- Life and Other Stuff -Mixed Media Art
- February 18, 2024
My 100 Day Project Plans 2024
Have you heard of the 100 day project? It is a free, global art project that encourages you to choose a creative activity, do it for 100 days, and share your process on social media. Your activity can be anything – paint, draw, dance, sing, cook, make music, knit – the possibilities are endless. Here is the official website where you can sign up for the newsletter and learn about the online community:
The next round (2024) starts today, February 18! I’ve been debating whether I’m going to participate, and, if so, in what form. Part of the beauty of the project is that you can make it your own and personalize it to suit your needs and goals. For me, the past challenges were never about posting on social media, but more of a personal challenge to make art consistently. I’ve participated in two prior years, so I thought I’d share some of that with you here, along with my (tentative) plans for this year.
My 100 Day Project 2022
Two years ago I was making a lot of mini-art in grid format in a sketchbook, so I chose that as my challenge. While I did technically make it to 100 grids, I feel like a cheated a bit. I would create six or so grids at a time, all in the same style. This probably should have been counted as one day, but I counted it as six in my rush to make it to 100. There was a lot of potential to practice more and experience more of the process, but hey – it’s your challenge and you make the rules and that’s what I chose to do at the time! Here are some examples of that work:
My 100 Day Project 2023
Last year my goal was to make 100 faces – no particular style or technique, just 100 faces. This time around I really did create different, full pieces for each day and explored different styles, but I didn’t make it to 100. I think I made it to around 50-something, which is still a win in my book! Check out some of those faces below.
My 100 Day Project 2024
This year I plan to change it up a bit. Instead of aiming for 100 full works of art, I’m going to focus on purely abstract work and layers. My goal is to force myself to draw out the process and not rush to finish the pieces.
100 layers on a single work of art is a lot, though! Instead what I’ll do is have several canvases or panels in progress at one time and aim for 30 or so days of layers on each, then start with a new set. Breaking down the challenge into 30 day increments makes it less overwhelming and much more achievable in my mind. I’ll do three rounds of this, so at least 90 days of layers on multiple pieces.
Here is the first set – two 12 x12 inch wood panels. This is the first time I’ve worked on wood panels but I’ve been wanting to try them for quite a while. These are from the dollar store! I’ll start with a layer of black and white paper collage including book pages and hand painted papers and go from there.
Color Inspiration
Another thing I’d like to incorporate into this year’s challenge is using photography to inspire my color palette. I’ve often done this using seasonal pictures, either my own or from sites like Unsplash or Pexels. I tend to gravitate to fall colors, but since we will be coming up on spring soon I’ve chosen a few of my own pictures as inspiration that will lead me to explore using more greens in my work.
The flower picture is from a trip I took with my mom and sisters to the Pearl S. Buck estate in Perkasie, Pennsylvania. We went in April and the daffodils were in full bloom – it was beautiful! That area of Pennsylvania is where my family is from, and Pearl Buck is one of my favorite authors. My mom would actually visit Pearl Buck’s house as a kid! If you’d like more info about the location or the author, you can check out the Pearl S. Buck Foundation.
The butterfly picture was taken at the Manuel Antonio National Park in Costa Rica. The Costa Rica trip that we took as a family is one of our favorite family trips ever. If you’ve ever considered vising Costa Rica, click here for more information about the beautiful Manual Antonio National Park, and I highly recommend this Costa Rica travel planning company.
Do you have plans to participate in the 100 day project? I’d love to know what you’ll be working on. What is your process? Where do you find inspiration? Let me know your plans in the comments. And check back soon to see an update on my first set of 100 Day Project pieces! Thank you for joining me on this artistic journey ♡
Jennifer
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