I am now 41 days into the Index Card-A-Day Creative Challenge.I've started this challenge twice before. The furthest I've ever been is 5 days. I was committed to it this year.
I've often read and heard that if you do something for 21 days it becomes a habit. I don't believe this is necessarily true for art. Some days I do forget to do my ICAD, and I do feel a sense of unsettlement, but to say that creating something awesome every day is a habit just doesn't hold true for me.
There are days where my creative juices are flowing and I create something really amazing. Some days it's a struggle to even figure out what I'm doing and things look muddled, messy and confusing.
The most important part of this challenge for me has been just making sure if I miss a day, I complete it the following day, on top of that day's prompt.
I have found it really interesting how my artwork is so related to my mood and attitude. On days where my house is clean, I'm happy and my children are well-behaved, I make beautiful works with thoughtful compositions and unique elements. On days where I'm kind of out of it, in a funk or my house is a disaster, I create things that are similar--just not that great.
My biggest pet peeve with this prompt comes from the Facebook group and people not following the prompts. I know the creator of this challenge says that the prompts are totally optional, but I feel like sticking with the prompt encourages MORE creativity. Some days I wonder "what the heck?" when I read the prompt--like the day the prompt was "Space Invaders." But by sticking to the prompt and making my brain create something related to it, I'm growing as an artist.
To keep myself motivated throughout this challenge and continuing to create interesting works that I'm excited about, I have done the following:
Collected papers. A LOT of my work is collage which I then embellish. I always find old scrapbook 6x6 packs that I love using whenever I'm cleaning rooms of my house. I'm a paper hoarder!
Made a list of things I want to work on. I noticed my writing was becoming poor, so I took a few days and worked on writing on my ICADs.
Learned from others. I love the Facebook group that I belong to for ICAD because there are some truly great artists coming together and I value different artists for what they excel at; whether that be lettering, awesome collage, beautiful illustration or use of color. I am always making mental notes of what I love about their artwork and implementing my own version of that into my works.
So that's how I'm doing thus far. Only about 20 more days left and I plan to go out with a bang!
Here are a few of my cards for your viewing pleasure:
Collected papers. A LOT of my work is collage which I then embellish. I always find old scrapbook 6x6 packs that I love using whenever I'm cleaning rooms of my house. I'm a paper hoarder!
Made a list of things I want to work on. I noticed my writing was becoming poor, so I took a few days and worked on writing on my ICADs.
Learned from others. I love the Facebook group that I belong to for ICAD because there are some truly great artists coming together and I value different artists for what they excel at; whether that be lettering, awesome collage, beautiful illustration or use of color. I am always making mental notes of what I love about their artwork and implementing my own version of that into my works.
So that's how I'm doing thus far. Only about 20 more days left and I plan to go out with a bang!
Here are a few of my cards for your viewing pleasure:
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| I really liked this until I took this picture and realized I didn't draw the front line on my cube correctly. Agh! |
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