Monthly Art Challenges: A Year-Round Creative Adventure

Ever feel like your creativity needs a little nudge? Or maybe you're looking for a fun way to improve your skills? Monthly art challenges might be just the ticket.

These bite-sized adventures in art-making are perfect for beginners and seasoned artists alike. Let's dive in, clear all creative blocks and expand our art portfolios with a huge list of monthly art challenges!

image of an artist's sketchbook with a phrase monthly art challenges and some doodles written on the spread

What Are Monthly Art Challenges?

Think of monthly art challenges as a creative gym membership for your artistic muscles. Each month, you're given a set of prompts or a theme to inspire your art-making. Some challenges focus on a specific medium, like watercolors or pencil drawing, others focus on specific objects or colors, some push you to explore new art techniques.

The best part? You're not alone. Thousands of artists worldwide participate in these challenges, share their work, offer encouragement, and inspire each other. You can post your work on social media and spread the word using dedicated tags, participate in art forums, get feedback, and improve together with a supportive community.

Why Join the Monthly Art Challenges?

Participating in a monthly art challenge isn't just about making more art (although that's a pretty sweet deal). Here are a few reasons to give it a go:

Boost your creativity: Nothing beats artist's block like a fresh prompt every day.
Improve your skills: Practice makes progress, and these challenges give you plenty of practice.
Connect with other artists: Share your work, get inspired, and make new art buddies.
Build a consistent art habit: A month-long challenge can help you establish a regular creative routine.
Explore new techniques: Many challenges encourage you to step out of your comfort zone and try new things.
Have fun: Because art should be enjoyable, right?

A Year of Art Challenges

Ready to jump in? Here's a list of popular monthly art challenges to keep you creating all year round:

January challenges
February challenges
March challenges
April challenges
May challenges
June challenges
July challenges
August challenges
September challenges
October challenges
November challenges
December challenges

January art challenges

Doodleuary - A month of daily doodles, encouraging artists to explore spontaneity and creativity through quick sketches.
Fun-a-Day - Create something every day in January, regardless of medium, from doodles to crafts.
30 Faces 30 Days - A focused challenge aimed at improving portrait drawing skills by drawing a face every day.
January Joy - Create artwork that brings joy, focusing on positive, uplifting themes to kickstart the year with creativity.
Creative Januari - An experimental challenge to work with mixed media, trying out new techniques and styles over the course of the month.
Sketchbook Challenge - Artists fill a sketchbook throughout January, pushing themselves to create daily drawings and sketches.
Creaturary - A month-long challenge to design a new creature each day, often involving fantastical or sci-fi themes.
Junkuary - Artists use "junk" or found materials to create unique art pieces, encouraging sustainability and creativity with unconventional materials.
Floraluary - Focuses on creating a new floral-themed artwork each day, perfect for nature lovers and botanical illustrators.
Watercolor January - A challenge for watercolor enthusiasts, encouraging them to paint daily using only watercolors.
Pastel Painting January - A month of exploring pastel art, encouraging participants to create daily pastel artworks.
Abstractuary - A challenge that prompts artists to explore abstract art by creating non-representational pieces each day.
Resolutionary - Based on New Year's resolutions, this challenge invites artists to visually represent their personal goals or changes.
Pattern January - Artists create daily patterns, focusing on intricate designs, repetitive elements, and visual harmony.
Mandala January - A challenge to create a new mandala each day, exploring symmetry, balance, and meditative art.

February art challenges

Figuary - Figure drawing practice, focusing on improving skills in depicting the human form.
Color-February - Explore color theory through daily artworks, experimenting with different color combinations and techniques.
PortraitChallenge - Focus on portraiture, improving skills in capturing likeness, expression, and character.
Fable-uary - Illustrate a different fable each day, combining storytelling with visual art.
Fantastical Fauna February - Draw mythical creatures, exploring imagination and fantasy in animal forms.
FebruDairy - Create daily artwork related to dairy products, animals, or farms.
Faebruary - A month of drawing fairies, fae folk, and mystical creatures from folklore.
Februhairy - Draw characters with elaborate, creative, or unusual hairstyles each day.
Funguary - Focus on drawing fungi, mushrooms, and other mycological wonders.
Fluffuary - Create daily illustrations or characters based on fluffy or soft textures.
Fantasy February - Create fantasy-themed artwork each day, exploring mythical worlds and characters.
Feline February - A challenge for cat lovers to draw or paint cats in various styles and scenarios daily.
LoveFebruary - Inspired by Valentine's Day, artists create pieces that express love, romance, or heart-themed art.

