Do you start painting challenges and then have to give them up because they don't fit into your life and they become overwhelming and stressful instead of a positive learning experience?
Painting challenges like the Strada Easel Challenge can be a brilliant way to create a motivational daily habit of creativity which improve your artistic skills, connect you to other creatives and increases your productivity.
However, they can also create stress and tension - "What do you mean you HAVE to paint before midnight?" leave you despondent if you don't get interest or support in your social media posts, and create a tsunami of wet paintings you don't have space for - or if you are a selling artist - a market for.
To thrive, rather than just survive, here's what I've learnt through doing the Strada Challenge numerous times now. I hope these ideas can help you; and I'd love to hear your tips in the comments.
TOP TIPS FOR GETTING THE MOST FROM PAINTING CHALLENGES
Consider what you can do BEFORE, DURING & AFTER to maximise success.
Before the challenge
Plan and write down what you are going to paint or draw for each day.
Decide if your time constraints allow you to paint daily, just sketch, or a mix of both.
Jot ideas down in a dedicated physical or digital notebook through the year regarding subjects - by doing the thinking beforehand you will save yourself so much time and stress deciding. The value of this is immense!
If planning to paint outdoors think about locations with shelter in case of poor weather, or plan places you can paint from your car or home window.
Do all this before you buy or prepare supports so you can plan dimensions accordingly.
Prime supports ahead of time - it can be a big job to prime 31 supports so each time you do some through the year prime a few extra and put in your 'challenge' box.
Buy any materials you need well in advance - because you have planned your daily output you will waste less.
Consider limiting yourself in some way - by size (perhaps sketching only in an A5 sketchbook or 7x5 panels) by colour choices (maybe a Zorn or tertiary palette) or medium ( charcoals or oil pastels perhaps). Limitations can be very freeing!
Choosing a theme can create a cohesive collection and build upon your subject knowledge. I became very familiar with proportions in my recent Sylvanian collection, for example, which made it easier to draw them more efficiently.
If you sell your work direct, decide on titles ahead of time. Add titles, dimensions and price to your website as a draft ready to add your paintings to.
You can even write the content of your posts complete with hashtags in your phone notes in advance, or schedule posts and just drop in the pics before posting.
Ensure you have somewhere to dry all the paintings. I use plate racks.
If painting in a studio set up, consider and arrange your lighting, and how you might do any process photos or filming of timelapses.
Please bookmark and comment below if you found this blog post useful. Part 2 - What you can do to 'maximise success and reduce stress during a painting challenge' is coming soon. Thanks for reading!
Thanks Julie, some great tips. Planning ahead is a great idea, as is having a theme, which I will try next Jan. This year I was much more relaxed because I did most of my paintings over two days. There wasn't the pressure of finishing anything.
Some great tips - the challenge was more stressful this January 2024 whereas other times - September 2023 and 2022 and even last January 2023- it has been stimulating and experimental. Your tips on making a plan is a great idea - my plan was to paint outdoors in various locations - but this is not a good plan for January in the UK with rain and cold. Next year I will have a plan for January with still life and interiors and room for experiment. Thanks Julie. 🙂
Very useful tips 🌟 I’ve always assumed I don’t have time to do daily challenges but maybe with a bit of planning it’s possible!
Very interesting Julie, I mentally plan ahead and prep all my boards but hadn’t thought of physically writing down what and where I plan to paint. I usually just wing that bit! Will try to plan more in September 😊
Such good advice! Would have helped me on strada easel, also inktober and 100 heads. Looking forward to the next one xxx