Enrichment · Arts & Creativity

Something to draw
and a reason to look.

Each challenge gives you a subject, a twist that makes you see it differently and a material to use. Pick how long you have and the themes you like, and the timer gives you time to look before you draw.

Get a challengeWhat you get

Deal a set of drawing challenges

The worked example is made up: a week of 5-minute sketches and an art club set. Saved on this device only.

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What you get

Enrichment · Arts & CreativityFree

What you finish with
A set of 3, 6 or 9 drawing challenges, each a subject, a twist for the time you have and a material, with a look-then-draw timer, starred and done challenges, and notes.
Who it is for
Students and young artists of any age, art teachers and clubs, homeschool families and adults keeping a sketchbook habit.
Format
Browser challenge generator with saved sets and a timer. Prints the challenges to cut out or as a list; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
Free. No account, no sign-in and nothing to install. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Arts & Creativity space in Caveat Enrichment.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Pick how long you have and, if you like, a theme or two.
  2. Swap any challenge you cannot set up right now, such as a subject you cannot see.
  3. Open one in the present view and start the timer: look first, then draw.
  4. Mark it done, and star the ones worth doing again.
  5. Keep the sketches together and add a note about what you noticed.

Get a challenge

Why timed, specific challenges work

Three lengths, three kinds of twistLengthThe twist trainsExample5-minute sketchSpeed and lookingOne line, never lift the pencil15-minute drawingLight, shadow and shapeDraw only the shadows30-minute pieceComposition and ideasAs a four-panel comicThree lengths, three kinds of twist5-minute sketchThe twist trains: Speed and lookingExample: One line, never lift the pencil15-minute drawingThe twist trains: Light, shadow and shapeExample: Draw only the shadows30-minute pieceThe twist trains: Composition and ideasExample: As a four-panel comic
Drawn for this page. Short timed sketches build observation; longer pieces leave room for planning a composition.

Looking is the skill

Most of drawing is looking. Twists such as drawing without watching the paper, or drawing only the shadows, stop you from drawing the symbol in your head and make you draw what is in front of you.

Short and often

A five-minute sketch a day adds up faster than one long drawing a month. The time limit also takes the pressure off: nobody expects a finished piece in five minutes.

Drawing helps you remember

Drawing is not only for art class. In memory experiments, people who drew words recalled more of them than people who wrote them out, so sketching works as a study habit too.

Sources

  1. Wammes, J. D., Meade, M. E., & Fernandes, M. A. (2016). The drawing effect (seven free-recall experiments). Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 69(9), 1752 to 1776. doi:10.1080/17470218.2015.1094494
  2. Edwards, B. Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. Contour and blind contour drawing as exercises in observation.
  3. Nicolaides, K. (1941). The Natural Way to Draw. Houghton Mifflin. Contour and gesture drawing in short timed sessions.
  4. National Core Arts Standards, Visual Arts: Creating (practice, experimentation with materials and media) (nationalartsstandards.org).

Challenges combine lists written for this page; the example sets are made up. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.