Lessons from the 100 Day Project: Part 1
5 Takeaways from My First 50 Days
Online art challenges1 can help motivate me to create more consistently, but they also can often feel too overwhelming to keep up with. Making art every day for a month is hard enough for me, so I never thought I would attempt 100 days. That always seemed like I’d be setting myself up for failure.
Then I started following
My Top 5 Lessons from the Past 50 Days
Lesson 1: There’s No Expiration Date For Creative Play
In 2023, I started a small, square sketchbook in the hopes it would be a low-pressure way to sketch more frequently. I wanted to fill it with colorful art of my favorite things. I sketched a few pages, but then I hid it away in a drawer when it felt too hard. For this 100 Day Project, I decided it was at least time to face my fear of “ruining” my few initial sketches with color and then go from there.
To start, I selected a limited color palette, so I wouldn’t feel overwhelmed by too many choices. I set a timer, put on some favorite tunes, and made myself color the first page, a cute sketch of my two corgis.
And I didn’t hate it! The quirky limited palette challenged me to color differently than I normally would. Dark aqua grass! Golden yellow corgis. Dark blue fur instead of black. Isn’t that the beauty of art that we don’t need to be restricted by reality? How delightful!
Lesson 2: Small Daily Action Adds Up
This helpful tip from the 100 Day Project FAQ page has been the key to consistency with such a long project:
“Make sure you can do it in 5-10 minutes a day. More time is nice if you have it, but if it's a really time-consuming project you probably won't do it every day. Whatever project you choose, think about how you can make it easier and more fun.”
My daily goal has been to just touch the project in some way for 10 minutes. For me, that can mean adding some color, sketching a new page, writing out ideas for future pages, and/or gathering reference images. This allows space for life’s inevitable interruptions, like the flat tire I had to deal with last week, and fluctuating energy levels.
On days when I’m struggling for those 10 mins, I can stop and let it sit again until the next day. Other days, I have felt motivated and happy to complete a whole little page in one sitting. I am showing up with however much I can give in that moment and not letting the process scare me off any more. Often just getting started is the hard part and knowing I can stop if I need to helps it stay fun and low pressure. This has added up to 30 finished pages so far!
I realize now that I started unlocking the power of small daily action last year when I decided to try Duolingo Spanish again. Before, I would try the app for a week or two, miss a day and then give up. (I made Duo very angry.) But then I saw someone online celebrating their year-long Duolingo streak with a cute Duo owl cake and that made me suddenly determined and excited to do that too. I’m now 191 days into my Duolingo streak and I know I will meet my goal. (I’m very motivated by cake.)
I only missed a few days last fall from being on a retreat without phone service, but thankfully the app let me “save my streak” when I was back home. I’m using that same logic for my 100 Day Project too. There has occasionally been a day when I haven’t had the mental energy for even 10 minutes. Instead of forcing it, I’m calling it a “dead zone” and I know I will “save my streak” tomorrow when I’m feeling better. And at the end of 100 days, I will celebrate with a tasty cupcake from a local bakery.
Lesson 3: Messily Done Is Better Than Never Made
This little sketchbook sat for 2 years barely started because I tried painting one of my sketches and it was a disaster. I had ripped it out and ran away. It feels good to push through that fear now and see the book slowly filling up.
The limited color palette and markers helped push me to be less precious in my sketchbook and to loosen up. There have still been some days when I wanted to rip a page out and start over, but I made myself trust the process. Often it ends up turning out good enough, but if I do think it’s ugly in the end, I remind myself that it is a sketchbook. It’s for experimenting and play. If I love an idea that doesn’t turn out, I can always remake it as a more polished piece another time.
Lesson 4: Consistency Doesn't Mean Inflexibility
As Lindsey says on the FAQ page, “Anything is okay, it's your project.”
I had initially planned to fill the entire sketchbook with the same limited palette, so it would feel like a cohesive little book. 100 days is a long time though and I started to feel boxed in after over a month with that plan. So I trusted myself that it was time to switch things up.
For the first week of April, I joined in on “Colour Week”, an art challenge by
, and combined it with my 100 Day Project.I tried a new technique that I knew would delight my Inner Artist: finger-painting the color of the day with HIMI jelly gouache on paper and then cutting it up into a little collage inspired by that day’s color. I loved getting a bit messy!
I also loved testing out a sped up process video (music used is “Amazing Day” by Iros Young from uppbeat.io):
At the end of the 100 Day Project, I plan to make a sped up video flipping through the whole sketchbook. It will be interesting to see how many different styles and techniques I end up trying. This has been good practice in being less cautious with each idea I have. I will like some ideas better than others and that’s okay. Sometimes things won’t work out like I had hoped and that’s okay. I will just keep going and see what happens.
Lesson 5: The Soothing Effect of a Regular Creative Outlet
It can feel silly, frivolous, even selfish at times to draw cute characters or play with paint when so much is going on in the news and the world, but that’s when we need a creative outlet most. What we create doesn’t always (or ever) need to be groundbreaking or have deep, world-changing message. It’s enough for it to just give us a moment to breathe, to be present and rest, even if only for 10 minutes. I feel much better after I’ve had that moment to pause and play.
Everyone can benefit from a creative outlet, not just “real” artists. You also do not need to be an artist to to do a 100 day project. Your creative outlet can be anything: coloring, crocheting, paint-by-number, playing an instrument, abstract finger-painting, writing short stories or poems, junk journaling, zine making, kindness rock painting to share in your neighborhood, whatever brings you a small moment of creative rest in your day. I would love to hear what creative outlets you enjoy!
Pet Pics of the Month
Luna, our pandemic puppy, turned 5 in March! I baked her a small dog-safe peanut butter and pumpkin cake to celebrate. I will be forever laughing at her freakish gremlin face that appeared in one photo while she was barking at me to give her the cake already.
Question For Your Inner Artist
• What fun, low-pressure creative outlet would I want to try for 10 minutes a day?
An art challenge is an online art prompt usually for a specific theme and/or length of time. Learn more about art challenges here.
The 100 Day Project can be done at any time on your own for any project of your choice, but choosing to follow the challenge at the same time as others helps it feel more motivating and fun. Learn more at the100dayproject.org
Congrats on hitting the halfway mark Kim! 👏🏾🎉 I'm on day 45 and like you, I was slightly apprehensive about taking on the challenge in the beginning but I'm having an absolute blast so far.
I loved looking at your pictures and your collages have inspired me to give it a go myself 😊
Congratulations on reaching half the 100day project challenge Kim 🙌 and love all your mindset about it! Your collages for Colour Week inspired me a lot, finger painting papers are on my list now 🤩 maybe you could do some of the days using a medium that you have at home but rarely use!