Challenging Myself to Create 30 Portraits in 30 Days... The "30 in 30" Challenge

[agrathea]

I'm in the midst of a 30 day challenge... creating 30 portraits in 30 days. Most of them are self-portraits, but I don't keep strict rules. The main purpose of my doing this is to create routine and chuck the internal editor out of the window a little while each day so I can create unhindered. After I started it, a few friends surprised me by taking on their own "30 in 30" or "One a Day" challenge, suited to their needs and desires, of course. I thought, why not post about it here and see if other artists want to jump on board and share their journey?

I know it's not an original concept... I'm willing to bet there are old threads on WC where people have done similar things. One of my friends who is doing the challenge is just doing a doodle a day for a year and is tracking it in a special sketchbook. I've been posting my self portraits on my Facebook page as I go, and I'm having a total blast: http://bit.ly/aMiiCv

People seem to really respond to the spontaneous nature of the project. I'm actually surprised by how little "the audience" seems to care about the imperfections, and how easily they get the idea of it and are excited to see where it goes. I find it interesting that when we are deliberately inviting in "the suckage" we can go further with our work and still make lots of friends in the process. For me, inspiring others to create is as important as producing a body of work of my own. I'm finding that being open about my flaws is incredibly freeing on a number of levels.

If you're curious about how I came about this path for my own growth as an artist, I have a blog entry up that talks about how I fell into it (http://bit.ly/bgGMD0), and another blog entry about the other folks who decided to jump on board and how they got the challenge to work for them (http://bit.ly/aGVb1S). I'm really excited about it because I just love how we can all inspire each other so much just by being more of who we are.

Is the 30 in 30 challenge something you'd be up for trying? If you did it, how would you do it to make it fun and manageable? And if you've done something like this before, how did it work out for you and what did you learn from the experiment?

And just for fun, here are a few of my portraits!

[christinemlr]

Brilliant Theresa. So glad I found this because I gt to your blog and loved it and the whole focus of what you're doing. The portraits are so great. I'm also fascinated about what you say about the diversity of your work. I relate to that one and its been worrying me a lot lately. I feel I should have 'found' my thing by now, but I'm still doing so many things with so many different media (in drawing and painting) so its refreshing to see these portraits done in such different ways.

As for trying this project or similar, I don't think I could keep anything going for 30 days consistently. I tried a 21 day sketch habit programme - I got to day 18. I have been sketching more since though. But perhaps I shouldn't dismiss the idea, I'll keep it in mind.

Another thing that interests me was a post about having fun with art making. I'd like to know more about that. Crazy that it can NOT be fun. I get all tense often when I'm making art.

Thank you for posting this here.

[agrathea]

Christine, thanks so much for your comment and for taking a few to look at the posts and the site! I really appreciate the feedback. It's something I'm pretty passionate about and it's nice to know it resonates with others!

I know what you mean about worrying you should have found your thing by now... I have felt that way about myself for a long time. Recently I realized that there was no reason for that to stand in my way or be a problem. At least, if it becomes a problem for getting big gallery shows or whatever I'll worry about it when I get there. Right now I am realizing the only responsibility I have is to follow my interest and to keep making stuff and having fun. Who knows, I may find my thing in the process... Though I suspect I'll always be a bumblebee. And I am thinking now that there has to be some way to play that positively!

I think it's awesome that you got through 18 days on your sketch a day routine. I think it's most important that you gave it a shot.

I also have tended to get really tense when drawing or painting. Though I recently have rediscovered the fun in the process, and I think the key is not caring too much how it turns out. I realized one day that I was always shutting down my natural curiosities. I wanted to paint with bright colors, but "real" artists didn't do that... My color theory class in college would play through my head and say, "Oh, you have to make a plan, first." Then I decided who said I had to make a plan? And I looked at all the thoughts that had passed through my mind on the way to making a painting and I realized that I had shut down every single personal curiosity, dismissing it as stupid, wrong, poorly thought out, silly, too difficult, too easy... I just couldn't win, and I hadn't even begun! When I just decided to go with whatever I was interested in, no matter how crazy or potentially awful, I started to have a lot more fun. I don't know if it's the same for others, but I'd be curious to know what you think might cut you off from enjoying yourself, too. I've been stewing on another blog post on this very subject and am interested in other people's stories.

I hope you do try to do another challenge, no matter how long you go with it! Maybe you should make yours 18 days because you know you can go that long already, and decide if you want to extend it if you are still having fun when you're done.

[grantkruger]

I love the whole concept and have to try something similar to get myself off my butt. Plus the portraits are so exceptional. For myself I might start with 30 doodles in 30 days and go from there. Or I may do 30 essays in 30 days. Hey, art comes in many forms.