If you’re feeling a little creative this summer – you’ve come to the right place! Why not let your inner artist flourish this August and take part in an art challenge? Bringing an opportunity to indulge in some self-love, summer time is the perfect time to push yourself and perhaps do something a little outside of your comfort zone. Tapping into your creative side can be a great outlet for stress and anxiety and has a number of other great, positive benefits.
Essentially, art challenges inspire creativity and allow you to create art in a fun and stress-free way. In addition to this, art challenges can exercise your imagination and act as a form of catharsis from your daily life stresses – which we all need from time to time. Consider putting some time aside this August to create a unique piece of art every day, develop your art skills and maybe form a new, positive and productive habit! We’ve put together a list of some art challenges taking place this August that you can take part in with your family, friends and loved ones.
Tinkersketch August Art Challenge
This month, Tinkerlab is hosting the Tinkersketch August Art Challenge. Created to ignite creativity and get your imagination flowing, this challenge is aimed at beginners, intermediates, professionals and creatives of all ages. It’s also a great way to connect to your children through open ended prompts.
With easy prompts and low stakes, this is the perfect challenge for first timers. For this challenge, you’ll need to carve out a minimum 5-10 minutes every day throughout the month of August to create new artworks inspired by the official prompt list. If you decide to share your work online, make sure to use the hashtag #tinkersketch to share your work with other fellow creatives.
There are no restrictions regarding medium for this challenge, just remember to use the prompt list and create something every day. Because this challenge prides itself on being stress free, make sure to push yourself but don’t hesitate to give yourself a day off if needed. This is about enjoying yourself!
You can visit the website from Tinkerlab for more.
Smaugust
As the name suggests, Smaugust is a yearly art challenge that takes place in the month of August. The word Smaugust is a combination of the two words ‘Smaug’ and ‘August’. Smaug is the name of a dragon from the Lord of the Rings. Essentially, this challenge is about drawing, sketching, painting or simply creating a dragon themed artwork every day throughout the month.
Smaugust art challenge 2021 Prompt List by Allie Briggs 
Smaugust art challenge 2021 Prompt List by Allie Briggs
There aren’t however any strict rules, so just do what you can – it’s about having fun! Luckily, you won’t need to think of a unique dragon idea every day as there are a number of prompt lists available that you can follow. Alternatively, you and some friends can put together your own prompt list for more of a challenge!
For this challenge, you’ll need to carve out a minimum 10 minutes every day throughout the month of August to create new artworks inspired by a prompt list. If you decide to share your work online, make sure to use the hashtags #Smaugust, #smaugustchallenge and #Smaugust2021 to share your work with other fellow creatives.
Are you ready for dragons? #smaugust2021 pic.twitter.com/aemqQbUsQ3
— Allie Briggs ✦ Condemn! White! Supremacy! ✦ BLM (@AllieBriggsArt) July 9, 2021
It’s hard to tell who the original creator of the Smaugust art challenge is, however it is thought to have originated in 2016. The artist that popularized it was Katie Croonenberghs, aka Kamakru, who is known for her dragon themed water colour paintings. At this time it seems like Allie Briggs is the one keeping Smaugust alive with her stylish prompt lists.
You can visit brushwarriors for more information.
Quick Kick August
Quick Kick August is a mini-challenge running throughout the month of August, in which partakers set aside 15 minutes or less a day to create a piece of art. Essentially, this challenge requires partakers to challenge themselves and create a drawing or painting every day on colored or toned paper!
If you have no access to coloured paper, you can paint a wash of colour over a blank page instead! By participating in this challenge, you’ll be stimulating the creative side of your brain, as well as develop your art skills.
There are no rules regarding medium, so get crazy with it! There is also no official prompt list to follow so feel free to draw, paint or create whatever you like! Kick in the Creatives suggest that you carry a sketchbook or notepad with you every day throughout the month, making it increasingly easy to squeeze in some creative time while on the go. It’s also recommended to keep things simple!
