Did you miss Doggust? Here are 24 other art challenges to try...

Illustration and art challenges to help get you unstuck

Hi, I’m Libby. I’m trying to find my feet in the world of illustration. I’ve done a load of research and I’m sharing it here, along with my progress on how my illustration journey is going. I’m so glad you could join me on this bumpy ride! 🚡

---

Hello!

Over the last 10 days, I’ve been participating in a 30-day art challenge. It’s part of an illustrator collective I’ve recently become a member of.

The challenge is called #30daysofsketch and aims to help you get into a daily practice of sketchbooking. There are 30 drawing prompts exploring different themes.

‘Things that move’ from #30daysofsketch

It’s been really fun so far and I think it’s been helping improve my creative flow - improving my balance between ‘work’ projects and drawing for fun.

Some of my illustrator friends including

Jenni - Tiny Leaf Press

have been taking part in Doggust, with dog-themed art prompts and the 3-materials challenge, limiting the number of art materials used.

Jenni’s ‘Rachet’ from #doggust

These drawing challenges seem to help illustrators get unstuck but also help people connect with others, try out new materials and styles which can sometimes lead to new avenues in their work.

‘Song lyric’ from #30daysofsketch

You can also gain exposure through art challenges with art challenge hosts resharing your work!

So I thought it’d be a good idea to research art challenges and put together a list.

I wanted to find other challenges that might interest me for the next time I might need some inspiration!

So here’s my list. Let me know if you can recommend any others and I’ll add them!

I’ve included example prompt lists but these change every time the challenge refreshes, every year or in some cases every month or week!

Note: All these challenges are hosted on Instagram and there may be other accounts utilising different prompts but these are the ones that I found during my research.

Seasonal challenges

Often challenges run for a specific month of the year.

Here are some of the ones I’ve found and the number of posts for that hashtag to give you an idea of the number of people participating.

• January - #Whimsuary

  This one is centred around creating 12 whimsical images throughout January for a 12-month calendar.

  • Number of posts: 5,200

  • Hosted by: @sarahfandrey_illustrations and @whimsuary

• February - #Figuary

  Life-drawing every day of February.

  • Number of posts: 25,026

  • Doesn’t seem to have prompts/run by anyone

• March - #Marchofrobots

  Robots of course! This challenge includes prizes.

  • Number of posts: 119,190

  • Hosted by: @chocolatesoop and @marchofrobots

• April

  #Pleinairpril

  Painting outside. Includes free live painting demos you can sign up for.

  • Number of posts: 99,325

  • Hosted by: @warriorpainters

  #Ourplanetweek

  A week-long challenge at the end of April inspireing action for a greener and healthier future for the planet.

  • Number of posts: 30,316

  • Hosted by: @asiaorlando_ and @ourplanetweek

• May - #Mermay

  A month of mermaids! Started by Disney illustrator Tom Bancroft. Includes judges and prizes.

  • Number of posts: 1,539,725

  • Hosted by: @mermay_official

• June - #Junicorn

  Unicorns of course.

  There’s also an ‘advanced Junicorn challenge (run by @ecraster) that includes setting and genre prompts to try out.

  • Number of posts: 37,843

  • Hosted by: Vaious including @solis.oculus

• July - #3materialsdrawingchallenge

  Sketch with only 3 materials over 50 days beginning in July.

  • Number of posts: 15,866

  • Hosted by: @charlotte.durance @kathryn_boyt and @naomitippingillustrator

• August

  #Smaugust

  Dragon-themed art.

  • Number of posts: 84,630

  • Hosted by: Various including @katy_lipscomb

  #Doggust

  All about dogs and exploring different dog breeds.

  • Number of posts: 41,264

  • Hosted by: @dogsinaugust

• September - #Sketchtember

  A sketch a day.

  • Number of posts: 69,982

  • Hosted by: Unkown

• October

  #Inktober

  Using inks and pens to create art for the month

  • Number of posts: 27,766,201 - without a doubt, the largest challenge participation I’ve seen!

  • Hosted by @inktober

  

  #Witchtober

  • Number of posts: 333,704

  • Hosted by: Various including @marigonasuliart

• November - #FolkTaleWeek

  1 week in November. Art and illustrations inspired by folk tales.

  • Number of posts: 105,634

  • Hosted by @folktaleweek @kalyquarles and others

• December - #Inkmas

  Christmas themed art

  • Number of posts: 4,590

  • Various including @karina_isabelle

Monthly challenges that run throughout the year

Other challenges run more regularly. Here are some running monthly, weekly or ad-hoc. You can participate for the whole duration or dip in and out according to your schedule.

General Drawing

• #Doodleaday(insert month) hosted by @ellolovey

• #MakingArtEveryday hosted by @lisabardot

• #Adrawingaday by @sketchbookskool

• #Doodlewash (Drawing or watercolour) hosted by @doodlewashed

Specific Themes

• Colour #thecolourcoop hosted by @thecolourcoop

• Lettering #letterwithshannon hosted by @byshannonlane and @letteringlisa

• Portraits #portraitparty hosted by @charlyclements

• Jehane’s golden thread, varying weekly themes #jehanesgoldenthread hosted by @jehane_ltd sign up via email

• Kidlit, children’s book illustration #kidlitartdrawingchallenge hosted by @kidlitart_drawing_challenge

Draw This In Your Style

If you don’t fancy taking part in a monthly challenge there’s always #DTIYS, with over 4 million posts, you can find a drawing and redraw it in your style.

A notable #DTIYS is

Beth Spencer

’s recent #hibadge2024 where over 1500 illustrators took a stand for human-produced art (not AI.)

It was so fun to see all the different illustrator and artist approaches.

Here’s my badge:

So those were the challenges I found - there are many more but I hope I’ve captured the best.

Let me know if you’ve participated in others!

Which one would you like to try next??

Thanks for reading!

Libby