Surviving Drawing Challenge Months

It’s October! It’s spooky time! Time to draw CREATURES! It’s… time to burn yourself out on drawing?

Of course not. Our goal is to keep drawing fun and keep our mental health in check. So why do I mention this for October? Well! October is a popular time for prompt challenges. Things like “Inktober”, “Drawtober”, whatever-tober. Really you might see themed drawing prompt lists for all months of the year, but they’re particularly popular this month. The general idea is that every day has a prompt, and you draw your interpretation of that prompt each day. Sounds fun right?

Well they are fun! But they are also a quick path to burnout if you’re not prepared. “How do you prepare yourself for a month of drawing? Why are you making this video halfway through the month, Kanjon?” Ah! You can’t really prepare yourself for a month of drawing. But what you can do is recognize when you’re struggling, tired, or just need a little break. That tends to happen at about this time for many people.

The important thing with drawing challenge months, and art in general, is to have fun. When you stop having fun, consider taking a little break. Some signs that you’re not having fun include:

• You dread looking at the prompt for the next day.
• You stress out over the time of day that you’re starting the prompt.
• You worry about what people will think when you’re going to share your art if you’re “late” or what they’ll think about the quality of the art.
• You’ve been spending less and less time drawing all around.

Drawing challenges are a celebration of art, not a competition. People won’t think less of you if you need to skip a day or stop participating in the event. You’re allowed to come and go as you please: it’s your own art and you don’t owe anyone anything.

Most people I know don’t make it through the month, and that’s fine. Your mental health is more important. Even if you only “survived” a few days, that’s still awesome! You’ve taken some time to try something new out, and that’s neat on its own. And you’ve probably improved a little in skill too!

If you do make it all the way through, congratulations! Be super proud of yourself. But also, think about taking a break afterwards: you probably need it. Spooky drawing challenges or not, I hope you have a fun time drawing. As always, I’ll see you back here for the next one.