In April 2023 I tackled the annual Plein Airpril challenge, and painted from life or from my own (or a couple of friends’) photos every day for the full month! I mostly but not only used gouache. It kicked my ass but I was very proud to complete it, and I think there are some real gems in the collection! Here’s all 30 paintings:
I took some fun photos of the process as well, including a few on location, if that’s your jam:
Doing an art challenge can be really fun, especially if you have a cohort you’re running the challenge with. I have done my fair share of game jams and I really feel like they share a lot in common with art challenges like Plein Airpril, Inktober, and also more storytelling oriented challenges like Hourly Comic Day, 24- Hour Comic Day, and NaNoWriMo.
That said, they’re not a guaranteed positive experience, and most of the time I have done things like this, I have not finished. You really have to let them take over your life a bit while it’s happening, and without a closeknit cohort of other folks tackling the same thing, or at least an audience egging you on, it can be hard to find the motivation.
Additionally, like anything online, there are people who use these challenges as marketing opportunities, throwing everything into them and producing fully polished, professional work throughout. It’s really important not to compare your work to others while you do it; in the end, you’re better off comparing it to itself and letting yourself celebrate your own progress through the challenge.
I think also sometimes these are approached (especially game jams, but art and comic and writing challenges too for sure) as incubators for professional marketable work. Incubators, residencies, retreats, challenges, can all share a lot, and there’s no reason you couldn’t use Plein Airpril to kickstart a gallery-ready body of work! But that really isn’t the core point of any of these, and it’s helped me a lot to keep that in mind.
Overall these challenges can be fun, and this year in particular I had a great time just making sure I got my daily paint on!
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