It is this time of year again when I allow myself to be creative and spend time doing and learning a new creative technique. The 100 Day Project starts February 18th – so tomorrow. I have shared how I prepare for the 100 day project a couple years back. And taking my own advice into consideration I came up with a project for 2024. I am a bit overwhelmed with it but that hasn’t been the first time. It’s usually an indicator that I will step out of my comfort zone and start growing as an artist.
The Project starts February 18th and will run till May 28th. I am sure I will again finish a few days later but maybe I can hit the mark this year and celebrate with everyone else finishing. We’ll see.
I bet you want to know what I will do. The short version: I will sketch for 100 days.
Here are my thoughts how I came up with the project.
Last year my dad gave me a set of coals and pencils from Faber Castel for my birthday. I haven’t used them yet. My sister immediately said I should make them my next 100 day project. That stuck. I have already been thinking about doing more pencil drawings for a while. I am not particularly good at them. But I wasn’t any good when I decided to do lineart or water colors either. I am eager to learn though. The plan is to hone my pencil drawing skills and add in some coal for variation.
I have also checked the local community college (Volkshochschule) for courses and there are a few good ones. I may sign up to a weekend class or one that runs a bit longer. Nothing set in stone yet though.
I also have a book on my shelf that is called “Mit Bleistift und Pinsel” (translated “With pencil and paint brush” that was published in 1990. So I probably have it sit on my shelf for 30 years. I remember reading parts of it and trying to imitate some of the techniques. But I am not sure I have read it entirely. I have no idea who gave it to me. Anyway, I will read that parallel to the 100 day project and see if that inspires me or gives any helpful guidelines.
But all that is not yet challenge enough (HA!) and so I came up with another layer. I know myself, I would probably start sketching the same things throughout the challenge and so I decided to give myself fourteen themes. Each Sunday I will draw a piece of paper telling me the theme for the upcoming week. Here is what’s on the paper slips:
- Body Parts
- Faces
- Flowers / Leaves
- Landscapes
- People
- Architecture
- Household Items / Around the house
- Circles
- Triangles
- Squares
- Trees
- Sky (Sun, Moon, Stars, Clouds)
- Food
- mixed media | complete the picture
For the final three days of the 100 day project I will sketch the same thing in different ways. Not sure if that will be a prompt I’ve already done and then interpret anew or if I have a voting.
You can follow in Instagram by subscribing to the Hashtag #100daysofcraftalicioussketches. I may bring some of those sketches to this blog like I am currently doing with last year’s black-out poetry.
Do you have any pencil sketching skills? What’s your favorite tool for sketching or doodling? Which prompt would you be excited for. And which one would scare you off?
16 comments
I look forward to seeing your sketches during your 100-day project, Tobia! I did a 100-day project several years ago. The hardest part for me was posting on social media every day! It was too much for me, it made me exhausted, and I’ve never felt the urge to do it again. But I LOVE seeing what other people do, and I know that many people get a lot of value from it. I wish you all the best and I’ll be cheering you on from the sidelines!
I totally get the posting part. I have times when I do the art but don’t upload or do it a day later because I just don’t feel it. It can be so overwhelming. And I am a social media manager by day so I know all the tips and tricks but sometimes you just wanna stay of social.
Thank you for cheering me on Michelle. I really appreciated.
Wow! What an epic project. I am SO excited to see the results. You are such a talented artist and I love the prompts. Such a great idea.
I hope you really enjoy the process and I’ll look forward to seeing what you create <3
Thank you so much for cheering me on Elisabeth. I feel slightly overwhelmed with what I put on my plate and know I am light years away from what I have in mind when I will try my first strokes but practice makes perfect, right?!
I am excited to see your creations. I am mostly just doodling around without particular skill ;) I carry a set of gel pens around that I use for my calendar so this is what I mainly use (they are erasable and I still think it’s magic). I am not doing the 100 day project but I started a 100 day switchback challenge where you embroider 20 pages for 100 days, 15 minutes each day. It is very relaxing and I hope that my stitching will be more even in the end.
I definitely agree that erasable pens are magic. I have discovered however that they fade after some time. Did you come across that phenomenon too? Maybe it’s just the brand I used never tried others.
I’ve seen some of your embroidery pieces and they look really really amazing. Are the motifs pre planned or do you create those on your own?
I love this idea for your 100 day project this year, Tobia, and cannot wait to see your progress. I love that you chose themes for each week… I am most intrigued by faces and architecture!
And guess what? I’ll finally (!) join you this year… my project will not be quite as ambitious and planned out like yours but I am just excited to participate and hopefully inspire some new creative energy in myself!
I have said it before I am beyond excited for you to join me this year. I love love love your project and I am looking forward what you do. I am a bit overwhelmed with mine right now and fear I will not achieve the aesthetic I am going for which will leave me disappointed but we’ll see. Faces and people scare me and I sincerely hope it’s not the first draw I make.
I’m not very creative, but am looking forward to cheering you on from the sidelines! Artists need an audience, right? <3
I am sure you have your own special creativity.
Thank you for cheering me on. I very much appreciate it.
You’re such an inspiration with this project! I don’t really have any spatial awareness and have trouble doing things like drawing and even coloring, but I love to see the art that creative people produce! I can’t wait to see how this turns out for you.
Thank you so much Engie. I really look forward to this project. After two days I feel though I’ve been taken a bigger bite I can chew but I plough through and am sure at the end I am better than before. I will share a few images along the way.
And I am sure you have your own creativity. You may not call it that though.
I agree that everyone has their own unique creativity. Just because you can’t draw doesn’t mean you’re not creative! Having said that- I can’t draw. I’m so terrible at it, and I’m envious of people who have that talent. So I’ll be looking forward to see what you create during this project!
Thank you Jenny. I used to draw a lot and than somehow didn’t do it for years. Heck decades. But I am looking at a lot of art at Pinterest and Instagram and I really wanted to learn and practice more.
What would you say is your form of creativity? Music?
You are so cool! I love that you have such a passion for trying new things and being creative. I can’t wait to see how this 100 day project works out for you!
Thank you Stephany. I am 10 days in and it’s the hardest one yet. I really don’t know what I am doing and the art doesn’t look great. I guess that means leaving your comfort zone.