Are you looking to start a daily art or block printing practice in 2024? Starting a daily practice is a great way speed up your development, enhance your skills and build confidence.
If you follow me on instagram, you will know that along with sewing, I also love to block print. Have you taken one of my free workshops or my online course and still feel stuck? Not sure what to make? Try an art prompt!
Art prompts are a great way to get your creative juices flowing. They can be used to inspire ideas and the “ready made subjects” make it an easy way to approach designing each day.
I find that art prompts help break the fear of “what do I make”? The hard part has been done for you. All you need to do is start doodling and then carving.
Best practices for using prompts:
- Find an art or design prompt on instagram. See below for some places to start.
- Have the prompts easy to access. Print out the dates or save the prompts on your phone. I take a screen shot of the prompts and save to my photos.
- Doodle. Doodle. Doodle. Play around and have fun with the prompt. Don’t take the prompt too seriously. When you start to get overwhelmed, take a break and come back in a 10 mins.
- Don’t copy others. Use your own voice. Start with doodles and then let ideas flow.
- Decide on the size of the stamp/motif that you want to make.
- Choose whether you are going to print on fabric or paper.
It is important to not take up too much time with the prompt or get overwhelmed. It is easier to make this a daily practice if you design and carve in under 30 mins. If you take less time to create and push yourself along to finish the prompt, you will feel successful. As a result, the next day will be easier to start again. The success of each day compounds and before long you are feeling pretty great!
Where to start?
I thought it would be fun to list few places to get inspiration. Joining an art prompt/event on instagram is also an amazing way to meet new people and find new communities.
December – Carve December
- Hashtags – #CarveDecember and #CarveDecember2023
- Hosted by – @balzerdesigns
- Dates – Runs the month of December
December thru March – PrinterSolstice
- Hashtags – @printersolstice
- Hosted by – @follysomeprints and @linocaveprints.
- Dates – Runs from December to March ( December 21st thru March 19th )
January – 14 Days of Fruit
- Hashtags – #14daysoffruit
- Hosted by – @ohn_mar_win
- Dates – Runs Jan 8th thru Jan 21st ( 14 consecutive days )
February – Feathruary
- Hashtags – #Feathruary and #Feathruary2024
- Hosted by – @mischievousredfox and @projectparlor
- Dates – Runs the month of February
February – 100 Day Project
Hashtags – #100dayproject , #100dayproject2024 and #100dayproject (+project your idea)
Hosted by – @lindsayjeanthomson
Dates – Runs for 100 days. Starting Feb 18th 2024
March – March Meet The Maker
- Hashtags – #marchmeetthemaker
- Hosted by – @joannehawker
- Dates – Runs the month of March
- Website – https://www.marchmeetthemaker.com
- *This not so much about art prompts, but sharing about your craft and what you are up to.
The images in this post are block prints from #CarveDecember2023. I had a blast. I really expanded my craft and myself over the course of the month. Pushing myself to create in under 30 mins helped establish a daily practice. It also eliminated the overwhelm, because I knew that my “art” was not going to take hours and engulf my whole day.
Well that’s it. I hope I have inspired you to join an event and get started.
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