We are halfway through our 30 day creative challenges, and there have been a lot of fun posts.
Melissa Maxwell
These creative challenges are different than other challenges. Designed to foster a wide variety of creative skills, they are not restricted to any style or genre, and medium is artist’s choice. Our creative challenges have been categorized by type:
SUNDAY: Observation
MONDAY: Composition
TUESDAY: Sequence
WEDNESDAY: See & Respond
THURSDAY: Word prompt
FRIDAY: Transcribe
SATURDAY: Wild Card
I love seeing what you all come up with! Quite a few posts caught my eye and I wanted to share them. If yours is one of the artworks posted here, please contact us for your $50 SAL gift certificate.
Day 1: Haptic Self Portrait Day 2: a Cup, a Table, a Wall Day 3: Masaccio Study Day 4: Altarpiece Day 5: Cacoethes Day 6: Altdorfer Harunobu Day 7: Design a Chair Day 8: Jacket Study Day 9: Living Room Day 10: Body Language Day 11: Mayan Throne Day 12: Atramentous Day 13: Cardsharps Day 14: Roly Poly
Some Favorites
Here is a smattering of creative responses that caught my eye.
HAPTIC. The haptic challenge was to create a self portrait entirely from touch. These were a few portraits that showed exceptional curiosity and sensitivity.
Robyn Walton
A CUP. A TABLE. A WALL. This challenge was designed to get you to draw the full environment, including areas typically left blank. I was thrilled to see that artists described the shapes and surfaces in their scenes in a tactile way. They are so much more rich than a still life with a cup! These were great responses, and clever compositions.
Gary GreogerDorothy RRobyn WaltonElizabeth Mitchell
MASACCIO STUDY. Some people recreated the masterwork painting entirely, others simplified, some went completely off the rails. I thought these were exceptionally creative responses.
Amanda WyattSeattledandy
ALTARPIECE. Participants were shown the back of an altarpiece, and challenged to show what was on the front. These were fun.
Want to know what the front looked like? It is no where near as interesting as what you made!
CACOETHES. An irresistible urge to do something inadvisable.
I was just walking at Greenlake, and I saw exactly this scene of people in the park. Thanks Dorothy!
Dorothy R, with Seurat and TitianLeah
ALTDORFER HARUNOBU. A mashup of two antique artworks.
Mary MortonGil Mendez
CHAIR. Design a chair for a specific person or personality.
JACKET. Study the geometry, line, or volume of a jacket. These were absolutely gorgeous drawings. I swear I can feel the fabric through the paper!
Melissa Maxwell
LIVING ROOM ABSTRACT. This one drawing was so exceptional for interest and energy, it stands alone.
BODY LANGUAGE. Draw someone talking.
THRONE. Redesign a Mayan throne. Look at the layers in this response!
Thank you everyone for participating in this challenge. I love seeing what you all come up with. Hey – If yours is one of the artworks posted here, please contact us for your $50 SAL gift certificate. If you don’t have time to take a class right now, no worries – you can donate your $50 for us to add to our gap assistance program. Someone will appreciate the gift!
More 30SAL challenges are on the way. It’s not too late to participate! If you’ve been wanting to try a challenge but haven’t been able to jump in for one of the millions of reasons around time, energy, and anxieties that we all share, what do you think about picking up one challenge this week? Just one. Set a timer for 20 minutes and see what happens. When the timer goes off, congratulate yourself heartily, and give yourself a reward. You earned it!
Figure drawing offers artists a never ending series of challenges and inspirations for the artist. In my figure drawing classes we try a different approach every week, so students strengthen many different aspects of drawing, all in a single class. In drawing sessions, we have focused on how to measure proportions and useful landmarks in …
You may have heard about Japonisme – the influence Japanese art had on Western art in the 19th century, after Japanese ports reopened in 1854, having been closed to the West for over 200 years. I posted about 8 Great Artists Inspired by Japanese Art a while back. Artists like Van Gogh, Degas, and Toulouse Lautrec …
The Reith Lectures, Grayson Perry: Playing to the Gallery: 2013 Episode 1 of 4 Listen in pop-out player In the first of four lectures with the BBC, recorded in front of an audience at Tate Modern in London, the artist Grayson Perry reflects on the idea of quality and examines who and what defines what we …
If you’ve taken a class with us recently, you’ve probably exchanged emails with Connie Pierson, a 7-year League member, and our magical admin helper. Known affectionately as the “Brushstroke Queen”, we’re thrilled to display some of Pierson’s still lifes and interiors. “Internal Dialogue” is a selection of artworks that were mostly made during the pandemic, …
30SAL Faves: First Half
We are halfway through our 30 day creative challenges, and there have been a lot of fun posts.
