration and a way to grow their portfolio while connecting with other artists online. And the good news is, they're free to join! You just do your creative work and then post it online for others to see and enjoy!
A few of my illustrations that came out of art challenges:
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Pumpkin+Coffee -
Honey+bee -
#Childhoodweek -
#childhoodweek
Online art challenges are really great for artists who are dealing with creative block. As an artist of young children, you probably struggle with creative block. When you sit down to paint or draw, your frazzled mommy brain can't come up with useful creative ideas.
Online creative challenges are a great way to overcome this problem! Here are three ways I've used them to help me overcome creative block and get back into the artistic groove.
Someone else comes up with the ideas for you.
Most of the time, when an artist organizes an online creative challenge, they post a list of official prompts for the week or month.
A blank page is a tired artist mom's worse enemy. You make decisions all day long, and some times, it's nice to have someone tell you what to draw, so that you don't have to think about it.
Some of my best work has come out of online art challenges like InkTober or Childhood Week. The prompts give you just enough guidance so that you don't have to waste valuable time coming up with a theme while giving you the freedom to use your creativity in unique ways.
You only have a few days to get it done.
As an artist mom of little children, you have very little time in the day to do your art. Not only that but it's easy to put the immediate demands of raising small children and taking care of the house at the top of the priority list. As a result, you never find a way to carve out time for your own art.
Online art challenges have deadlines. Many of them are only a week long. This means that if you are inspired to participate, you have to do it today. No putting it off until the laundry is all putaway.
This also means that you have to get it done. It's tempting to overwork your art until it is "perfect" enough to post. But perfection is a myth. And honestly, as a busy mama, you don't have time to be perfect. Jake Parker, the creator of InkTober, gave us a wise mantra: "Finished, not perfect." Say it with me. Finished, not perfect.
You get to be part of a community of other artists.
One of the main components of online creative challenges is the SHARING component. You have to post your art online and TAG IT so that other artists can see what you are creating. Then you get to look at the amazing work that all the other artists are creating.
As an artist mom of young kids, it's easy to feel isolated in your bubble of diapers and early mornings. Online art challenges give you a chance to be part of an artist community again.
And there is great power in a community. It gives you encouragement and motivation to keep going, even when it's really really hard.
Are you ready to kick start your creativity?
It occurred to me that there might be other artists who love online creative challenges as much as me, and would like to have them in one easy to reference list. So far it's three pages long and I update it periodically as new challenges come out.
You can download it for free. Just put your email below and I will send it to your inbox!