This will be my fourth year participating (3rd year successfully, I hope) in the 100 Days Project and I'm really looking forward to it. If you don't know what it is you can learn more here. The project starts on February 13th and I can't wait!
You can read about my previous 100 Days Project successes and failures here.
Every year I have participated, I have learned a lot. The first year, I failed, and I learned that I should pick a project I enjoy and can manage. The second year was the start of the pandemic and I had more time on my hands. This helped me figure out how to carve out art time every day. The third year, still the pandemic, allowed me to pick a more intense, time consuming project and dive into intense daily art making.
The number one thing the 100 day project did for me is help me to create a habit of creating art every day - even on days where I didn't' really feel like it. This will be my fourth year participating and I'm going to keep my idea pretty simple - flowers and flower-adjacent things (like gardeners, gardens, other plants, botanists, and more).
Last year, I pulled two words out of a paper bag each morning and used those two words to inspire my artwork for that day. I liked the surprise I got each morning when I picked the words, so I'm keeping that element. This year instead of picking two words from a bag, I'm going to pick one word. In addition to this change, my words have a theme this year - flowers.
I have a list of 100 flower and flower-related words that I will put into a mystery bag. Each day I will pull one out and that will be my theme for the day. Some will be easy (like sunflower seeds or daffodil) and some will require a little bit of research (like Kirstenboch or cucamelons). I'm excited to have a little surprise each day, but to also have a clear focused theme for the project.
As I mentioned in another recent blog post, I'm trying to really focus on flowers this year. I have a lot of different projects I'm currently working on and I want the 100 Day Project to enhance those projects. Learning about different plants, flowers, gardens, and gardeners will only help improve my painting and drawing skills and therefore support my other current projects. It's all going to work together perfectly!!
As for sharing my project, I do plan to share something each day of the 100 days on my Instagram page and then every 10 days or so, I will share some behind the scenes details here on my blog. My other current projects involve some children's illustration work, my Etsy one-of-a-kind flower earrings, my highly-detailed watercolor flower paintings, and my 5-Minute Art lessons. I'll keep everyone posted about all of that on Instagram, through my newsletter, and on my blog as well.
Now, that ALL being said. Here are my 10 tips for a successful 100 Days Project:
Pick a project that is fun for you
Choose something where you can explore and learn (don't limit yourself)
Keep it manageable (you don't want to get overwhelmed)
Break your larger projects into smaller, daily parts - use a homemade calendar to measure your progress (pictures of mine are in this post)
Set a time to work each day (it's all about creating routines)
Set a space to work each day (easy access to the supplies you need)
Share your creations with family and friends (you'll want encouragement and support from those closest to you)
Make new friends (most of my 100 Days friends are internet friends - lots of support and encouragement from the community)
Sign up for the 100 Days newsletter on Lindsay Jean Thompson's website
Don't take it too seriously - it's supposed to be fun after all!!
Is anyone else participating in the 100 Day Project this year? What is your project idea? Include links here please or share it with me on Instagram, so we can support each other.
