Are you an artist? Are you looking to grow your skills? If so, I highly recommend trying one! This month I’ve been working on a challenge focusing on texture practice with my friend, Diane Do (Twosenseless on Twitch..check her out!!). Each day there is a new prompt of what texture to practice, everything from stone to lava to feathers!

I am always surprised at what I learn when I pick up a new challenge. This time around it’s been how to build up things slowly with many layers. At over half way through, some prompts definitely stood out as more difficult than others, and the last week is a special gauntlet all it’s own.

As a an extra bonus to myself, I’ve added in character interactions on many of the prompts. ‘Gum’ was a favorite as I loved drawing the different ways Coconut and Momocheet reacted to the substance. Gum is a fun candy to chew, but also gets stuck on your foot. These are things that a strict focus on the texture of gum couldn’t communicate.

So if you want to try a challenge, where do you start? Anywhere really! There are monthly challenges going on all the time. Inktober is one that has gained quite a vast following, but there are others such as #MerMay, #Smaugust, #AdventureApril and #MarchofMonsters that are also fun exercises! And not just for artists, I bet these would work for writers too. I’m a big believer in starting when you are ready. That could be at the start of the month, or tomorrow. The important thing is that you stick with it, and never lose sight of the ‘why’. You’re doing it to grow your skills in something you are passionate about. It’s not about the likes or retweets. It’s about the discipline in doing that one thing, however big or small, to further your skills.