While attending the SCBWI Summer Conference this past July, I was inspired to grow as a writer and illustrator. There were many wonderful speakers that gave us a lot of valuable information and encouraged us to keep going.

One that really inspired me was LeUyen Pham’s workshop, titled “One Artist, Different Styles”. In her workshop, she talked about her experience, technique, and background. Her workshop was loaded with tons of wonderful information, but one thing that stuck with me was her advice to continually keep working to improve our illustrating technique. She said that if you are comfortable in your illustration style, you are doing something wrong and you have stopped growing. She said what has helped her be successful is continuously working on her weaknesses.

After hearing her speak and looking at the stories behind a lot of her work, I realized that there are so many artistic techniques that I have yet to master and have put off trying for fear that I won’t be good at them. But fear should never be a hindrance, especially when it is stifling growth.

Therefore, I decided to create a 90 Day Art Challenge (aka a 3 month challenge), in which I would practice a new medium every 90 days and work on that medium every day for at least 30 minutes (there will be a few exceptions, due to trips or holidays, but for the most part, it should be every day). During those 90 days, I will also be reading on how to learn the medium effectively.

The goals are to improve working with that medium, to learn as much as possible in those 90 days, and to share my work and experience every two weeks on this blog and on a much more regular basis on my Instagram account. By sharing my journey, I will be holding myself accountable to others. If you are interested in following along, or even doing your own 90 Day Challenge, please do and make sure to share your thoughts, suggestions, struggles, etc.

Beginning in January and continuing on till the end of March, I will be working on paper art. I started delving into paper art for Mabs Drawlloween in mid-October, and continued for a few more projects. Nonetheless, I still have so much to learn and improve on. And I’m excited to see what I can do with paper when I am practicing on a regular basis.

I will be providing thorough updates every two weeks, on Fridays (the 2nd and 4th Friday of each month). The first update will be on January 12th.

If you did the 90 Day Art Challenge, what art medium would you start off with?

Make sure you check back and follow me on Instagram (@WhimsicalStoryBooks) to get sneak peeks, updates, and opportunities to win some of my art.