With summer in full swing, why not let your creativity bloom! Consider stepping out of your comfort zone this July and take on an art challenge.
Tapping into your creative side can be a great outlet for stress and anxiety and has a number of other great, positive benefits. Art challenges inspire creativity and allow partakers 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.
It might be a fun and exciting idea to take on the challenge this upcoming July to create a unique piece of art every day, form a positive and productive habit, and develop your art skills!
We’ve put together a list of some art challenges taking place this July that you can take part in with your family, friends and loved ones.
Kaijuly
Similar to Kaijune, Kaijuly is an art challenge that is meant for those of you who perhaps didn’t have time to take part in the previous month. It’s also a challenge for those who just couldn’t get enough of Kaijune and wanted to carry on with the challenge throughout July too!
This unique art challenge is based on the Kaiju genre, a Japanese film genre that features giant monsters. The words ‘Kaiju’, written as 怪獣, and ‘July’ have been combined to make KaiJuly. This is a 30 day art challenge that runs throughout the month of July.
In this challenge, you’ll be drawing a creature, either new or a classic, every day during this month. Because there is no official prompt list for this challenge, you can either create your own or use one that a fellow creative has made for others to use!
Kaijune by Thai Martin 
Kaijune by Thai Martin Kaijune by Thai Martin
If you decide to take part in this exciting challenge and happen to post your work online, make sure to use the hashtags #Kaijuly #Kaijulychallenge #Kaiju #Kaijuly2021.
Julycanthrophy
Julycanthropy is a werewolf themed drawing challenge that runs from the beginning to the end of July. Essentially, the main aim of the challenge is to centre your focus around drawing wolves, werewolves or other canine creatures!
“Enter #Julycanthropy, the preferred portmanteau of summertime werewolves everywhere.”
The true, original creator of the challenge remains a mystery however it is believed that it may have been created by Tiffany Turrill. If you decide to participate in this unique and exciting challenge, make sure to hop on the trend and post your work online. Make sure to use the hashtags #Julycanthropy to join the fellow creatives also taking part!
By viewing the hashtag you’ll be able to see a range of different interpretations and renditions of wolves or werewolves created during Julycanthropy by other artists.A major perk of this challenge is the limited rules and restrictions it has – anyone can take part and can alter the challenge to meet your needs and schedule. There are a number of prompt lists available online, so find out that suits you and get started this upcoming July!
World Watercolor Month
The World Watercolor Month movement was created by Charlie O’Shields, also the creator of Doodlewash. The challenge itself is based upon inspiring others to paint using watercolours in a way that simultaneously raises awareness for the importance of creativity and art as a whole. O’Shields’ love of watercolor as a medium transformed itself into both a blog and a social artist movement that committed itself to generating a community of watercolor artist from around the world. The challenge itself came about after early art challenges and holidays began to gain traction within the art community. The overwhelming amount of love for the initiative was overwhelming – and so the World Watercolor Month was born!
Despite being all about maintaining a regular creative practice and having fun, the World Watercolor Month challenge is heavily oriented towards raising awareness for art education and fostering creativity in children all around the world via the International Child Art Foundation.
In regards to rules – if you decide to take part you can either take on the ultimate challenge or create rules of your own. The ultimate challenge invites artists to use 31 watercolors throughout the 31 days of July. Whether you’re a beginner or a professional, any and every one can take part, no matter your skill level or age.
If you decide to take part in the World Watercolor Month and happen to post your work online, make sure to use the hashtags #WorldWatercolorMonth during the month of July.
Some tips from the creators:
- Consider involving your friends and family in the challenge
- Plan a sketching themed picnic or walk with your loved ones
- Embrace the medium of watercolors!
- Include your kids
- Support local watercolor artists in your area
- Share your work and experiences with others
- Consider making a donation to the International Child Art Foundation
You can watch the official 2021 World Watercolour Month video here:
Tinkerlab July Art Challenge
This summer themed July Art Challenge run by Tinkersketch is all about making memories and documenting experiences in your sketchbook. Each month, Tinkersketch offers a new and exciting art challenge. To no surprise, they’re back this upcoming July with a challenge that is open to interpretation and aims to expand creativity in society!
The goal of the challenge itself is to explore new mediums, experiences, different forms of self-expression and ways of creative thinking. This challenge is open to any and all creatives, no matter your age or level of experience. In regards to media, there are no rules! Feel free to experiment with paint, pencils, photography or even dance! Make sure to set up a work space that caters to your preferred art form and finally create a positive creative habit.
Tinkersketch offers a prompt list for participants to follow however, you can create your own if you’d like a little more freedom. Although the provided prompts are relatively straightforward, they can be interpreted in any way you’d like. The challenge begins on July first – good luck and have fun!
Some tips from the challenge creators:
- Keep your sketchbook with you at all times so whenever you have a free moment you can complete your piece for the day
- Consider carving out a specific time in your day for creativity
- Wake up a little earlier, if possible, to sit with your sketchbook and morning coffee while you get creative!
Essentially, the goal of this challenge is to improve your art skills, inspire creativity, explore new avenues of art and have fun either by yourself or with others! If you decide to share your work online during the month of June, make sure to use the hashtag #tinkersketch and #tinkerlabartchallenge and tag @Tinkerlab. If you’re looking for some inspiration, make sure to search the hashtag #tinkersketch on Instagram.
Figure July
This challenge is different to the others we have mentioned in this article in that there is only one rule – create a piece of art every day during the month of July that is in some way associated with the human figure or body. In this challenge, you can practice developing difficult art skills like drawing hands or noses. On the other hand you can also take on an experimental approach and take on the challenge in your own way!
There are also no rules regarding medium, so feel free to experiment with any and everything!
- Try experimenting with different textures and materials
- Use dyes or paints in combination with your textiles
- Reuse old magazines or newspapers
- Work on paper, canvas or sculpt!
If you decide to take part in the Figure July art challenge and happen to post your work throughout the month online, make sure to use the hashtag #figurejuly
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