6 tips for setting up your own art challenge
Art challenges part 3
Hello! This month I have been talking all about art challenges! Because let’s be honest… does anyone talk about anything else during Inktober- I mean, October?! I have mentioned why I think participating in art challenges is such a brilliant idea, as an illustrator, and also why me and my illo buddies decided to set up our own Friday Doodle Club. This week I decided to reach out to some more awesome illo mates and find out if they had any more top tips for you, to help you make sure you have the best possible chance of your art challenge being successful.
Tip 1: Don’t do it alone!
This tip really resonates with me. Friday Doodle Club certainly is a beast as we post a new prompt each week, so the admin involved is time consuming. I couldn’t imagine doing it without my FDC crew - Sandra, Brenda and Macha.
The wonderful Kim, who is not only a super talented illustrator, but also an agent at Lilla Rogers Studio, set up a really brilliant challenge over the summer called Story Teller Summer Camp - along with Jemma and Tamisha.
Kim’s top tip for setting up a challenge is to get friends! “You’ll have people to bounce ideas off of, for support, and plus it’s way more fun.” I definitely agree that doing something like this with people you enjoy chatting to, can turn even the most laborious tasks into something fun as you are essentially working with your friends!
Adam Walker-Parker, co-founder of Classic Book Week, agrees. “Finding the right people that you can bounce ideas off of is really important, and if you have the right people it can be a really fun experience. Also sharing the responsibilities was good too, so being clear with who is doing what and when so that things run smoothly.”
Tip 2: Find a niche
Social Media is flooded with art challenges, especially this time of year. But people are always looking out for something new. It doesn’t need to be a completely new format, but changing one thing can give an old challenge a new twist.
As Mark Hoffman, creator of stinktober says, “There are so many challenges out there that you need to be inventive. I try to change up the format in at least one little way. Draw this in your style has been done to death. But ‘draw a friend for…’ has not.” I love this idea and think teaming up with illustrator friends to create one piece, for example, is a great way of doing this.
How fantastic is this spooky illustration showing a character drawn by Megan alongside a character drawn by Macha with the hashtag #palloween? Such a cool idea. Feel free to create one with a friend! Kim Fleming also feels this is important, “try to find a niche for your challenge—something that hasn’t been done, or do it in a different way. The more specific, the better.”
Tip 3: Do it for yourself
This tip follows on from Kim’s last point about making the challenge specific, which I feel is super important. How do you make something specific? How do you find a niche? I think the easiest way is to think about what YOU want to do. This was definitely our approach with Friday Doodle Club. We had clear objectives we wanted to achieve from the challenge and formulated the structure around that. Jen Gubicza and her illo friend Eling set up an art challenge every year to do together. They brainstorm prompts that they want to do and work on them. I really love this no pressure, laid back approach. Just do something that you want to do, and chances are someone else will too.
Tip 4: Make sure the instruction are super clear
So you have come up with a brilliantly unique idea for an art challenge, now what? Adam Ming is brilliant at noticing trends and creating relevant art work that sparks the imagination of his followers. His top tip is to make sure the instructions are super clear so people know how to join, how to share, and what they are allowed to do. There’s no point creating an amazing new challenge if no one knows how to play.
An important part of the instructions is the hashtag, so people can find others who have joined the challenge. It’s all about community, after all. Choosing the right hashtag is very important, as Mark Hoffman discovers. “I used stinktober2022 when it had no use and then someone else started using it for their own feed after I started it going. Now I wish I chose something more unique.”
Tip 5: Give permission
This tip kind of follows on from the last, and it’s something I feel really passionate about, as well. Part of your job in the instructions is to give permission. Tell people this is your gift to them. Let them see behind the curtain and learn from you. We all have things we can share and new skills we can learn from each other. This is really true when you create a piece of art that sparks the imagination of your audience. People will be thinking, ‘wow, I would LOVE to create my version of this’. Or ‘I LOVE how they use texture, I wonder if I can try that…"‘. This happened with a piece of art Adam Ming created recently for Kid Lit Art Postcard Day. When this happens, if you turn the art into a challenge, you are giving people permission to create their own, and it keeps the conversation going. Make sure your followers know they aren’t stealing your idea, as you have given it to them. And they will, of course, turn it into something that is uniquely theirs in return.
Tip 6: What’s the incentive?
Why should people join? What will they get out of it? There are so many things, but one surefire way to incentivise is to offer a reward. “I also think creating a reward for participation is critical. People want prizes. Nothing huge, but something is better than nothing.” says Mark Hoffman, who offers a free book to the winner of his stinktober art challenge. At Friday Doodle Club, we have often had competition weeks were we have a guest that picks a prize and offers a reward. This competitive element brings a new dynamic to our challenge, and always brings in new faces and causes a bit of a stir. It is something we don’t feel is needed every week, though. Sometimes it’s nice to create just for fun, and not compete.
Another example of a ‘prize’ could simply be telling your followers that you will share their posts in your stories, or on your grid. This is often enough to incentivise, and Kaly, co-host of Folktale Week, feels like this part in invaluable in ensuring you have a successful art challenge. “Give everyone love ‘n likes and shine the spotlight on them!”.
I totally agree that this is so important. It keeps people engaged and keeps the conversation going. If people know that by joining, they will be exposed to your followers and the community you have cultivated, they will be much more likely to join and shout about your art challenge to their own corner of the internet.
I hope you find the tips useful if you are thinking of starting your own art challenge. Do you have any more pointers you think might be useful? Maybe as someone that does art challenges rather than as a host? Feel free to comment below!