r/ArtistLounge • u/Luciel_Fox Digital artist • 12h ago
Concept/Technique/Method Do people pre-draw monthly art challenges?
Hello, as the title goes I was wondering do people pre-draw monthly art challenges in advance? I haven't done one personally but I know that drawing everyday can be tiring and lead to burnout especially if you're making these full illustrations and posting them on social media.
So, my question here is; is it a thing to pre-draw? If yes does it still count as a challenge or has that become more of a drawing prompt? Or is more like just planning ahead?
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u/PM_ME_YOUR_DND_SHEET 8h ago
Yeah, some people do. The inktober prompt list comes out early September. Whether it fits the challenge or not isn't for me to decide. Frankly I don't care if people spend one day, one hour, or one month on each of those challenge prompts. These types of challenges are kinda performative anyways. This was the first year I tried it myself and made it a solid 5 days, but I was doing quick/small paintings instead of drawings.
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u/twice_fried_rice 9h ago
depends on what your goals are. ime, aiming for creating a full illustration each day asks way too much brain power for me when I also have to do adult life things, like my job (which is also drawing/painting), household upkeep, cooking meals, etc. when I’ve tried month-long challenges in the past I had the most success with time-limited drawings - no more than 30 minutes a day. but even then, keeping that momentum can be tiring.
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u/RumRunnersHideaway 9h ago
With inktober, this became very common because the best inktober submissions got a lot of exposure by being reshared by the inktober account.
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u/panda-goddess 9h ago
depends on the art challenge
there are some that are explicitly about drawing on that day, but a lot of them are about posting on that day what you drew beforehand, (especially fandom events, from my experience, as those are about having a week or month dedicated to a character/fandom/ship, so the week/month is for viewers and readers, not the creators)
but for those that are about drawing on the day, you're really not supposed to be making these full illustrations (maybe not even posting them on social media), since they're more about challenging yourself (and keeping to your limits) than the end result
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u/walrus_breath 10h ago
Its inconsequential to pre draw and wait to post when the day comes up. Do whatever you want. Social media is all fake, it’s orchestrated to look like reality without showing any of the work it took to make it happen. It’s the fair weather version of reality and the option of choosing which storms to show.
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u/JVonDron 10h ago
I do because I know life happens and in the past I haven't been able to finish anywhere close to on time. So I work ahead, not to do the final design on the day, but to post on the day. I know it's against the original intention, but I see it as 30 prompts and 30 pieces of content, not "draw every day". If I do 3 in a day is that more or less useful as an artist than stressing over missing a day because something came up and I'm unable to dedicate time to the challenge?
I did a tattober challenge this year and was completely done with everything before the 1st. I actually really enjoy it because I wasn't scrolling through other people's submissions before doing my piece and got to approach the prompt fresh.
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u/Moving_goal_posts 11h ago
Hi OP, It seems you asked a good question, you got great feedback. Is your real question to do with your own situation? You mention “tiring” and “burnout”. You might step back a bit and see if your goals are aligned with your desires or requirements. If you are trying to support yourself through your art, and you need some short cuts, then it’s a good idea to pre-draw some art that you might develop further later. Right? But if you want to reach another level in your work, maybe the daily challenges are not as useful to you as studying online in a specific technique, or working with a more advanced artist in an in-person workshop where you can get some valuable critique. Good luck.
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u/Luciel_Fox Digital artist 11h ago
Hi, I would definitely love to learn from an advance artist when I can but for now I'm quite content with steadily learning and improving. I mainly asked this question out of curiosity surrounding these challenges because I've heard different sides to it and have always wondered if it was common or not to pre-draw the art.
Now with the feedback gathered from here I can see that it really just depends on your goal for the challenge, be it pushing yourself with your weak points or having motivation to draw something. Having to strictly draw everyday entirely depends on your own set of rules, unless it's an external challenge, but what's most important is to have fun :)
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u/Viridian_Cranberry68 Fine artist 11h ago
In regards to Inktober. The list comes out a month early. I decide what to draw then do a thumbnail sketch early. Then I usually do the actual pieces on the given day.
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u/tonearm 11h ago
I’m not sure if it really matters as long as you are having fun. IMO, the idea is to get motivated to draw daily.
I’m already in the daily habit and wanted to participate in more than one challenge. So I started immediately and jumped to the next when I completed the first list of prompts.
It’s not about quantity. Have fun, work on things as it feels natural. It is a challenge but don’t beat yourself up if you take 2 days to complete 1 prompt or skip one that you don’t feel like doing.
I jumped into a second list of prompts on day 14. My plan is to go back and draw the first 13 after I reach day 31.
