All posts tagged: The 100 Day Project

The 100 Day Project 2018.

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Are you participating in The 100 day project this year? Have you done it before?  With success or did you find something else to do instead?! I did my first 100 day project in 2015 when I drew or made a mandala for 100 days , see those here. In 2016 I did 100 days of altered cards using old playing cards as my starting point every day. Last year I admit that I didn’t love my project choice, of course I thought it was a good one when I chose to do it, but as the days progressed I wasn’t really enjoying the process. So 100 days of creative ideas was a good idea (irony is not lost) which turned out to be not so great! I finished though and I do like the pile of cards and ideas I have. For this year’s project I thought about 100 days of altered photographs as I have a trillion vintage black and white photos. How about 100 days of drawing botanicals? Honestly I am not sure …

100 Days of Creative Ideas 91-100. I did it!

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I did it! I staggered over the finish line clutching my energy drink and feeling my legs get wobbly.  I checked my finish time and yes, I made it.  100 hundred ideas in 100 days. Here are the final ten. 91. Go to the grocery store and find something to use as an alternative art supply. I used a toothbrush and ink. 92. Use a natural object or plant as a brush or pen. I used some ornamental grass in a bunch as a brush then one stem as a pen. 93. Write a poem about Tacos! Maybe an illustration to go with it.  Here’s mine Do you like tacos? I can’t get enough But only if they are filled With lots of tasty stuff. 94. Start a sketchbook at the back and work forward. 95. Draw or cut out two faces which are about the same size and facing the same direction. Cut each in half and stick the mis-matches together to make a new face. 96. Write a children’s story. Make it into …

100 Days of Creative Ideas 71-90

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Blimey we are into the final ten days of the 100 day project which seemed so far away back in April when we started. I don’t think I have repeated any ‘ideas’, but I might have done!  I don’t look back to see if I have made a copy.  Maybe I should! Here are ideas 71 – 90. 71. Draw a cat with your eyes closed! No peeking. 72. Cut out a picture and stick it down. Draw a frame around it. Make a gallery! 73. Watch a flower grow, draw each stage.  This would be a cool sketchbook once it is full! 74. Look in the mirror. Draw your face without looking at the paper. Keep your eyes on your face and your pen on the paper. 75. Take a page from a book and cross out all the words except a few to make a new sentence. 76. Make a pattern which looks like part of a map. Start with a small shape and use different line thicknesses and closeness to make your …

100 Days of Creative Ideas 51-70

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51. Gather some lovely beads and some thread or beading wire. Make yourself a pretty necklace. 52. Let’s design some borders. Put them along the bottom of a page. Make your own stationery or a pretty card. 53. Paint some blocks of colour onto sheets of paper.  Cut out random shapes from the painted paper. Stick the shapes onto a blank page to make a stunning collage. 54. Find patterns. In the course of your day, be on the look out for patterns. As I was sitting on the plane heading to our vacation I found some shapes to make into a pattern. 55. Sketch your day. Make small sketches of things you come across in your day. A flower in bud or a ticket to  flea market. Have fun! 56. Use a funky phone app to alter a photograph. For this photo, I put it into the Diptic app and turned the colour all the way down.  Play around, see what happens! 57. Stitch in your sketchbook. Find some cotton or embroidery thread and …

100 Days of Creative Ideas 41-50.

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41. Tear a piece of cardboard from a box. Paint a forest of birch trees with white gesso or paint. Add details with a black pen when the white paint is completely dry. 42. Want to try a new technique? Improve on an existing skill? Hop over to the inter-webs and find a video via an artist’s blog or YouTube channel. 43. Look in some books or magazines and find pictures or photographs of buildings. Copy them into your sketchbook. Draw a street or a landmark or a village on a mountainside. 44. What is your favorite colour? Make a sketchbook or a single using only that colour and shades of it. A blue series, how pretty would that be? 45. Make a little single signature sketchbook/notebook. Use some lovely paper and keep it small enough to staple the pages in down the spine.  How about a tiny book? 46. Make a quick (up to a minute) sketch of someone in movement. Maybe a walking figure, how about a yoga pose or a dancer? 47. …

