Day 5 #oneweek100people2017: Thankyou!

March 10, 2017 | 8 Comments

LizSteel-oneweek100people2017-Day5a
I started the final day of the #oneweek100people 2017 challenge with only 6 sketches left to do. But of course my intention was to keep going! And I had a huge day so I ended up with a total of 138 plus 13 research sketches (done from phots at home). So a grand total of 151.

On Thursday night, despite being extremely tired, I sketched a few friends. These sketches were examples of reflex sketching and as such, I was happy with them. Even more satisfying was the fact that I was very relaxed doing them. How to sketch my friends without them feeling self-conscious is another matter!

LizSteel-oneweek100people2017-Day5b
Today I had to go into the city to prepare for my 10 x 10 workshop and also to teaching another architect’s workshop. So this was my collection…

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I just want to finish up this challenge with a few words of thankyou to everyone who has been part of it. Marc and I have been talking about doing a challenge together for a number of years and I knew that this was going to be special. However, I wasn’t prepared for how empowering it has been for me and many others.

Regardless of what your final number was, I hope that this exercise has inspired you to keep going, to practice and also to do some serious research in order to make significant progress!


Day 5 Tip: Getting to the end of the challenge is great, but it is just the beginning! Keep it up!


This week has shown how much a dedicated commitment to ‘showing up and doing the work’ can achieve, but also on the other hand how there needs to be something more in order to overcome weaknesses and bad habits. (Aside: this is why I always try to combine theory with lots of practice and why my courses/classes are normally fairly in-depth)

I hope you have also been keeping up with Marc’s masterclasses over on his blog.

The two huge things for me this week have been:

  1. Seeing everyone make progress within a mere 5 days. Ah! it’s been so good! Thank you to everyone that has shared their work (and tagged me) this week. I have been trying to keep up with it all, but haven’t had a chance to comment on most of it. It gives me something to look through next week.
  2. Creating a safe environment for people to post everything they have done – including ‘ugly’ sketches. Social media has become much more curated these days, and there is a pressure to only post ‘good’ work. This week has been liberating to see people posting everything. I don’t know about you, but I have found it incredibly inspiring.

I am going to have a sabbatical next week, but after that I want to come back and review how I went with my goals.

But until then – keep sketching and have fun!

 

8 Comments

  • Carmela Sunnyvale says:

    Thank you & Marc for organizing this challenge. I appreciate your posts on how you organize yourself by setting learning goals. You are such an inspiration.
    I will have drawn 30 people by the end of today. Yes, I have made progress and even tried sketching in ink which is a hurdle for me–and I’m even getting comfortable with wonkiness!. Cafes seem to be the easiest venue. I plan to try the my local library and its patio next, now that it has stopped raining for awhile.

  • Michael Geissler says:

    I also want to thank you for this challenge – and it was a challenge! But I managed to get the full 100, finishing with a sketch of myself in a full length mirror. At last, the model who does exactly what I want.
    The library was the best venue, closely followed by the local shopping center. I sketched someone actually using a pay phone.
    As you say, now the challenge is to keep going.

  • Wow…you really were on a roll! Great job, Liz. Many thanks to you and Marc for this inspiring challenge. I really enjoyed taking part and I think all the practice drawing people was helpful. It seemed like most days it took me a sketch or two to get back into the groove. Like anything else I think sketching people should be practiced more often by most of us. I may try to do a page of people every once in a while to keep my people skills sharp. I will have to go and look at some of the other postings. Some days I was able to look at posts and some days I just ran out of time. Thanks again!

  • Pam Cunningham says:

    I learned sooooo very much this past week.. Drawing people has never been a strong point with me, but the challenge that you and Marc hosted was a great opportunity to learn more..I have to admit , it was exhausting. especially near the end, but it was a wonderful experience .Thanks!

  • Tina M Koyama says:

    Congrats, Liz! You and Marc have been an inspiration (as always)! I’m really happy that you mentioned the point about people posting everything, even their “bad” sketches. I agree totally that sometimes beginners (all of us, really!) get intimidated because they think that what they see on social media is everyone’s “daily” work, when, in fact, it may be very carefully selected work — and the rest of the 90% is never shared. No one is expected to do their best work when they have to crank out 100 sketches in 5 days, so it shows a much more realistic view of what daily (ordinary) sketching looks like. Bravo to all of us who took part!

  • Lisa Layton says:

    Thank you Liz for the challenge, I completed the challenge with an hour to spare and 68/100 were drawn from life. This challenge pushed me to go and sit on my own in cafes and sketch the people round me something that I’ve not done before, scarey but I did it! Having seen the improvement in my drawings over the week I am considering doing a oneweek100carchallenge next as I tend to avoid putting them in my sketches as I find them too tricky!

  • Susan Anderson says:

    Thank you Liz. Looking over my sketches, I have a nice bank of ideas and base drawings for future paintings and other projects. I want to keep going and not be afraid to work in public. Hope to do more challenges in the future!

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