Sketch-Tember
Quote from John F. Kennedy on a letter board, “Art is not freedom from discipline, but disciplined freedom.”
Editor’s note: This post will continue to evolve as I do.
Welcome, creative thinkers and curious doers.
This month, I decided to challenge myself in a new way. Instead of sticking to one project or routine, I dove into five different 31-day challenges for August. Each designed to push me outside of my comfort zone and spark fresh creativity. Over the next five weeks, I’ll be sharing one of these experiences as part of my new blog series, Creative Creations. My hope is that you’ll be inspired to explore your own version of daily growth, whether through art, words, or simple moments of curiosity.
For this week’s post, I’m starting with the Art Challenge. A journey that stretched both my imagination and my discipline. Every day came with a new prompt, and with it, a chance to translate an idea into something tangible on the page. While some days felt effortless, others pushed me to sit with the frustration of a blank canvas until something emerged. By the end, I wasn’t just left with 31 drawings, but also a reminder of how daily practice can open doors we didn’t even know were there.
Here's a look at each day’s prompt and the drawings that came from them:
Week 1 Warm-up and Observation (to help loosen up, notice details, and reconnect with creativity by drawing with joy)
Day 1: My hand (draw in three different poses)
Day 2: Upside-down object (pick something on my desk and draw upside-down)
Day 3: Continuous line (draw a plant or object without lifting the pen)
Day 4: Tiny worlds (create 2-inch square drawing on tiny scene)
Day 5: Shadow study (trace or draw a shadow of an object near a window)
Day 6: 30-second doodles (pick 5 objects, give yourself 30 seconds each)
Day 7: Mirror moments (quick self-portrait without erasing mistakes)
Week 2: Play and Imagination (Break logic and spark creativity)
Day 8: Object fusion (combine two objects into one)
Day 9: Scribble creature (make a scribble, then turn them into a character)
Day 10: Dreamy landscape (draw a place I’d like to escape too)
Day 11: Reverse scale (draw a tiny object huge or a huge object tiny)
Day 12: Unexpected pattern (Cover a fruit, a rock, or a mug with wild patterns)
Day 13: Food with personality (give your snack a face and a mood)
Day 14: Weather in a bottle (capture a rainstorm, sunset, lightning in a jar)
Week 3: Storytelling and emotion (drawings tell mini stories)
Day 15: Your day in three icons (pick 3 symbols that sum up your day)
Day 16: Emotion blob (draw how you feel today as an abstract shape)
Day 17: Lost and found (draw something you lost, then how you’d celebrate finding it)
Day 18: Mini comic strip (3 panels of anything)
Day 19: Animal mash up (merge two animals into one new species)
Day 20: Past memory sketch (a childhood memory using simple shapes)
Day 21: Hidden story (draw an ordinary object with something surprising inside)
Week 4: Challenge and Expansion (Push boundaries and explore my style)
Day 22: Dominant color (pick one color and build drawing around it)
Day 23: Opposite hand (draw with non-dominant hand)
Day 24: Speed round (draw 5 mini sketches in five minutes)
Day 25: Music inspired (listen to a song and let the rhythm guide the lines)
Day 26: Negative space (draw only spaces around your subject and not the object itself)
Day 27: Found object art (incorporate a leaf, a ticket, a string into a drawing)
Day 28: Mythical invention (Create a creature or object that solves a problem)
Day 29: Texture play (fill a page with different textures or patterns)
Day 30: Final reflection (combine three favorite prompts into one big drawing)
Day 31: Combine altogether
And that wraps up my first challenge in this series, Sketch-tember. What started as thirty-one little prompts turned into thirty-one reminders that creativity shows up when we give it space to grow. Some days the ideas flowed easily, other days it felt like pulling lines out of thin air, but each drawing became a part of something bigger. It was proof that practice and play go hand in hand. This is just the beginning of my Creative Creations series, and I’m excited to share the other challenges that pushed me in different ways. In the meantime, I challenge you to step outside your own comfort zone whether it be through art, writing, or simply leaning into one of your own hobbies, and see what unfolds when you give yourself permission to create. Jnj. Welcome, creative thinkers and curious doers. This month, I decided to challenge myself in a new way. Instead of sticking to one project or routine, I dove into five different 31-day challenges for August. Each designed to push me outside of my comfort zone and spark fresh creativity. Over the next five weeks, I’ll be sharing one of these experiences as part of my new blog series, Creative Creations. My hope is that you’ll be inspired to explore your own version of daily growth, whether through art, words, or simple moments of curiosity.
As a signature of my blog, I’d like to end this post with a suggestion to “Pass on kindness.” There’s no time like the present to Inspire Those Who Inspire You. Acts of kindness, no matter how big or small, can have a direct, positive impact on someone else. Go out there today and change someone’s life for the better!
***These are my personal opinions and may not be those of my employer.***
