This February I completed, for the very first time, an art challenge, more specifically, a 30-day challenge. I did the @ellolovey doodle a day challenge, where she posts a list of words every month and the idea is to create a doodle for each day. In the past, I failed to complete the challenge because my illustrations were too complicated to finish in one hour. This time, what I did was to try and keep it as simple as I could, and to force myself to not be a perfectionist.
So, when I had time, I did simple sketches. I would sketch as much as I could to try and get ahead, and then each day I just colored them in.
This helped me in a lot of ways. It helped me to draw more loosely, and to find a more consistent style and palette on my Instagram account. This helped me to gain more followers and more exposure, and even lead me to sell prints and to get a contract to illustrate an album cover.
I didn't do March's challenge. Although I was proud of myself, I was tired and some days were too just much pressure.
However, I decided to do April. More followers. More likes. This time, I decided instead of choosing my own palette, to use the one proposed by @ellovey, which presented more of a challenge. Curiously, I found that the posts with most likes were the ones I didn't like that much. Now, I am convinced that I really need to get out of my comfort zone and try different (and more risky) characters, expressions, and colors.
It doesn't need to be perfect, because rather than a good perspective, or good proportions, or a perfect drawing, the most important thing in art and illustration is what you, as an artist, are able to transmit. The feeling that you are trying to transmit.
These are my 9 most liked illustrations from this month so far. I highly recommend challenges, because they are a great way to learn.
