January Art Challenges 2025: Start Your Year with Creativity

Looking to start 2025 on a creative high? January art challenges are perfect for boosting your artistic skills, experimenting with new art mediums, and connecting with fellow creatives. These challenges offer daily prompts and community-driven motivation to keep you inspired all month long. No matter your experience level, there's a challenge here to kickstart your year!

text January Art Challenges with various art supplies scattered around

Here’s a roundup of the most exciting January art challenges happening this year, all kicking off on January 1st:

  1. Doodlewash January Art Challenge: Prompts for watercolor and sketch enthusiasts
  2. The January Challenge by 64 Million Artists: A free, 31-day creativity challenge
  3. Creatuanary: Daily creature-design prompts running throughout January
  4. 30-Day Sketchbook Challenge: A beginner-friendly sketching challenge
  5. Art Journal January: A mixed-media journaling challenge
  6. Tinker Lab January Art Challenge: A flexible, family-oriented sketching challenge active in January
  7. Genuary: A generative art challenge using creative coding

As a tradition, we’ve created a lovely little printout for those who’d like to keep all their January doodles in one place — or on a single sheet of paper, to be precise:

printout for drawing January doodles

Now, let’s dive into the details for each challenge, including prompt examples and how to get involved!

1. Doodlewash January Art Challenge

The Doodlewash January Art Challenge offers daily prompts that encourage watercolor and sketch enthusiasts to flex their creative muscles. Hosted by the vibrant Doodlewash community, this challenge is open to all skill levels and mediums, although watercolor and sketching take center stage.

Details

  • Artistic medium: Watercolor and sketching (other mediums welcome).
  • Prompt examples:
    • "Winter glow"
    • "Cozy mornings"
    • "Frosty windows"
    • "Hibernating animals"
    • "Snowy landscapes"
  • Community: Share your work on social media using hashtags #doodlewash and #doodlewashjanuary2025 and connect through the Doodlewash website.

👉 Join the Doodlewash January Challenge

2. The January Challenge by 64 Million Artists

This 31-day creativity challenge welcomes all art forms, from drawing to poetry. Organized by 64 Million Artists, it focuses on self-expression and exploration. Daily prompts are emailed or available online, whichever you prefer.

Details

  • Artistic medium: Open to all creative forms.
  • Prompt examples:
    • "Draw your dream city"
    • "Write about a surprising moment"
    • "Photograph something that makes you laugh"
    • "Design a symbol for kindness"
    • "Create a postcard from the future"
  • Accessibility: Free, family-friendly, and perfect for all skill levels.

👉 Join The January Challenge

3. Creatuanary

Love fantastical creatures? Creatuanary is your chance to design and draw imaginative beings. Hosted by talented artists you can find on Instagram at @dibujantenocturno, @joshuacairos_art, and @rafater_official, this challenge builds on creativity and world-building.

Details

  • Artistic medium: Digital and traditional illustration.
  • Prompt examples:
    • "Frozen beast"
    • "Sky leviathan"
    • "Cave guardian"
    • "Desert wanderer"
    • "Underground lurker"
  • Community: Post your creations on Instagram using #Creatuanary.

👉Follow Creatuanary on Instagram

4. 30-Day Sketchbook Challenge by Susan Yeates

Hosted by Susan Yeates, this beginner-friendly challenge encourages daily sketching to develop consistent habits. It’s perfect for artists looking to get back into sketching or start fresh.

Details

  • Artistic medium: Sketching and drawing.
  • Prompt examples:
    • "A cup of tea"
    • "A pair of shoes"
    • "Something you see every day"
    • "A quick gesture drawing"
    • "Your favorite plant"
  • Support: Access resources and guidance on Susan’s website.
  • Community: Research and share you work using hashtag #30daysketchbookchallenge . The challenge is mostly active on Instagram.

👉 Join the 30-Day Sketchbook Challenge

5. Art Journal January by Kick in the Creatives

Kick in the Creatives invites you to dive into mixed media and self-reflection with their Art Journal Challenge. This one focuses on creating meaningful, story-driven journal pages for every day of the month.

The organizer is keeping the challenge pretty free-form, meaning you’re encouraged to draw whatever you feel like reflecting about. If you hit a block, you will also find a list of optional prompts on their page.

Details

  • Artistic medium: Mixed media, journaling, and more.
  • Prompt examples:
    • "New beginnings"
    • "Through my window"
    • "A memory you treasure"
    • "A dream you had"
    • "A burst of color"
  • Community: Share your pages using hashtag #artjournaljanuary and get inspired by others in the group.

👉 Join Art Journal January

6. January Art Challenge by Tinker Lab

Hosted by Tinker Lab, this challenge encourages daily sketching with a playful, experimental approach. It’s perfect for families and younger artists looking to explore creativity. You can download the PDF with prompts to put up on your wall so you never miss a day!

Details

  • Artistic medium: Sketching, with freedom to try other materials.
  • Prompt examples:
    • "Draw a favorite toy"
    • "Sketch a family member"
    • "Create a monster face"
    • "Draw an imaginary place"
    • "Illustrate a funny moment"
  • Accessibility: Flexible and family-oriented. The community connects using hashtag #tinkersketch.

👉 Join the January Art Challenge

Bonus challenge: Genuary

For digital artists and creative coders, Genuary is a unique challenge that blends art with programming. Each prompt inspires generative artwork, combining logic and aesthetics. The website has an official prompt list and if you’re looking for inspiration, check out the journey of Gorilla Sun creative coding enthusiasts.

Details

  • Artistic medium: Creative coding (tools like Processing or p5.js).
  • Prompt examples:
    • "1,000 circles"
    • "Rule-breaker"
    • "Infinite loop"
    • "Geometric chaos"
    • "Pixel perfection"
  • Community: Share creations online with hashtag #Genuary.

👉Learn More About Genuary

Ideas for a personal January art challenge

None of these January drawing challenges strike your fancy? Or perhaps you want to put something together on your own? Here are some ideas about art routines you can start the year with:

And that’s just a few options! Your imagination is very powerful - think about what’s missing from your art practice at the moment and work on it, there is no better time to develop new habits than the start of a new year!

To conclude

This January, pick an art challenge—or combine a few—to fuel your creativity. Sketch magical creatures, journal your thoughts, code generative art–these challenges help you build artistic habits, connect with others, and start 2025 inspired.

Share your creations, tag your work with relevant hashtags, and most importantly—have fun creating!