#005 Sketchbook Challenges and 100 Day projects

Setting targets and taking part in drawing challenges.

Drawing on the beach using three materials, 2022

Hello. I’m hosting the 3 Materials Drawing Challenge on Instagram with Kathryn Boyt and Naomi Tipping, and thought it would be good to talk about why I’m taking part, what motivates me and share some tips.

Observational drawing

Early morning drawing on a bridge in Girona

I love drawing from life and I wrote about this in an earlier post. When I don’t draw every day I get a bit rusty and feel nervous about starting a new drawing. Drawing every day takes the pressure off, makes drawing more relaxing and allows lots of time for new discoveries and ‘happy accidents’ with materials.

Taking part in a challenge

There are lots of 100 day projects and challenges for people to join on social media. They can seem quite intimidating but I’ve found they motivate me to keep drawing and I have discovered so many wonderful artists and their work through taking part. 

What I have learned

The key thing for me with any challenge is to decide what I want to work on and get better at. Having a target for myself helps with imposter syndrome and the tendency to compare myself to others. In the past I have given myself targets about composition, use of colour, capturing scale, using a limited palette and trying to capture the shape of light. Each time I have joined in with a challenge or prompts, I’ve made progress and have been surprised by how much I have learned in a short space of time. 

Using only 3 materials

I took part in the 3 Materials Drawing Challenge last summer. It was started by Kathryn Boyt and she set herself the target of drawing every day from life using only 3 materials and drawing for no longer than 30 mins. I loved this idea because I thought it would push me to experiment with materials and see what I could achieve with so little. Discoveries included: realising I could make an extra colour by mixing a marker pen and Inktense pencil, the joy of working on a prepped page, layering Tombow pens to get a Riso effect and using line in a graphic design way on blocks of bold colour. But even more surprising than these breakthroughs was the feeling I got when I looked back through my sketchbook - it became a diary of the summer holidays and captured so much more than my photos.

This year’s challenge

I’m excited to host the challenge this year and I am planning to make it a 100 day project so that I keep drawing every day over the summer. I took part in a 100 days of drawing people and it really helped me get better at capturing figures in environments. It also went very quickly after day 65 so hopefully I’ll make it to then! If you’re interested in taking part for 2 days or 100 days, here are some of the things I learned last summer:

Try, try again!

Keep experimenting with a palette to see how you can make it work. If your first drawing doesn’t work, try again. I started the drawing on the left and didn’t like the composition so moved and tried again.

Swatch colours

Have a page in your sketchbook for swatching colours and finding materials that work well together. Take bundles of 3 materials out with you.

Take inspiration from around you

A book I saw when I was on holiday and the sketch I drew the next day.

The sketch and the learning is more important than the challenge

I started this sketch with 3 materials but there wasn’t enough contrast. I added the red pencil and yellow Tombow which made it 5 materials instead but it was a much better sketch.

Take a break!

I painted this picture after being inspired by a book which featured Alice and Martin Provensen’s sketchbook work in gouache. It was more than 3 materials but it was such a treat to have no limitations for a sketch!

Show your materials

I love seeing which materials people have used as it inspires me and encourages me to be more adventurous with the materials I have.

Set targets

Here are my targets for the 3 Materials Challenge:

Colour

I love using colour and after two amazing workshops with Colour Tutor Juliet Docherty I now want to experiment a lot more with palettes and colours I wouldn’t normally use. I’m planning to get inspiration from colour books, environments and painters that inspire me.

Neglected materials

I’m going to look for materials I have which I haven’t really used and make time to use them: dusty bottles of ink, soft pastels in neutral colours, oil pastels and charcoal.

Some questions I’ve been asked:

How do you choose materials?

I usually choose a dry material (a pencil or pastel), a wet material (a felt or paint) and something to add a contrasting texture. I find it helpful to choose one material as a starting point that I want to explore and then add to it. If you’re feeling intimidated by the choice, you could choose a soft pencil as your starting point, add a mid tone like a grey and a pop of colour. I often like using 2 materials: a marker and a pencil.

I also try to think about value - how light or dark the colour is - and make sure I have a dark, a mid tone and a light in my picture. The light might be the white of your page. If you choose one colour such as blue, you could use 3 blues with different values.

Can you recommend materials?

Just use what you have and explore them. When I’m drawing outside I always have coloured pencils, crayons and some felt pens with me as they are the least messy and a good place to start.

What should I draw?

An optician appointment

You can draw anything. I usually draw a part of my day: a view, an appointment, a cafe, my family at home. It becomes a visual diary which is great to look back on.

Do I have to post it on Instagram?

No! Just do what you want to do. You can post or just keep it in your sketchbook but use the challenge as motivation to keep sketching. If you like a bit of it you could crop it and share to Stories but there’s no pressure.

---

Subscribers’ sketchbook peek

An unfinished 3 materials page in my sketchbook from last summer.

A picture book I love

This book by Oliver Jeffers was made with an old lithography machine. You can read more about it here

---

That’s all from me. I’d love to know what has helped you in 100 day projects or challenges. Let me know if you’re planning to join in. We start on 5th May! You can ask any other questions in the comments below.

Speak soon,

Charlotte