Keep a Drawing Challenge Free of Scores
The word challenge can describe an invitation to try another idea rather than a competition. A score is unnecessary when the useful result is noticing different interpretations.
A separate activity to try
Choose a prompt and agree on a comfortable endpoint. One drawing, a rough outline, or a spoken idea may be enough. A timer can be omitted if it makes the artist feel rushed.
Look at the next choice
When comparing pictures, ask what was added or changed. Avoid judging the drawing by how closely it resembles another person’s work. A reference lesson can have a demonstrated result; an invention prompt does not need one.
Decide whether to continue
An artist can keep, change, or abandon an idea. These are choices within a creative session rather than failures to complete the task. The blank sketchbook is a separate option for someone who simply wants room to continue experimenting.
Use a published book for another starting task
How to Draw: Sketchbook offers use the blank space for reference practice or independent ideas. Compare that task with Shape Drawing Challenge’s repeated outlines and open-ended responses. The practice suggestions in this article are website-created activities, not additional printed features being claimed for either book.
Keep the next idea open
Shape Drawing Challenge gives artists 16 repeated beginnings, six illustrated examples per shape, and room for 480 independently chosen drawings.