When I embarked on my 30-day art challenge on Instagram, I thought it was going to be easy. Oh contraire (It’s called a “challenge” reason)! On Day 19, I realized that I was simply forcing myself to post something on my feed, whether it was good, bad, or okay. I don’t know about you, but I want to proud of every piece that I post.
So here’s what I learned about my 30-day challenge, on Day 19.
1. You can’t expect to post something amazing everyday.
Creativity doesn’t just flow out of my brain all day, everyday. Some pieces take a lot of time, planning and brooding to come up with, and some artwork comes easily. There are days when I couldn’t think of anything at all. There was nothing.
But, if you are just overflowing with work, and can share something crazy-cool every day, more power to you!
2. It’s tough to sit down and work after work.
I have a regular 9 to 5 job during the weekdays, and sometimes after a rough or stressful day, I couldn’t muster up the energy to hash out a piece for Instagram. At first, I was really disappointed with myself, and forced myself to post something anyway. It turned out pretty awful, so I’ve come to terms with the fact that if I’m tired, to just give myself a break and start again tomorrow.
3. Achieving the right lighting during the evening is possible.
During my 30-day challenge, I would draw or handletter something up after work, and by the time it was done, the sun had set. If I wanted a fantastic photo, I only had my indoor lighting to work with. Without a scanner or a well-lit room, an Instragram-worthy photo was difficult to achieve, especially one without my phone’s shadow in the way. Luckily if you catch the right angle, you can manually bump up the brightness and contrast during post-photography editing, and it might be worth posting!
4. Puppies and precision lining don’t mix.
Okay, totally an un-relatable learning for some people, but I have an especially curious puppy who is constantly wondering what I’m up to. During my 30-day challenge, I learned to hide from him if I had to letter something that required steady hands. Because if I didn’t, game over. I would have to start over. His big noggin would find me and bump my elbow, almost intentionally. He’s adorable, and I can’t stay mad at him, but man, is that frustrating.
5. You’re going to waste a lot of paper.
Like a lot. I think a killed a few trees from the paper I’ve wasted from lettering practice. At least there’s the recycling bin, and my mountain of paper can be incarnated into paper bags or Starbucks cups, or something.
So there it is! I have about 10 days left in my challenge, which I’m taking on slowly to produce works I can put my name behind. Enjoy!