30 DAY DRAWING CHALLENGE:
OK, so for September we invite you to join us in our 3rd season of #drawntothelight, our original drawing liturgy challenge. This theme is based on the observation of the play of light and darkness in our lives and nature and how it all points back to the Gospel.
For each day of September, there is a word prompt to spur on your drawing (or your chosen creative liturgy practice). The word is intended to mirror summer feelings and to inspire a deeper meditation of His light in our world.
If you are on Instagram, we also would like to encourage you to share your work with the hashtag #drawntothelight and tag us @wondernawe, we love to see other people's work!
DON'T PANIC
Live in Freedom. The goal here is neither perfection nor a panic attack. These parameters are suggestions. You do not have to finish the challenge in just 30 days. You do not even have to complete the challenge at all! We often quote Andras Visky who said,
"Don't do art. What is art? Do the doubt."
This is a helpful reminder that this is about the process, not the finished product.
GETTING STARTED
There are few things more intimidating than a blank piece of paper and a list of words to "draw." We would like to share some things we do to get ourselves ready to make this challenge, well, less challenging!
(1) CREATE SOME RULES: A great way to set up for any art project is creating rules to follow. Here is a brief I created for myself because I often wander away from my original intent in my artwork. (If I were an author, I would sit down to write a historical fiction piece and end up with a scene taking place on Mars.)
Sara's rules:
(2) COLOR PALETTE:
If you choose and stick to a limited color palette, it will help all of your artwork read as one collection. It will also give structure to your drawing time and it will be less overwhelming each day!
(3) KEEP IT SIMPLE:
Our last tip is exactly that, keep it simple. We want to help you build a daily liturgy, in a creative way. Key word here is daily, so to make "every day" realistic, we suggest that you make your expectations achievable and tangible. Giving yourself grace is also helpful, there may be days you don't have the time to sit down, think or make something.
That is okay.
Sara often reminds me that the creative process requires input, just as much as output. We have found this to be true, so we give ourselves means of input; a walk in the woods, watching Planet Earth, or curating a board on Pinterest. These things can help to build inspiration and lead to output. Yes, this challenge is focused on the output, however, what we desire for you and our own selves is not actual thing you drew, or danced or made; our true goal is the thinking, processing, and stretching that happens during the making.
Even if this drawing challenge doesn't become part of your daily liturgy, we hope that for the next 30 days, you will be encouraged to get your hands moving in the pursuit of having time with God, our Creator on the regular.
-a