Update: Week 4 is here! You have until Friday to get your sketches in. Anyone can join in, even if you missed the first week. Huge shoutout to 42Ly, Dahkur, and LadyKylin for completing week 3.

Hi folks! It's July, and this month's challenge is going to be a fun one. This month, you are all tasked with doing some life studies! By the time this month is out, you'll be art-ing like nobody's business. Let's start this first week with something that's both incredibly common in art...and terribly intimidating. Hands!

What you will need:

1. Pen/Pencil and Paper. This challenge should be done traditionally (not digitally). You don't need fancy pens or paper, either. Use a napkin, if you want!
   
2. A watch to time yourself. You can use a stopwatch on your phone if have one, or any number of free stopwatches on the internet. Or even just a regular watch or clock. 
   
3. Enthusiasm!
   

The Challenge:

Week 1: Draw 60 hands.

Directions:

1. Take 10 minutes to look at a real life hand. You're not allowed to use photo references (or online tutorials or paintings or anything) in this challenge, so take this time to really look at a hand. You can use an obliging friend who's okay with you peering closely at their fingers, or you can use your own hand. Turn it this way and that, pull it far away, squint your eyes to get a sense of the overall shape, see how it moves. Hint: Don't focus too much about how you'll draw it. Instead, look at your hand as if you've never seen a hand before. What parts are bright? Dark? What colors do you see? As you move your hand, what happens? How long are the fingers compared to the palm? The thumb? If you had to simplify the hand into shapes, what would they be? How do they work together and move? And so on...You have 10 minutes. Go.
2. Draw the first 30 hands. Draw these quickly, spending no more than a minute on each one. Keep them small on the page and keep it simple - each sheet of paper should fit 10-20+ hand sketches. Think of this as trying to capture the idea of the hand - the overall flow and shape. Do each hand in a different pose. Use your hand as a reference, as needed. 
3. Draw the next 10. For these, pick a part of the hand and spend no more than 3 minutes on each. Draw a fingertip with a nail. Draw a thumb from the side. Draw the knuckles of a fist. Draw the palm with the lines. And so forth. You can pick anything and you decide how detailed it should be. Remember, no more than 3 minutes each.
4. Celebrate! You're almost there. It's time to take a break. Shake it out, go for a walk, do something fun.
5. Draw the next 10 hands. For these 10, go to where there are people and draw their hands. Perhaps you are on a bus, or at a park, or at a library, or a cafe, or a store, or on a couch as your family watches TV. Pull out your notepad, sketchbook, or any old piece of paper or napkin, and sketch peoples' hands. Sketch them as they are - don't ask them to pose. If the hand moves, try to finish it from memory or move on to the new hand position. There's no time limit on this section.
6. Draw the last 10 hands. Home stretch! Do #2 again. Sketch 10+ hands in different positions, spending no more than a minute on each. 
7. Post a link to your results on this journal. Victory!

Week 2: Scavenger Hunt

Directions:

Whew! That hand challenge was something, right? Well, this one is going to be a little different. Your mission is to use your immediate environment (your room, house, yard, car, city street, work office, sidewalk, etc) and find items that fit the requirements below. Then you sketch them. Example, if you are asked to draw things that start with the letter "G" you can do a study of a blade of grass, the glass jar, Gary-the-sleeping-roommate, your goldfish, a stick of gum, a goblet (why do you have a goblet?), or a game console. 

You have five challenges - you can do one per day, or all at once. Ready? Set. Go!

1. Find five things starting with the letter "D."
   
2. Find four things you use every day.
   
3. Find three things you will eat just as soon as you finish drawing them.
   
4. Find two things that rhyme together. (ex. a cat and a mat)
   
5. Find one thing that has at least three colors and draw it without using color. (ie, with just a pencil or a black/blue pen) Bonus: Once you're done, draw it again with color. (Note: This is the only time you're allowed to add color in this challenge).

Important: No drawing from the imagination. The goal is to use the actual physical object (or animal, or person) as your model. Study it. Look at it. Touch it. Draw it. Avoid huge objects. If you do end up picking "desk," for example, it's fine to draw a part of it, rather than the whole. But in general, avoid.

There is no time limit for this challenge, but if you struggle with impatience (or perfectionism), set your watch to 10 minutes per picture. 

Week 3: Drawing like it's 1600

Directions:

With this one, we're gonna go all classic and follow in the footsteps of the masters. We're gonna draw a fruit and a vase still-life combo. 

1. Pick a cup or container that speaks to you or represents you in some way (or has delicious hot chocolate steaming in it. Yummm.)
2. Look at the cup/container, note the way the light hits it and the table. Squint your eyes. Drink the hot chocolate before it gets cold. Inspect how big the sides are compared to its width and stuff like that. Spend at least 5 minutes studying it.
3. Sketch 15 versions of it, from different angles and in different lights. Spend no more than 1-3 minutes on each.
4. Find some fruit and vegetables. Do steps 2-3 for the fruit and veggies.
5. Stare at the cup some more. Then stare at the fruit. See what you did great in your sketches, and see where you could improve.
6. Time to draw the still life scene. You can spend as much time as you'd like on this. If you struggle with rushing or procrastination, aim for 30 minutes. 
7. Optional: Do #3-6 again, this time with color.

Week 4: People, People Everywhere

Directions:

One more to go! This week we're going to go people watching. Your challenge is to get yourself to a place where there are people (ex. coffee shop, library, bus stop, local festival/parade, family reunion, cookout, barbecue, store, park...) and sketch the people you see. Don't ask them to pose. Draw them as they naturally are. Chances are, people are going to be moving, shifting around, turning their heads, wrinkling their noses, so do your best to capture them (and their personality and look) quickly. These don't have to be polished portraits!

No time limits. Sketch at least 30 different people. You have my permission to be creepy.* Watch people. Draw them. Push outside your comfort zone. 

_{*Just, you know, don't be super creepy. Like, you can sit on a bench and stare at folks, but you're not allowed to follow them around taking notes and stuff or hide under tables. It probably won't happen, but if someone notices and asks you what you're up to, just tell them you're doing an art assignment/practicing your drawing skills. You're not doing anything wrong. Just like with photography, you're allowed to capture people and things in public spaces like the street, parks, at public events, etc. (If they ask you to stop, definitely respect that, but most people will be intrigued rather than offended.)}

The rules:

1. Your drawings for each challenge week should be done on paper. Yep, we're talking Traditional - pick up a pen or pencil and grab a sheet of paper and dive in. You can definitely do digital too...but only AFTER you complete the challenge on paper.
   
2. You may NOT use photo references. I'm serious. DO NOT USE PHOTO REFERENCES. Or paintings, or tutorials, or anything. You can only use real life as a reference and resource. 
   
3. You have until the end of each week (Friday) to submit your drawings. Each week's challenge results will be posted on the journal and each Saturday, I will update this journal with a new study challenge.
   
4. If you're enjoying any of the exercises above, you can definitely do more than the requirements. The requirements are a minimum. Want to do 100 hands or 20 things that start with "D"? Go for it!
   
5. Yep, you can join in any time during the month, but for the extra zing, follow along and hit all the Friday deadlines.

Next deadline: Friday, July 29, 2016

Week 3 Results:

Week 2 Results:

Week 1 Results:

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   <da:thumb id="620228538"/> <da:thumb id="620217824"/>             <da:thumb id="620480653"/>

Are you in?