March art challenges

March of Robots - Draw a different robot each day, exploring mechanical designs and futuristic concepts.
World Watercolor Month - Celebrate watercolor painting with daily watercolor artworks.
Alphabet Art - Create art inspired by each letter of the alphabet, one per day.
MarchMeetTheMaker - Showcase your artistic process, giving insights into your creative journey and techniques.
Mythical March - Draw characters from myths and legends, exploring folklore from various cultures.
Mermarch - Create a mermaid or aquatic creature illustration each day of the month.
Mushroom March - Artists draw or paint mushrooms and other fungi daily, exploring their diverse forms and colors.
Mammal March - Focuses on creating illustrations of different mammals, from household pets to wild animals.
Marchitecture - A challenge to create architecture-inspired artworks, from detailed buildings to imaginative cities.
Magic March - Explore the theme of magic by drawing or painting wizards, witches, and magical creatures.
Monster March - Artists draw a different monster each day, allowing for creativity with mythological or fantasy creatures.
Mixed Media March - Experiment with different artistic media, combining them to create innovative daily pieces.
Mini March - Create a small artwork every day, focusing on miniatures or limited space compositions.
Marine Life March - Illustrate a different marine animal or underwater scene each day.

April art challenges

Sculpture April - Try your hand at 3D art, creating daily sculptures using various materials.
CampNaNoDrawMo - A month-long drawing challenge, encouraging daily artistic practice and skill development.
30 Days of Hands - Practice drawing hands, improving skills in rendering this complex part of human anatomy.
Alphabetical April - Create art inspired by each letter of the alphabet, exploring typography and letterforms.
Animal April - Draw a different animal each day, working across species and environments.
April Fools Art Challenge - Create fun, silly, or unexpected artworks in line with the spirit of April Fools' Day.
Acrylic April - Focus on using acrylic paints to create daily artworks throughout the month.
Anthro April - Explore anthropomorphic characters, drawing animals with human characteristics and behaviors.
Architect April - An architectural design challenge where participants draw or create buildings daily.
Alien April - Artists imagine and create new alien species, creatures, or otherworldly landscapes.
Artisan April - Focus on traditional crafts or handmade art, such as pottery, weaving, or other hands-on techniques.
April Anatomy - Practice anatomical studies of the human body by sketching various parts or full figures.
Airy April - Create artwork based on the theme of air, clouds, the sky, or lightness.
Adventure April - Draw or paint adventurous characters, settings, or stories each day.

May art challenges

MerMay - Draw mermaids all month long, exploring various interpretations of these mythical sea creatures.
Flower-a-Day May (May Flowers) - Create daily floral art, celebrating the beauty and diversity of flowers.
Sketch-a-Day - Daily sketching practice to improve drawing skills and consistency.
May Miniatures - Create tiny artworks, focusing on detail and precision in small-scale pieces.
Monochrome May - Explore art in one color, challenging artists to convey depth and interest with limited palettes.
Magic May - Explore magical themes, creating witches, wizards, enchanted forests, and mystical creatures.
Mammal May - A challenge to illustrate different mammals every day, focusing on anatomy, species variation, and textures.
May The Force Be With You - A Star Wars-themed challenge where artists create fan art based on the franchise.
Mythical May - Draw or paint mythical creatures, legends, and folklore from around the world each day.
Mood May - Draw characters, scenes, or abstracts that reflect a different mood or emotion each day.

June art challenges

Pride Art Month - Celebrate LGBTQ+ pride through art, creating pieces that represent diversity and inclusion.
JuneFae - Draw fairies and magical creatures, exploring whimsical and fantastical themes.
30 Days of Backgrounds - Focus on setting and environment, improving skills in creating compelling backdrops.
Junicorn - Draw unicorns all month, exploring various interpretations of this mythical creature.
June Bug - Focus on insect-inspired art, celebrating the diversity and beauty of the insect world.
JustJune - Draw everyday scenes, characters, or objects from life in a simplified or minimalist style.
June Journeys - Artists create artwork inspired by travel, journeys, or different cultures.
June Jewels - Create daily artworks featuring gemstones, crystals, or jewelry designs.
Joyful June - A challenge dedicated to creating positive, uplifting artwork focused on happiness and joy.
June Skies - Artists draw or paint sky-themed artwork, from bright sunrises to stormy clouds and starry nights.
Jurassic June - A dinosaur-themed challenge where participants illustrate prehistoric creatures.
June Botanicals - Create daily illustrations or paintings of plants, flowers, and foliage.
June Adventure - Focus on illustrating characters or stories involved in thrilling adventures and quests.