100 Days of Creative Ideas 31-40

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Firstly, a confession.  I must forget some of these cards once I have made them.  On the positive side this makes it a joy to see them together, even ten at a time, I look at them and I think, that’s a good idea! Nearly half way through the 100 day project and here are ideas 31 – 40. 31. Be on the lookout for images you like in magazines. Cut them out and save for future collage projects or keep them all together in a scrapbook.  Your own look-book. 32.Drop or splatter some plain water onto your page. Mix some watery watercolors and splatter those over the page. It may take a while to dry but the effects can be pretty or dramatic or pretty dramatic!! 33. Paint a black area or the whole page black. Grab a white pen and doodle patterns over the black. If there is any white left, doodle with a black pen for contrast. 34. Find a picture in a magazine and tear or cut it in half. Stick …

100 days of Creative Ideas 21-30

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21. Choose a page from a magazine and cover part of it with white paint or gesso. Cover half the page or just make a circle in the middle. When the white is completely dry, get a black pen-Posca pens are my choice-and make a pattern in the newly painted area. 22. Find an old used book at a thrift store or a yard sale.  Use it as a sketchbook! Draw and paint in it as you would a regular sketchbook. 23. Pick an object. Set a timer for 1 minute. Draw! 24. Very loosely paint a group of trees along a riverbank on one side of the paper. Fold over the other side to get the ‘reflection’. I used coloured inks to make mine. Remember to work quickly before the ink or paint dries before you get the fold done. 25. Use dashes across the page to create wave-like movement. I used coloured pencils in a close colour palette. 26. Cut a photograph out of an old book, use an original vintage photo, or …

100 Days of Creative Ideas 11 – 20

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The 100 day project started on April 4 and I am still going strong!  My little library of vintage cards with ideas on them is growing nicely.  Here are cards 11-20 11. Go to the library and find a picture book in the children’s section. Pick one with illustrations you love. Sketch some ideas from this book – patterns, creatures, lettering, anything. Pick another book and repeat. Some of my favorite children’s books for the illustrations are by Lauren Child, Oliver Jeffers, Chris Riddell, ‘Gaston’ by Kelly DiPucchio and illustrated by Christian Robinson and ‘A lion in Paris’ by Beatrice Alemagna. I just discovered the Welcome to the Museum series and ‘Botanicum’ is just gorgeous, so don’t forget to check out the non fiction books too. 12. Take yourself for a walk around your neighbourhood or favorite place.  As you go, notice all the circles and make a note, a sketch or take a photo. How many circles did you spot? Did you notice anything new about your neighbourhood? 13. Give yourself permission, allow yourself …

100 Days of Creative Ideas. Days 1-10

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This year will be my third time at participating in The 100 Day Project and we are at day sixteen already. Having said that, sixteen seems very ‘still at the beginning’. I am keeping up which is a marvelous thing, I have a little list of ideas which I jot down as they come to me, so that if nothing pops into my mind, I can refer to my idea bank. If you want to see my project as it emerges day by day, you can follow along on Instagram at 100daysofcreativeideas. Here are my first ten days of ideas – 1. Take up challenge. A monthly or a daily challenge. Search Instagram, it is full of them. Don’t be discouraged if a ‘challenge’ has finished or is part way through, do it anyway.  The 100 Day Project is a great one.  Other challenges I have done are Tinkersketch drawing challenge, Rae Missingan‘s mark making challenge, Fat Mum Slim hosts a daily photo challenge and Susannah Conway also has lovely photo challenges. 2. Go to the …

100 Days of Altered Cards 81-100

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All done. Finished. Hurrah! 100 days of drawing, painting, inking, gluing, stenciling, printing and embellishing vintage playing cards. I am so pleased with my pile of one hundred little pieces of art. Never have I worked on such a small area and I have loved the tiny ‘canvas’ which a playing card presents. There were some cards I didn’t alter because there was only one of them and I wanted to keep them as they are.  I also kept one of each card I used in it’s original state. The ‘Wild West’ illustrations are so cool, I wish I had more of them and the girl in the checked trousers looks like she is equal parts innocence and mischief! Here are cards 81-100 – That’s a wrap! I think I will look for an album to store them in, maybe like one of these Project Life albums.  Or I could keep them in a nice box, but they might get damaged just loose in a box. If you completed The 100 Day Project, well done …