How to start a 100 Day Project - Drawing (2021)
So you want to start a one hundred day project?
I'm going to show you a way to get started that is not overwhelming + feels super easy.
100 day Projects can change your life. Let me show you how!
In case we haven't met my name's Katie. Hello. I'm a full-time illustrator and 100 day projects helped me go from thinking about illustration to getting accepted onto a master's program in illustration at Edinburgh college of art.
And then after I finished my masters degree, 100 day projects helped me to pay my rent and get new work and work for lots of big fancy clients.
100 day projects are definitely worth doing, if you want to get really consistent with your work, draw every day, get better at drawing and see where your creativity can take you. So usually when I tell people about a hundred day projects, the say that's great and everything, but why would you even bother?
All the good stuff that has happened as a direct result of me doing 100 day projects.
When I was backpacking through Southeast Asia in 2016, I had saved up all my money from being a nanny. And I set myself the challenge while I was traveling to draw every single day for a hundred days. And those drawings are the drawings that I used as a portfolio to get into Edinburgh College of Art. And because they'd seen that I'd been doing every single day and I was obviously obsessed with it. They were like, ‘yeah, cool. You can join the master's program’.
When I was in my master's program, I did another 100 day project. And those paintings and drawings that I did formed my final show. So it helped me to continue to create more work and create a big body of work and a portfolio, which was, yeah, it felt kind of easy cause I was doing it everyday and I was in the habit of it.
I also took those drawings and turned them into products that I was selling at the time. So I had calendars sketchbooks that I was selling cards, prints, and I was selling the originals as well. And because I was studying full-time, I didn't really have time for a job, but selling my work helped fund me. It stopped me getting into too much debt. I still had credit cards and stuff, but that's another story for another time.
I got my first live illustration job on the back of a 100 day project drawing. I was creating this work, putting it on my website. And then one day Stella Artois were browsing the internet, found some of my drawings. And they were like, ‘could you draw those onto some beer glasses for us?’ And I was like, probably!? I did. And that was like the beginning of my live illustration career, just like that.
Making work and sharing it consistently is magic. And if it takes a hundred day project for you to pull your finger out and do that, and there's nothing wrong with that!
Join me. It's going to be fun. What are you doing for your 100 day project? Let me know - I am nosy. Okay. Now it's time for the practical stuff. I put a shout out an Instagram I'm @Katiedraws. You can come and be my friend. And I said, does anybody have any questions? This was the first one that came up over and over and over again, people said,
How do you stick to a 100 day project? How do you create momentum and keep it going?
So this is good. Cause this is really exciting. This is a phrase, a, like a saying, the best camera you have is the one that you have with you. And the same applies for sketchbooks. The best sketchbook you have is the one that you have with you. So here's a nice, tiny one. I like this because I can pop it in a pocket. It fits in the front pouch on my backpack. Another thing people asked was…
how long do I spend on each drawing during the 100 day project?
Some days I will literally draw the quickest thing and be like, I'm done. I don't want to do this other days, two hours. It's completely depends on how you feel. I have seen people recommending that you set a timer, maybe for like four minutes, it does something. And then it gets you started. And your know you're going to spend at least that chunk of time on it. Honestly, it doesn't matter. You're drawing every day. That's enough! You don't have to like set yourself massive timeframes to do it.
Prioritizing and time management during your 100 day project.
I think if you've gone for step one and you're carrying like a portable sketchbook around with you this'll happen easily. And the easiness of it is there are always times when we're waiting. If you think of all the times that you're in a queue and you pull out your phone and you just have a bit of a scroll, all the times that you'll maybe awake before everybody else, or you're waiting on the bus to get home.
Any of those times, those are the perfect times to draw a 100 day drawing. Do not let perfectionism get in the way you don't need like the perfect materials or like the perfect composition. Just it's just about getting out of habit of joining every single day. So some of my favourite drawings have been done in the queue, I remember I was in the queue in Superdrug to get my eyebrows done. And I was like drawing the - they were threading, you know? And they have like one bit of thread in their mouth, like threading eyebrows. And I was drawing the ladies doing that cause it's fascinating. And they thought I was a like mystery shopper, marking them on their performance. So that was a bit awkward. So I had to show them and be like, just drawing. But yeah, queues are brilliant.
Also on perfectionism. Remember, you've got a hundred days ahead of you to get better. So if today it's a, Biro, really quick drawing and you hate it. That's fine. Nobody has to see it.
How to pick a 100 day project theme.
I don't, I just draw like drawing every day is the theme. And then I don't feel like I'm in a box. There will be things that you get interested in over the course of your hundred days. For instance, in the past, I got obsessed with horoscopes. And what else? Like places I've been on holiday, but like just draw. Yeah. Somebody I spoke to on Instagram was drawing slugs for a hundred days.
Yeah. You do. You, if you want to draw slugs for 100 days,
Draw slugs, right? It is. I would say though, don't feel like you have to pick a theme drawing every day is a little bit on mindset and approaching your a hundred days of drawing. Knowing that some drawings are going to be totally rubbish. And that is fine. Don't expect to do a hundred masterpieces. Don't have any expectations. Just it's just like the act of drawing everyday. It's like meditating. You know, if you've ever meditated, when you sit down to do it some days, your brain is just not there and you're just not into it. Same with drawing. So let go of expectations, embrace not knowing the outcome and just let yourself do one day at a time for a hundred days and see where it takes you!
Last, but not least other things that can help are:
Accountability
So if you're on social media, you can share that you're doing it. That doesn't mean that you have to share your work every day because it can be a little bit uncomfortable, especially if your drawings don't feel good to you right now. And the second thing that can help is…
Surround yourself with other creative people
(bonus points if they're also doing a one hundred day project).
So I've got a few suggestions for you for creative communities, The Good Ship Illustration, I'm a co-founder with my good friends, Helen Stephens and Tania Willis. You don't have to join the course. The free community is also brilliant. Here’s a link to where you can get a free drawing guide (The Sketchbooker's Friend) and that can help get you started. Especially if you're feeling really stuck and not knowing where to begin. There'll be like a friendly voice in your ear when you get started. Other good online communities, Twitter is brilliant.
Instagram's brilliant. Just have a browse of hashtags,
#The100dayproject, #dailydrawing, stuff like that. And you will find your people and that can really help you to keep making work consistently because a 100 days is a long time. You'll find that out. If you'd like to get my drawing diaries, there's a link here. I send them every two weeks. That will also help you stay motivated and yeah, tag me on social media. I'm Katiedraws. I'd love to see if you're doing a hundred day project too.