If you choose to take part, make sure to post your artworks on social media and tag #kickinthecreatives and #QuickKickAugust.
Wondering about inspiration? You can find monthly themes and optional prompt lists at Kickinthecreatives. If you know of any other creatives that would enjoy Quick Kick August, why not encourage them to take part too!
31 Animals August
This month welcomes the return of the Kick in the Creatives popular art challenge – 31 Animals August! This challenge encourages creatives to create a new and unique piece of animal art everyday throughout the 31 days of August. The only rule? Have fun! You can use any materials, medium or supplies to create your pieces, such as wool, felt or even material scraps.
If you’re into digital art – you could try that too! Kick in the Creatives suggests that if you’re working from photos, make sure you have them in advance. If you’re short on time consider creating a few pieces on one day in order to have a backlog to post for the upcoming week! This however should only be done if absolutely necessary, as building a creative skill takes consistent practice. Consider using collage in your pieces to make things a little more interesting! Experiment with different styles or mixed media to create your own unique animal themed works.
31 Animals August also involves a little optional twist – if you’d like you can create a video (maximum of 3 minutes) after the month of August documenting your experience with the challenge. You can also send in some of your favourite pieces created during the month of August for Kick in the Creatives to share on their site. If you know of anyone that might also be interested in this challenge, why not reach out and get them involved too!
If you decide to take part in the 31 Animals August challenge and post your work online, make sure to use the hashtags #kickinthecreatives and #31AnimalsAugust. You can also post your animal drawings on the official Kick in the Creatives Facebook page.
August Art Challenge: Awesome August
Open to any and every one, this August themed art challenge encourages artists to paint their way through the month of August. Based predominantly around watercolours, for this challenge you’ll need to use watercolours, any drawing medium (pens, pencils, crayons etc.) or a lovely mix of both!
If you choose to take part, make sure to post your artworks on social media and use the hashtag #doodlewashAugust2021. If you decide to use watercolours, you can also use the hashtag #WorldWatercolorGroup. This hashtag will allow you to view the art of others that are taking part in the challenge, as well as share your own work with your fellow creatives.
At the time that this article is being written, there is no official prompt list for the 2021 Awesome August art challenge – but in the mean while you can use the 2020 prompt list below:
This prompt list was created by a Doodlewash community member Shanyn Silinski. This varied list will provide many interesting opportunities to create new and exciting art every day.
Let us know in the comments what your favourite art-challenge of this month is! Which one are you participating in or did we miss one? If you want to learn more about the basics, make sure to read our art challenge guide.
Do you want to improve your drawing skills? Make sure to read our article where we take a look at the Best Art Classes you can follow online. Combining an art class with an art challenge is a great way to get started! You could also take a look at our curated top 10 of drawing books to help you improve your drawing or for extra inspiration or new techniques.
If you’re curious about other art challenges coming up this year, make sure to check out our overview of yearly art challenges or our art challenge calendar. If you are looking for drawing inspiration, make sure you check out our drawing ideas generator.
Courses & Tutorials
Why not improve your skills or learn some new incredible techniques by taking a course? See all our courses or check out one of these selected courses here:
Resources
Interested in taking part in any of these challenges this month? We’ve got some resources just for you to give you a kick start!
Traditional Drawing equipment
Check out the sketchbooks, pencils and other tools below that will help you build a daily routine in practicing your creative skills.
Digital Brushes
If you’re a digital artist, make sure to check out these great Photoshop and Procreate ink brushes from Grutbrushes. These realistic, responsive and natural brushes will inspire you without a doubt. Grutbrushes offers a lot of free samples, so you can try anything without risk. Check out our Grutbrushes review if you’d like to know more and see more (free) samples.
Digital Hardware
A drawing tablet could definitely help you in your creative flow too. Most drawing tablets are touch sensitive and are highly accurate. The main advantage of a drawing tablet is the natural feeling when drawing. They are perfect for creating detailed illustrations, drawings or digital paintings.
0 Comments