I understand the benefits of creating something daily, be it a drawing, painting or other. I've followed illustrators who have done this, and have even continued long after the 365 days. It seems like such a transformative experience, both in skill and discipline. Beside this, I understand that the concept in creating art everyday can also lead to more creativity. I guess, much like most things (beyond creativity) or body works well with routine. Eating meals at the same time everyday, or going to bed at the same time are just a couple of those things our bodies benefits from, so I guess in a way, any kind of daily routine will work in the same way. Of course these are promoting healthy habits, things that help our bodies.
So when thinking of a project that spans across 365 days, the concept sounds great.
But then the questions kick in.
Why is it so difficult to commit?
Why is it easy to start on day one, but then very quickly stop by progressively pushing it back a day to a point you are no longer working on it?
How do you stick with it when there's life happening?
Do you have to do it every single day (literally) including weekends? Or do you set the 365 day challenge to have days off, which then continues beyond the calendar year?
What if you become too much of a perfectionist, and each day the drawing takes longer and longer as your project becomes more complex?
How is it sustainable to do this with full-time work?
These questions are self doubt talking, and obviously, getting past the certain threshold of days that no longer feel a chore for you, you can easily find your groove. I have tried many times to do monthly challenges that involve drawing everyday during October, and only once have I ever gotten close to finishing (missed 1 day). Since then I can barely make it past day 6! Why?
Priorities kick in. The challenges offer prompts to work with, and not all of them resinate, which often can make it hard to think of an idea that you can execute well. When you hit this, the whole challenge unravels because the time to think of an idea takes longer. You then push back other pressing projects because you want to succeed in the challenge but nothing is coming. Is this a priority? Yes and no.
One illustrator I am familiar with is Jenny Bloomfield, who had began a social media account in 2014 with the premise of drawing everyday. What started as a daily challenge across 365 days has continue to be part of her practise. She is now on drawing number 3705!
through this challenge, something I find to recognise within her work is how she has developed a style that is comfortable to her, particularly noticeable in her drawings of dogs, which I love!
● How might you produce a similar daily project?
I would approach the project with finding an area I wish to improve on. I wouldn't want it to be SO difficult that I lose motivation to continue based on how much I struggle. I would want it to have some challenge, but in a way that makes it impossible. I would aim to limit the time I take per sitting so that I keep the consistency daily. Like tutor Bryan Eccleshall, I would aim to keep the medium the same, so either pencil, paint or even if working digitally I would keep the brush the same. I love how consistent Bryan's work looks, and as he mentions, when seeing them side by side as a larger piece, the work looks very strong together! That said, a year is a long time, and during this period you might discover that different brushes work better for you, or that mixing it up a little can keep the challenge fresh. It really depends what the aim would be. To practise a medium, to find a style, create a story.
I run a monthly event where we focus on portraiture for 2 hours. I feel that 2 hours is more than enough time to commit everyday, depending on what the project would focus on.
I think keeping it relatively small would also be beneficial for staying on track. Anything too big, if your space doesn't allow it, would mean the additional effort of setting up and packing away each time. This can be really demotivating on days that you feel tired.
● What could the subject or content be?
Nature is something that could be easy to work with on a daily basis. It could be that I take a walk everyday and draw the same scene. I like people watching, and I am terrible at drawing people when out and about. This could be something I would focus on. or the simple act of filling a sketchbook page everyday, with life studies in any medium. I see many artists or illustrators on Instagram share sketchbook pages they create with a date to suggest they do it everyday. The outcomes vary slightly, but style wise you can identify the artist by seeing their page. This would be something I would love to be in the habit of.
I think the goal would be to fill every page in a sketchbook, and continue to fill pages in new books and beyond everyday. The aim would be to stay consistent. Perhaps even journal with drawings! If I remember a dream, to maybe attempt drawing something from it.
● Think of things that happen regularly but might change slightly, like going
to the shops, or reading a newspaper, or a domestic routine.
If I had to commute to work each day on public transport then this would be it.
Thankfully I do not have to commute, and actually my day to days do not change that much during the working hours, not enough for it to inspire a daily project, anyways! So really, not only would the 365 day project set a new creative habit, but it might also force other healthy habits that would be consistent with it. I like to take walks to the local woods and fields round about, not much changes during these walks apart from seasons and the weather.
● How could the way you record it vary, or what form might your record of it
take? Could it be drawn in a diary, or as a calendar? Could it be 365
photographs of the view outside your window, or a series of collages from
the daily newspaper?
I remember seeing an article about a photographer who took photos of a public tennis table over 5 years. The fact that he captured everything but table tennis with the table is both brilliant and fascinating!
How great it would be to be able to document something like this!
I have seen several photographers document something similar, such as park benches. It is such a great idea to show human interaction with objects.
Moments like this serve well with photography, perhaps you could even create a video documentary also. To do this with drawing, it takes a different interpretation, or mood, or.. I'm not sure, but something about the legitimacy of the image could be interpreted as more imaginative. Could the result feel the same? Or is more subjective?
As I would be hoping to improve on developing ideas into something interesting, I would look to take an illustrative direction. That said, perhaps the work would be based on photos I take daily of a similar setting. Would this mean visiting the same spot at the same time everyday, or only capturing when moments happen.
It would be really interesting to plan such a project. Plan it into a schedule that feels manageable and sustainable. I would want to complete it, to stay motivated through out and not surrender any days that would begin the downfall to my commitment. It would be great to also set an end goal, such as, what would I want to do with the work after? Could it be monetised somehow? Would it be used for a portfolio?
Another challenge I would love to do alongside this, is cut out the painful addiction of social media doom scrolling! If I could switch a couple of hours on the phone with a daily challenge then this really would be the best outcome. To eradicate the bad habit completely would be a blessing! It is definitely the crusher of creativity, a horrible trap to stop your flow, fog your brain and kill any willpower. Not only do you see a world of crap, but you get caught up seeing how other artists work rather than doing it yourself. So much time is lost, it would be amazing to gain that back with a project like this... and I feel it will happen very soon.
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