July art challenges

World Watercolor Month - A global celebration of watercolors, encouraging daily watercolor painting.
Landscape-a-Day - Practice landscape art, improving skills in depicting various natural and urban scenes.
Character Design Challenge - Create unique characters daily, exploring diverse personalities and visual styles.
Jazzed About July - Create music-inspired art, translating auditory experiences into visual form.
Jurassic July - Draw dinosaurs and prehistoric scenes, exploring paleontology through art.
Junk Journal July - Focus on creating or adding to a junk journal, where everyday materials are repurposed into art.
JulyCanthropy - A werewolf-themed challenge for artists who want to explore lycanthropic transformations and fantasy art.
July of Birds - Draw or paint a different bird species each day, focusing on their unique forms and behaviors.
Joyful July - Focus on creating artwork that reflects joy, happiness, and positive emotions.
Jungle July - A jungle-themed challenge where artists illustrate tropical plants, animals, and scenes.
July Portraits - A portrait-focused challenge where participants work on facial proportions, expression, and features.
Jump Into July - Focuses on dynamic poses and motion, encouraging artists to draw characters in mid-action.
JulyFlora - Create botanical art, focusing on flowers, leaves, and plant life.
July Color Palette Challenge - A fun challenge where artists are assigned a specific color palette to create artworks daily.

August art challenges

AugustArt - Open-ended daily art challenge, allowing artists to explore various themes and mediums.
Monster-a-Day - Design a new monster each day, unleashing creativity in creature design.
Urban Sketching Challenge - Draw your surroundings, focusing on cityscapes and urban environments.
Abstract August - Explore non-representational art, experimenting with shapes, colors, and compositions.
Architectural August - Draw buildings and cityscapes, improving skills in perspective and structural design.
Smaugust - A dragon-themed challenge where artists create daily drawings of dragons or dragon-inspired creatures.
SketchAugust - A simple challenge encouraging participants to sketch every day throughout August to improve consistency.
Aughost - Artists create ghost-themed artwork daily, playing with eerie, spooky, or supernatural subjects.
Animal August - Focuses on drawing or painting different animals each day, exploring their anatomy, behavior, and habitats.
Aqua August - Water-themed artwork, from oceans and rivers to underwater creatures and scenes.
August Figures - A figure drawing challenge to focus on human anatomy and dynamic poses each day.
August Light - Explore the concept of light and shadow in art, creating pieces that emphasize lighting techniques.

September art challenges

Sticker-tember - Design a sticker each day, exploring compact and eye-catching designs.
SelfieArt September - Create daily self-portraits, exploring various styles and self-expression.
30 Days of Pattern - Explore pattern design, creating intricate and repeating motifs.
Sci-Fi September - Create futuristic and space-themed art, imagining advanced technologies and alien worlds.
September Scenes - Focus on storytelling through art, creating narrative-rich compositions.
Sketchtember - A popular sketching challenge where artists create one sketch every day for the month of September.
SepToned - Focus on creating artwork using limited color palettes or shades of the same color (tonal art).
Super September - Focuses on creating superhero characters, stories, or comic strips each day of the month.
Story September - Illustrate a new part of a continuous story each day, gradually building a narrative throughout the month.
Sketchy September - Encourage looser, more expressive sketching with a focus on rapid daily artwork.
Steampunk September - A challenge dedicated to creating steampunk-themed artwork, blending Victorian style with technology.
September Shadows - Explore the use of shadows and negative space in art, creating compositions that play with light and dark.
Space September - Focus on cosmic and space-related themes, drawing astronauts, planets, and galaxies daily.

October art challenges

Inktober - The classic ink drawing challenge, encouraging daily ink-based artworks.
Drawlloween - Spooky-themed art all month, exploring Halloween and horror themes.
OC-tober - Focus on original character creation, developing unique personalities and designs.
October Oddities - Draw strange and unusual subjects, embracing the weird and wonderful.
Folktober - Illustrate folk tales and legends, bringing traditional stories to life visually.
Peachtober - A challenge with daily prompts, often focusing on cute or cozy themes.
Tinktober - A twist on Inktober, focusing on creating steampunk or mechanical-themed drawings every day.
Botober - A robot-focused art challenge, similar to March of Robots, but in October.
Whimsyween - A whimsical Halloween art challenge, focusing on more playful and quirky spooky themes.
Oodtober - Draw odd or bizarre objects, scenes, or creatures each day, embracing the strange and unconventional.
Spooktober - Another Halloween-inspired challenge, with prompts dedicated to the supernatural, horror, and eerie subjects.
Creeptober - Focus on creepy, unsettling, or gothic art themes every day in October.
Witchtober - A challenge dedicated to drawing witches and magical themes throughout October.
Furrytober - A fun challenge for drawing anthropomorphic animals or characters with animal traits.