Art is fun and the challenges are meant to push yourself, not stress yourself.
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u/sin-eater82 12h ago edited 11h ago
I think the answer is obvious once you reframe what these challenges are.
You're doing it to push and challenge yourself.
You can challenge yourself anytime you want. If you're doing it to enter an actual competition, that's different. But for something like "inktober", i think we're all missing the point of the challenges if we're really worried about when you do it.
If you want to do "inktober", what you really want to do is "challenge yourself to do more ink work." I don't think it matters if you "challenged yourself" on Sept 25th or Oct 5th. It changes nothing.
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u/lostinspacescream Ink 12h ago
Personally, and this may be a hot take, I don’t think they should release the prompt list until the day before the challenge begins. I’ve seen so many beginner artists feel inadequate because they see submissions that have been completed way before the challenge even begins and just quit. I’m sure I’m not explaining myself well, as I got very little sleep last night, but there it is. 🤪
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u/TheMysticalPlatypus 12h ago
I’ve seen both.
Some people do prep. Some people don’t prep pencils in advance. They only prep supplies and their work space. It’s a very mixed bag. People used to be very open about the process in the past.
It doesn’t really matter as long as you get in the habit of completing art. It’s not like the art police are lurking.
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u/Vetizh Digital artist 12h ago
Rendered illustrations certainly need a prep before the month begins. But if it is a simple inktober it doesn't necessarily needs that. I did a -tober last year and I did all the drawings daily, but all of them were very simple and only few of them were loosely shaded and only the ones I had time to do.
If you want to draw everyday you need to keep it very simple, otherwise you won't be able to keep the pace and you will get frustrated.
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u/dracaenai 12h ago
The fun for me (and my followers) is to be able to post something every day. So I had the full intention to predraw so it wouldn't be quite as stressful. Alas, I didn't do it, and now I am already playing catchup because 2 days went like sleep > drawing 🙃
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u/Luciel_Fox Digital artist 12h ago
That's a mood 😭 though sleeping is definitely better in the long run
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u/dracaenai 10h ago
I pushed through a few nights, which resulted in me finishing at 4 am while I had to be up at 5.30 again. Harshest confirmation that I am no longer a spring chicken was me having heart palpitations the entire next day lmao. So now i try to go to bed at a reasonable time, finished or not 🥲
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u/sketchtenou 12h ago
Depends? Some "monthly drawing challenges" are more like "post a drawing every day" rather than DRAW every day. I do an event like that myself where the point is to just boost that particular fandom's fan content creation rather than really challenge people to draw something every day, and I encourage people who plan to post something every day to start preparing early so they don't burn out. But some drawing challenges are explicitly meant to be "DRAW every day" as a way to challenge yourself and you shouldn't pre-draw for those. So honestly depends on the nature of the "challenge"? That said, some people definitely still pre-draw for those even if it's not the intended way to participate lmao
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u/SammlerWorksArt 12h ago
Depends..i do challenges to learn. So i do what is best for me.
This inktober i wanted to work on doodling, inking techniques and character design. So i pencilled 31 characters and now I'm just inking one a day while looking at different inking styles.
I don't use the prompts.
Preparation always helps having the materials and a time and place to work figured out ahead of time.
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u/teamboomerang 12h ago
I have seen a few YouTubers admit to sketching before the challenge starts. From the folks I have seen admit it, their intent was to be encouraging to others completing the challenge, and also probably to make the YouTube money.
I can see both sides to that--it can be damaging if you don't realize someone gave themselves a head start, and you feel less than, but it can also be inspirational to see someone complete the challenge.
I think the challenges aren't meant for people to take so seriously it damages their mental health. Do what you can, and if you can't finish one, there's always next time. Just keep creating.
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u/Luciel_Fox Digital artist 12h ago
Yeah, I can see this happening where comprision on each other's work comes into play especially if the person starting ahead would deny doing it in the first place. I definitely understand on the YouTube money thing because you know, money and paying the bills and whatnot, but your right in regards of do what you can and how these challenges shouldn't be taken so seriously. They're supposed to be fun afterall :D
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u/Sakuchi_Duralus Illustrator 12h ago
Some might be, but since it's a free for all challenge, there's no need for really pushing it that far. It's not like there's a KPI on your head for failing to do the challenge or anything.
Though for me, I did drew pretty much daily (rendering practice, line art practice, methodology, copy practice, and challenges, etc), I won't have to do that. But it's also a little bit jealous when I see the other artist draw masterpieces and call it practice day #n. Have been in those servers, but their drawing time is maybe 10+ years experience compared to someone like me :V
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