#mARTch
the march art challenge -mARTch for short- is a yearly art event i host in (you guessed it) the month of march!
drawing every day is hard (and a lot of us have work/school/life that takes priority) so you don't have to draw every day to join in!! the normal days to draw are marked with a star and everything else is 100% optional :) you also don't have to make finished art.. just sketching is fine!
there's only two real rules:
1. try and interact with other artists participating in the event ... if you see something in the event tags that you like, tell them you like it! compliment people's skills! make friends!
2. to keep things fair, try and draw things ON THE CORRECT DAY instead of preparing all your art in advance! this event is not about having the most finished art/prettiest art, it's about consistent practice
2023 prompts
here's this year's prompts! if you're not sure what to draw for a certain prompt, scroll down for tips/ideas/descriptions!
WELCOME WEEK
an easy-peasy 5 day week to get you used to the event!
march 1st - what is your favourite thing to draw?
maybe you love drawing old cars, or you have a tumblr full of fan art .. or maybe you just doodle eyes in the margins of your schoolbooks! whatever it is, let us know by drawing it again today!
march 2nd - what inspires you?
is there an artist whose work you try to emulate? do you make art based on your own life experiences? do you have pinterest boards full of ideas and inspiration? tell us all about what makes you want to create!
march 3rd - what is your least-favourite thing to draw?
sorry!! i know it sucks to draw the thing you hate drawing .. but stepping outside of your comfort zone will help you grow! but if you REALLY hate drawing it that much, you can totally skip this day haha
march 4th - draw a self portrait!
take this one as loosely as you want .. you can draw a photorealistic picture of yourself, a little cartoony doodle, your fursona, your online gaming avatar... um, a stick figure with a paper bag over it's head if you're SUPER private?
march 5th - re-draw an old pic!
find an old drawing -maybe something you're still proud of, or maybe an old idea that never came out how you wanted- and try drawing it again! how has your art changed since you drew the original?
PRACTICE WEEK
a week of studying/practicing/referencing. you can draw anything you want for these days, but if you're struggling to pick something, i've included some ideas below
march 6th - draw a flower!
do you have a favourite flower? is there anything growing in your garden? do weeds count as flowers? do you want to be lazy and just draw a cartoon daisy?
march 7th - draw an object!
pick something in the room with you and draw it! it can be a quick sketch of one simple item, or you can challenge yourself by drawing a lot of objects/a really detailed one ... either is fine!
march 8th - draw an animal!
have you got pets? do you have a favourite animal? do you want to make it hard for yourself and draw a horse today?
march 9th - draw some food!
what did you have for breakfast this morning? what's your favourite snack? what's a food you remember from your childhood?
march 10th - draw a hand!
hands are easy to get reference for, because they're right there on the end of your arm! 👋👍🖖🤙🤝! if you really hate drawing hands, don't forget that you can skip days! but i engourage you to try this one .. hands are a super useful one to practice :)
march 11th - draw a face!
anyone's face is fine .. your roommate? your dad? yourself in the mirror? that guy from that one tv show? take your pick! it also doesn't have to be realistic, you can simplify and stylize to your heart's content!
COLOUR WEEK
you can draw this week, or you can just splash colours around and make abstract art!
march 12th - monochrome!
that means only one colour .. it can just be greyscale, or you can pick your favourite hue! my favourite is orange, what about you?
march 13th - cool colours!
the cool colours are on the 'blue' side of the colour wheel, green/blue/purple, but they can reach all the way to 'cool pinks' and 'lemon yellow' if you need!
march 14th - red/green/blue!
the first of the 'primary' colour sets, these are the colours typically used in digital art! they're the colours your computer screen displays!
march 15th - cyan/magenta/yellow!
the second of the 'primary' colour sets, these are the colours usually used in traditional art! they're the colours your home printer can print!
march 16th - warm colours!
the warm colours are on the 'orange' side of the colour wheel, red/orange/yellow, but they can reach all the way into 'warm greens' and 'pinkish purples' if you need!
march 17th - light/pastel colours!
this was a popular prompt last year, so i'm bringing it back! everybody loves those soft gentle pastels
SCENE WEEK
some people hate drawing backgrounds, but they're a useful skill to learn! if you find yourself struggling this week, try references, tutorials, and simplifying your style!
march 18th - indoor scene!
the inside of a room! if you want to challenge yourself today, draw all the furniture and objects .. but if you're having trouble, just draw the walls, doors, windows and floor!
march 19th - morning scene!
think about: light, the colour of the sky, breakfast on the table
march 20th - night scene!
think about: shadows, the moon and stars, city nightlife
march 21st - outdoor scene!
grass, rocks, dirt, trees ... maybe even snow? take a look outside!
march 22nd - underwater scene!
the world looks totally different underwater! try drawing some ripples and bubbles and waves!
EMOTION WEEK
put some feeling into it!
march 23rd - boredom
practice your expressions and draw somebody looking bored, or dry to draw a boring empty place if you don't want to draw people ... zzzzz
march 24th - anger!
what expression do you make when you're angry? what colours do you associate with the feeling?
march 25th - happiness!
bright smiles and sunshine! if you're drawing a person, think about what might be happening to make them happy!
march 26th - sadness!
do you know how to draw someone crying? is there a tragic, angsty scene from a fanfiction you've always wanted to see drawn?
march 27th - confusion!
hmmmm... ummmmm ... uhhhhhhhhh .. huh? 🤔
FUN WEEK
some quick little games to finish up!
march 28th - eyes closed!
draw something without looking! no peeking 👀
march 29th - memes!
do you have any funny pictures saved on your phone? draw one of them in your own style! do you and your friends have an inside-joke? draw something just for them!
march 30th - non-dominant hand!
draw something with the hand that you don't usually draw with! if you're ambidextrous, show off your skills
march 31st - free choice!
last day of the event, so you can draw anything you want! you can put all of that practice into one last fancy drawing, you can draw a goodbye, or you can just take the day off to rest!
share your work:
#mARTch or #mARTch2023 on twitter
#mARTch or #mARTch2023 on tumblr
#mARTch or #mARTch2023 on instagram