These creative challenges are different than other challenges. Designed to foster a wide variety of creative skills, they are not restricted to any style or genre, and medium is artist’s choice. Our creative challenges have been categorized by type:
I love seeing what you all come up with! Quite a few posts caught my eye and I wanted to share them. If yours is one of the artworks posted here, please contact us for your $50 SAL gift certificate.
Want to see what people have made? Some people posted to Padlet, others to Instagram. Click here to search Instagram for all artworks posted with #30SAL
Here are links to all the Padlet pages so far:
Day 1: Haptic Self Portrait
Day 2: a Cup, a Table, a Wall
Day 3: Masaccio Study
Day 4: Altarpiece
Day 5: Cacoethes
Day 6: Altdorfer Harunobu
Day 7: Design a Chair
Day 8: Jacket Study
Day 9: Living Room
Day 10: Body Language
Day 11: Mayan Throne
Day 12: Atramentous
Day 13: Cardsharps
Day 14: Roly Poly
Some Favorites
Here is a smattering of creative responses that caught my eye.
HAPTIC. The haptic challenge was to create a self portrait entirely from touch. These were a few portraits that showed exceptional curiosity and sensitivity.
A CUP. A TABLE. A WALL. This challenge was designed to get you to draw the full environment, including areas typically left blank. I was thrilled to see that artists described the shapes and surfaces in their scenes in a tactile way. They are so much more rich than a still life with a cup! These were great responses, and clever compositions.
MASACCIO STUDY. Some people recreated the masterwork painting entirely, others simplified, some went completely off the rails. I thought these were exceptionally creative responses.
ALTARPIECE. Participants were shown the back of an altarpiece, and challenged to show what was on the front. These were fun.
Want to know what the front looked like? It is no where near as interesting as what you made!
CACOETHES. An irresistible urge to do something inadvisable.
I was just walking at Greenlake, and I saw exactly this scene of people in the park. Thanks Dorothy!
ALTDORFER HARUNOBU. A mashup of two antique artworks.
CHAIR. Design a chair for a specific person or personality.
JACKET. Study the geometry, line, or volume of a jacket. These were absolutely gorgeous drawings. I swear I can feel the fabric through the paper!
LIVING ROOM ABSTRACT. This one drawing was so exceptional for interest and energy, it stands alone.
BODY LANGUAGE. Draw someone talking.
THRONE. Redesign a Mayan throne. Look at the layers in this response!
Thank you everyone for participating in this challenge. I love seeing what you all come up with. Hey – If yours is one of the artworks posted here, please contact us for your $50 SAL gift certificate. If you don’t have time to take a class right now, no worries – you can donate your $50 for us to add to our gap assistance program. Someone will appreciate the gift!
More 30SAL challenges are on the way. It’s not too late to participate! If you’ve been wanting to try a challenge but haven’t been able to jump in for one of the millions of reasons around time, energy, and anxieties that we all share, what do you think about picking up one challenge this week? Just one. Set a timer for 20 minutes and see what happens. When the timer goes off, congratulate yourself heartily, and give yourself a reward. You earned it!
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Figure drawing offers artists a never ending series of challenges and inspirations for the artist. In my figure drawing classes we try a different approach every week, so students strengthen many different aspects of drawing, all in a single class. In drawing sessions, we have focused on how to measure proportions and useful landmarks in …
Japonisme, Parisme
You may have heard about Japonisme – the influence Japanese art had on Western art in the 19th century, after Japanese ports reopened in 1854, having been closed to the West for over 200 years. I posted about 8 Great Artists Inspired by Japanese Art a while back. Artists like Van Gogh, Degas, and Toulouse Lautrec …
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The Reith Lectures, Grayson Perry: Playing to the Gallery: 2013 Episode 1 of 4 Listen in pop-out player In the first of four lectures with the BBC, recorded in front of an audience at Tate Modern in London, the artist Grayson Perry reflects on the idea of quality and examines who and what defines what we …
“Internal Dialogue” with Connie Pierson
If you’ve taken a class with us recently, you’ve probably exchanged emails with Connie Pierson, a 7-year League member, and our magical admin helper. Known affectionately as the “Brushstroke Queen”, we’re thrilled to display some of Pierson’s still lifes and interiors. “Internal Dialogue” is a selection of artworks that were mostly made during the pandemic, …