Need a creative reset?
Join me for 100 Days of Art Journaling
I've always had a fascination with the ways that creative people balance inspiration and discipline in their working lives. It's easy to be energized when you're in the grip of a big idea. But what do you do when you don't have anything to work with? Just stay in bed? Writers have this figured out: it's amazing how many of them have a rigid routine. John Cheever, for instance, used to wake up every morning in his New York City apartment, put on a jacket and tie, kiss his wife goodbye, and take the elevator down to his apartment building's basement, when he would sit at a small desk and write until quitting time, at which point he'd go back up. The only way to experience this kind of discipline is to subject yourself to it.
— MICHAEL BEIRUT, FOUNDER, DESIGN OBSERVER; TEACHER, YALE SCHOOL OF ART AND YALE SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT
Hello loves,
If you’ve spent any amount of time following artists on Instagram, you must have heard of the 100 Day Project. It started as a classroom assignment that Michael Bierut set for design students at the Yale School of Art, back in 2005. Nine years later, designer, painter, and writer Elle Luna brought the project to Instagram, where it blew up into a global art movement, inspiring thousands of artists and creatives from around the world to take on their own 100 Day Projects.
This year, the 100 Day Project starts on 23 February, and I’m planning to do 100 Days of Art Journaling as a way to reset my creative practice.
Would you like to join me?
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100 days of art journaling
I’m envisioning this as a process-oriented project, which means that I am not concerned with having 100 finished art journal spreads, but with showing up and working in my journals for 100 days.
I don’t have any plans or prompts. No constraints or subject matter that I want to explore. I simply want to show up and re-connect with the simple joy of splashing paint around on the page. And past experience has taught me that approaching the 100 Day Project from a process-oriented perspective is an excellent way to deepen and improve your practice.
As an example, in 2019, I did 100 days of painting intuitively. My objective was to work on the technique for 100 days; I was less concerned with having 100 finished intuitive paintings. The experiences and lessons learnt during those 100 days are ones that I have carried with me through the years. I went from being intimidated by painting intuitively to almost exclusively painting this way.
My aim for this project: a minimum of 15 minutes at the painty table for 100 days.
100 days for a creative reset
In recent months, I’ve felt a bit disconnected from my art practice. Though I have spent a few days at the painty table most weeks, I don’t feel the urgency to create like I used to when I was still working my 9 to 5 job.
This is partly because I’m in a different creative season, with a different creative expression currently in the driver’s seat. And while I am enjoying this season, I am also longing to recapture my delight at flinging paint.
Rather than waiting for motivation or inspiration to strike, I plan to take a leaf from John Cheever and create my own routine to ensure I make it to the painty table for a minimum of 15 minutes every day. And I think a 100 day project is perfect for igniting this creative reset.
Why, you ask?
Because contrary to popular belief, it takes a lot more than 21 days to build a habit.
According to a 2009 study on habit creation, researchers found that people take an average of about 66 days to reliably incorporate a new habit1, with consistent daily repetition being the biggest factor determining whether a behavior would become part of a daily routine.
So a 100 day project should be an effective creative reset, don’t you think?
How I’m approaching my 100 Day Project
In years past, I have shared my progress and paintings on Instagram, but this year, I’m just not feeling it. While there will be a social component to sharing my progress, I will mainly use a Notion tracker to track my progress.
I’ve set up this database so that I can capture any ideas or techniques that I want to try, keep all my class notes in one place, and make notes and observations along the way.
I’m not sure if you can tell, but I created this database with a more long-term view in mind. It’s a space I plan to use for much longer than 100 days, as an adjunct to my art practice, if you will.
As for the social component, it is a good way to create some accountability2, which is helpful when it comes to building a daily practice. My plan is to share a weekly or perhaps fortnightly update on my blog. I’ll also film a few of my art journaling sessions for YouTube, and will post occasionally on Instagram and maybe even on BlueSky, if I remember to!
So, are you in?
If you’d like to build a regular art journaling practice, join me for 100 Days of Art Journaling. Just hit reply to this email or drop me a comment telling me you’re in.
While the official 100 Day Project starts on 23 February, I plan to begin on 28 February. That gives you a week to plan out your project if you choose to join in.
I plan to open up a chat space where we can gather together, share our progress, updates and photographs of our art journal spreads, and cheer one another on. The plan for now is to have a new chat thread each week during the 100 Day Project.
You are welcome to join the chat with your own 100 Day Project, even if it isn’t 100 Days of Art Journaling.
The chat can be accessed on the desktop or via the app.
As for the parameters for 100 Days of Art Journaling, I leave that up to you.
You are welcome to use mine: 15 minutes of art journaling every day with no constraints or themes; or come up with your own.
You can choose a different length of time for your 100 day project, though I recommend not more than 30 minutes.
You can also choose constraints, themes, or subject matters to explore in your art journals if that feels more interesting to you. And you can explore those themes for a set amount of time — for e.g. you may choose to spend 15 days exploring botanicals; then move to 30 days experimenting with a limited color palette, and so on.
Are you doing The 100 Day Project this year? Or are you planning to join me for 100 Days of Art Journaling? Tell me in the comments or simply reply to this e-mail!
TL/DR: Join me for 100 Days of Art Journaling starting 28 February. We’ll work in our art journals for a minimum of 15 minutes every day. I will open a chat thread every week so we can share our work and encourage one another on our creative journeys!
When it comes to keeping a resolution, Colin Camerer, a behavioral economist at the California Institute of Technology, notes it can be hard to stay motivated once the initial excitement of a “new year, new me” wears off. This can easily lead to lapsing or even dropping the activity completely after a couple of weeks. Creating a specific plan to perform the activity (for example, “study Spanish grammar for 20 minutes three times a week” versus the vague goal “learn more Spanish”) and having some type of accountability (an app tracker or a friend) can help monitor progress and push a person to keep going. Additionally, people are more inclined to keep a resolution that they are interested in doing, rather than one that they simply believe they should do. Source
I was working daily on a writing project in December and faded off in January so I think I'm going to resume that for 100 Days!
Thank you for sharing your inspiration... methinks it may be contagious!