The Art of Sticking With an Art Challenge
Starting an art challenge feels a lot like falling in love. The excitement is real, the inspiration is endless, and you’re ready to create something amazing every single day. But then, somewhere along the way, life gets busy, enthusiasm starts to fizzle, and what once felt like a fun adventure starts feeling like a chore. Sound familiar?
Keeping your energy up for a long-term art challenge isn’t always easy, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. We even talked about some of the blocks to working on your art here. If you’re in the middle of one—or thinking about starting—here are a few tricks to keep the enthusiasm alive.
First, make it easy on yourself. In the beginning, it’s tempting to go all out with big, detailed pieces, but that’s a surefire way to burn out. Instead, give yourself permission to scale down. Quick sketches, simple color studies, or even doodles still count. The goal is to keep showing up, not to create a masterpiece every time.
Next, switch things up. If you’re tired of painting, try digital. If you’ve been doing nothing but graphite, throw in some ink or watercolor. A change in medium can spark fresh excitement and help break up the monotony.
Another trick? Plan rewards. Maybe after a week of consistent work, you treat yourself to a new brush, a fancy sketchbook, or even just a guilt-free day of scrolling through Pinterest for inspiration. Having something to look forward to can make all the difference.
It also helps to share your progress. Whether it’s posting online, checking in with a friend, or even just flipping back through your own sketchbook, seeing how far you’ve come can be incredibly motivating. Plus, getting a little encouragement from others never hurts!
Lastly, if the art challenge starts feeling like a burden, remember why you started. Was it to improve your skills? To build a habit? To reconnect with creativity? Focusing on the original goal can help shift your mindset from I have to do this back to I get to do this.
At the end of the day, an art challenge is meant to be just that—a challenge. But it should also be fun, inspiring, and rewarding. So take a breath, shake off the pressure, and get back to creating. You’ve got this!
Be sure to watch our video about this topic. You can watch it here.
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For many artists, the creative process is both a blessing and a battle. The thrill of making something new, of pulling ideas from the ether and turning them into reality, is exhilarating. But when obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) enters the equation, that creative process can feel like walking a tightrope between inspiration and exhaustion. Others may even equate OCD with a form of creative art block, although nothing is farther from the truth. The hesitation and the avoidance that OCD creates stems directly from 
OCD isn’t just about being neat or organized—though plenty of artists with OCD do have an intense need for order. It’s about intrusive thoughts, compulsions, and an overwhelming drive for perfection that can make finishing a piece feel like an impossible task. Imagine painting a canvas and being unable to stop tweaking the tiniest details, erasing and redoing a single stroke over and over because it doesn’t feel “right.” Or writing a poem and rereading the same line for hours, convinced that it’s just one word away from perfection but unable to move on. For an artist with OCD, the work is never truly finished—only abandoned after an exhausting internal battle.
