50 Art Challenges To Try This Winter

Two years ago I wrote a post here on the TLTDAY blog called 10 Ways to Reinvigorate Your Creativity. Well, it’s January again, and it’s pretty darn cold here in Ontario (as always!). I don’t know about you, but it makes me want to hibernate. But don’t give in to temptation! Shake off the “winter blahs” and push yourself outside of your comfort zone. You need to CREATE! The world needs your art! Thus… I bring to you… Art Challenges!

Art Challenges are little prompts to get your creative juices flowing and make you smile. Many are silly. Many are challenging. All are fun! And most of them won’t cost a thing, other than your time and brainpower.

Some of the prompts will say “create a piece of art…” which doesn’t have to be limited to visual art. These challenges are not to be taking WITH MUCH SERIOSITY. Use them as a starting point. Bend or break the rules. Use them in any kind of art medium, style or form you wish – the sky is the limit! Make the challenges your own!

Here are 50 Art Challenges to get you started! Happy creating!

1. Embrace your foodie side and create or consume some culinary art! Make or find some gorgeous nibbles, and share them with friends.
2. Take a photo of something you think is beautiful.
3. Try making some blackout poetry! (Check out @cassyfry for inspiration!)
4. Buy a pack of markers or crayons and having fun colouring.
5. Affix glitter to something.
6. Get some sidewalk chalk and draw a picture someplace unusual.
7. Write a story starting with “It was a dark and stormy night!”
8. Go to a thrift store and create a costume for your alter ego (bonus points if you spend less than $10!).
9. Take a photo a day and create a blog, Tumblr or Instagram to show off your photos.
10. Make a cover of your favourite song.
11. Sign up for a new class – printmaking, trapeze, photography, ukulele, sketching, Highland dancing… the sky’s the limit!
12. Try your hand at sewing something – a costume piece, a pillow, doll clothes, a puppet…
13. Create a dance piece using “opposite” music. Try ballet dancing to Marilyn Manson, or hip-hop to Beethoven, or lyrical to the Ramones.
14. Create a comic strip of your day.
15. Make a ‘zine devoted to your favourite form of art.
16. Try reading or writing different kinds of poetry – acrostic, haiku, tanka, limerick, couplet, sonnet…
17. Create a decorative table setting using items from around your house.
18. De-clutter 5 items from your home, right now (you can’t create if you are surrounded by crap).
19. Draw a picture with your non-dominant hand.
20. Have a friend make a scribble on a paper, and turn it into a drawing or design.
21. Incorporate the four elements into a piece (earth, air, fire, water).
22. Create a piece based on a single colour.
23. Finish your current work in progress.
24. Create a piece of art featuring a candle.
25. Create a new piece, and give it away.
26. Create a new way of wearing your hair or makeup.
27. Create a piece of digital art, or figure out a way to digitize an “analogue” art.
28. Free write for 15 minutes.
29. Design a coat of arms that represents you and your artistic endeavours.
30. Create a postcard, write a note and mail it to a friend. (Check out @leftysmudges for inspiration!)
31. Go to com and purchase a piece you’ve been admiring.
32. Create something with glitter.
33. Colour an entire page. Leave no part uncoloured.
34. Invent & design your own board game or card game. Share it with others.
35. Get your mixologist on and create a new, delicious, colourful drink.
36. Decorate cookies or cake with icing and candy.
37. Make a list of all the artistic venues you’d like to explore (Tap dancing! Calligraphy! Flute! Making YouTube videos! Burlesque! Stage combat!). Now figure out a way to take a baby step in the direction of exploring that venue.
38. Go to a museum. Find a piece that speaks to you. Sketch it.
39. Create a piece of art using office supplies (staples, tape, post-it notes, paperclips…).
40. Go to a dollar store and create a piece of art using supplies that equal to $5 or less.
41. Write a story that is only one page long.
42. Write a story that is only one paragraph long.
43. Write a story that is only one sentence long.
44. Write a story using only dialogue.
45. Turn a story you’ve written into a script for stage or screen.
46. Write a stage adaptation of your favourite television show or film.
47. Write a musical adaptation of a favourite play or book.
48. Create your own “adult colouring book.”
49. Grab a friend and dance wildly. If there’s no music playing, create your own.
50. Come up with a list of 50 more Art Challenges.

We would love to see what you create. Share your creations on Instagram or Twitter with the hashtag #artchallenge so we can be inspired by you!

Photo Credit: Death to the Stock Photo

Kerry Hishon is part of the TLTDAY podcast team. She’s a director, actor, writer, and stage combatant. Check out her blog at www.kerryhishon.com.