Dive into spooky art adventures with October art prompts and challenges

November art challenges

NaNoDrawMo - Draw every day in November, mirroring the writing challenge NaNoWriMo.
Huevember - Explore color in your art, focusing on a different hue each day.
Posevember - Create artworks featuring different poses each day of the month.
Quick Kick November Drawing Challenge - Daily prompts for quick, energetic sketches to kickstart creativity.
Kick Collage Challenge - Create a collage artwork each day using various materials and techniques.
Doodlewash's November Challenge - Follow daily watercolor painting prompts throughout November.
November Safari - Draw or paint a different animal each day, exploring wildlife through art.
Food Art November - Create daily artworks inspired by various foods and culinary themes.
Portrait November - Focus on creating a different portrait each day, exploring various styles and mediums.
Gouachevember - Dedicate the month to creating daily artworks using gouache paints.
Dinovember - Draw dinosaurs all month long, exploring prehistoric creatures and paleontology.
Non-Dominant November - Use your non-dominant hand to create art, challenging your skills and perception.
Novel November - Illustrate scenes from your favorite books, bringing literature to life visually.
Slowvember - A counter to fast-paced challenges, encouraging artists to take their time and focus on creating one polished piece over the month.
Movember - A mustache-themed challenge where artists incorporate mustaches into their art, often in connection to the men's health awareness movement.
Noirvember - A challenge inspired by noir films and art, with an emphasis on black-and-white or grayscale artwork with dramatic lighting.
Folktale Week - Held in late November, artists create one artwork per day based on folklore and mythological prompts.
Novembirds - A bird-themed challenge where artists focus on illustrating birds in different styles and settings.
Nebula November - Create daily space-themed artwork, with a particular focus on nebulas, stars, and cosmic phenomena.
Nightmare November - A spooky challenge continuing from October, with a focus on dark, nightmarish themes.
Nostalgia November - Draw or paint scenes or characters that bring back memories or invoke nostalgia, whether personal or pop culture-based.

Explore November's art prompts and challenges

December art challenges

Decembird - Draw a different bird each day, exploring avian diversity and characteristics.
Advent of Art (Advent Challenge) - Inspired by the Advent calendar, artists create one piece of art for each day leading up to Christmas.
Christmas Creatures - Draw a new Christmas-themed creature or character daily, blending fantasy with holiday elements.
Digital December (DigiDecember) - Focus on digital art creation, exploring various digital tools and techniques.
December Doodles - Create small, quick sketches daily, encouraging regular creative practice.
Drawcember - A simple challenge where artists create a daily drawing or sketch throughout December.
December Reflections – A reflective challenge, encouraging artists to create art that looks back at the past year or visualizes personal growth.
Elfmas – A festive challenge where artists draw elves or holiday-themed characters and scenes each day.
Cozy December – Focuses on illustrating cozy, warm, and comforting scenes, often with a winter or holiday theme.

Check out December's festive art prompts and challenges

How to Participate in Monthly Art Challenges?

Ready to dive into a monthly art challenge? Here's how to get started:

Choose your challenge: Pick one that excites you and fits your schedule.
Gather your supplies: Make sure you have what you need before the month begins.
Set realistic goals: It's okay to start small. Even 15 minutes a day counts!
Create a routine: Find a time that works for you and stick to it.
Share your work: Use the challenge hashtags on social media to connect with others.
Engage with the community: Comment on others' work and respond to feedback on yours.
Don't stress about perfection: These challenges are about progress, not perfection.
Have fun: Remember, the main goal is to enjoy the creative process!

Remember, there's no "failing" a monthly art challenge. Whether you create every day or just a few times a week, you're still making art and improving your skills. The real challenge is to enjoy the process and keep your creativity flowing.

So, are you ready to embark on your next artistic adventure? Pick a challenge, grab your art supplies, and let your creativity run wild. Who knows? You might just surprise yourself with what you create. Happy art-making!