Monthly Art Challenges!

Challenge A: Limited Colour Palettes
Draw a picture using a limited palette (no more than 5 colours)-- this means no white background and no black lineart! fill your entire canvas with the palette.

It's strongly recommended that you use one of the suggested palettes, but if they're all palettes you use all the time, you can pick your own using a site like Kuler or Colour Lovers.
Additional notes:
- Blending the colours in your selected palette is acceptable, but try to keep the dominant colours in the image the same as your palette.
- It's easiest to do this digitally, where you can use the eyedropper tool on the palette, but traditional artists can also do it! Just pick 5 colours of whatever traditional media you prefer. (note that traditional media will blend and layer differently from digital.)
- No filters or blendmodes that alter the colours! The point is to stick to set colours. (Ones that don't alter the palette are acceptable.)

Challenge B: Unusual Perspectives
A lot of us tend to create art that is mostly at eye-level, viewing the subject from straight on. For this challenge, use an unusual angle! For example, you could draw a picture that is completely bird's eye view-- really try to push that camera angle somewhere crazy! (You may also want to consider what effect using different angles can give a scene.)

Challenge C: Genderbending!
Pick a character and draw a genderbent (sexbent) version of that character! Be sure to put effort into design-- how might the character's wardrobe change? and their hairstyle? and differences in body type? (If the answer to any of these questions is 'it would be the same', you probably want to pick a different character-- ie, don't just draw the same exact character plus or minus boobs.) Other key point: be sure to keep them in character! If you're doing a fem version of a male character and the entire premise of your costume design is 'remove at least half of her clothes!' I will flip tables. Seriously. Don't do it. >:|

- music prompt (with this one I specifically want to do a 'draw what the music makes you feel', not 'illustrate the lyrics'.)

- limited colour palette challenge: [http://colorschemedesigner.com/] or [http://www.colourlovers.com/palettes]

- redraw an old piece-- the 'kick your own ass' challenge!

- draw a picture containing a certain element or theme (that would be specified in the challenge)

- Take one of your favorite scents and illustrate it. (Whether it be into a character, scenic drawing, ect - it's fun to give a picture to something we can't see but only smell )

- illustrate a scene from a book (avoid borrowing designs from an existing film (or other visual) adaptation-- give the setting/characters/blocking your own interpretation). can be done sequentially or as a single illustration.

- reinterpret a myth or folk tale in a different setting

- draw a non-humanoid fantasy creature or alien; bonus points for your own design! ('humanoid' here defined as being essentially human-shaped, with the same basic skeletal structure-- for this challenge, avoid drawing a humanoid with a different skin texture/animal features, or half-animal creatures like centaurs or merpeople.)

- pick a line from a poem or song and interpret it visually (get creative here; pick something that can be interpreted in many ways, not something with a set literal meaning)

- make an illustration that focuses on scenery. (you can include figures, but don't let them take all the focus.) if you already paint a lot of environments, illustrate an environment that you don't normally draw.

- pick an existing book cover (or movie poster, etc); remove everything except one element. create a new drawing around that element, without altering its placement or the dimensions of the image (though you can draw over the element to integrate it with the rest of the image).

- draw or paint in a medium or technique you are not used to using. use water colour instead of felts, crayons instead of paint, or something.

- pick a historic period/culture and create a piece in that style. (for example: Egyptian wall paintings, Indian miniatures, Japanese Ukio-e, European Impressionist painting... get creative!) alternatively, pick a single artist with a very unique style (picasso, etc)

- use a random generator [http://www.seventhsanctum.com/] to create a prompt and draw what you get! (for example, use [http://www.seventhsanctum.com/generate.php?Genname=quickchar] and draw the character based on the prompt.)

- Draw something where the main figure(s) is/are silhouettes.

- Draw using an unusual perspective. Like maybe something that is completely bird's eye view.

- Redesign a pre-existing character if they were to live in a different time/universe/genre. (For example, take a modern day character and draw them as if they lived in the 1800s, or in a sci-fi universe.) Alternatively, use yourself as the character! How might you look if you lived in your favourite fictional universe?

- draw a character interacting with their setting (not just being in it-- it's easy to fall into a rut of drawing characters as though they were just placed in front of a backdrop. put effort into integrati ng character and setting!)

- two (or more) characters fighting! (is it a friendly sparring match? a duel to the death? a drunken barfight? you decide!)

- find an artist you'd like to work with and create a collaborative piece! (bonus points if your two art styles are really different)

- pick a character and draw a genderbent (sexbent) version of that character! put some effort into design (ie, don't just draw the same exact character plus or minus boobs; be sure to keep them in character.)

- Create a character design based on an inanimate object.

- pick an animal; design a HUMAN character based on that animal. (the point is to evoke the characteristics and 'feel' of the animal in a 100% human character-- no anthro/furry or catgirl-types, please!)

- make 3-5 speedpaints, then pick your favourite to render into a completed picture

- make a character turnaround: draw the same character from at least three different angles-- the focus here is design consistancy. (and possibly drawing the same pose from all angles, like the turnarounds used in animation development-- depending on what sort of challenge you're going for.)

- Draw 100 of ____ (Draw 100 girls/cats/dragon/hands/etc/etc - This one might be more of an artist work out more so than a prompt though XD It's always a fun challenge to try though, and would be lengthy enough to be something you could work on little by little throughout the whole month..! Maybe this idea could be a separate drawing prompt thread though? Hrm! :B )

- one of those expressions memes-- draw the same character 25 times, making different expressions to reflect a variety of emotions. (don't pick a deadpan character who never emotes.) use specific emotions-- ie, 'furious' or 'enraged' or 'seething' instead of a generic 'angry'. (this could go either way-- workout or challenge)

- speed-painting!

1. Introduction
2. Love
3. Light
4. Dark
5. Seeking Solace
6. Innocence
7. Break Away
8. Heaven
9. Drive
10. Breathe Again
11. Memory
12. Insanity
13. Misfortune
14. Smile
15. Silence
16. Questioning
17. Blood
18. Rainbow
19. Gray
20. Fortitude
21. Vacation
22. Mother Nature
23. Cat
24. No Time
25. Trouble Lurking
26. Tears
27. Foreign
28. Sorrow
29. Happiness
30. Under the Rain
31. Flowers
32. Night
33. Expectations
34. Stars
35. Hold My Hand
36. Precious Treasure
37. Eyes
38. Abandoned
39. Dreams
40. Rated
41. Teamwork
42. Standing Still
43. Dying
44. Two Roads
45. Illusion
46. Family
47. Creation
48. Childhood
49. Stripes
50. Breaking the Rules
51. Sport
52. Deep in Thought
53. Keeping a Secret
54. Tower
55. Waiting
56. Danger Ahead
57. Sacrifice
58. Kick in the Head
59. No Way Out
60. Rejection
61. Fairy Tale
62. Magic
63. Do Not Disturb
64. Multitasking
65. Horror
66. Traps
67. Playing the Melody
68. Hero
69. Annoyance
70. 67%
71. Obsession
72. Mischief Managed
73. I Can't
74. Are You Challenging Me?
75. Mirror
76. Broken Pieces
77. Test
78. Drink
79. Starvation
80. Words
81. Pen and Paper
82. Can You Hear Me?
83. Heal
84. Out Cold
85. Spiral
86. Seeing Red
87. Food
88. Pain
89. Through the Fire
90. Triangle
91. Drowning
92. All That I Have
93. Give Up
94. Last Hope
95. Advertisement
96. In the Storm
97. Safety First
98. Puzzle
99. Solitude
100. Relaxation