Summer of Sketching 2016 Recap
Have you ever discovered a new passion or hobby, spent many hours practicing, only to be left feeling burnt out? This is how I felt a couple years back when I started practicing lettering every day. the problem was that I was spending too much at my drafting table, and not enough time out living life.
I started Summer of Sketching as a simple challenge to get outside, change up my environment and bring my sketchbook along with me. Since then, it has grown into a small community of artists who love bringing their craft outdoors. If you check out the hashtag today, there are 872 sketches posted! Keep in mind, back when I started this, I had a really tiny audience on Instagram. All I had to do was put this idea out there consistently, and over time it has been spreading to the right people.
If you want to build a community around an idea, you have all the tools you need to get started.
People all over the world have been making some pretty cool things for Summer of Sketching. Here are a few of my favorites including the three giveaway winners.
Simple side projects can make a significant impact.
"Summer of Sketching 2015 changed my life. It was a marker point that pushed me into new frontiers." — Catharine Mi Sook
"I have used the Summer of Sketching project to help me get out there... take each day as it comes and just enjoy the moment." —Hema Vyas
This is exactly why I decided to open it up as a public challenge — to encourage other artists to get out of their comfort zones and try new things.
Take time to experiment
On my end, I used this year's Summer of Sketching to explore a new direction for my work. I've been taking inspiration from my deep-rooted love for skateboarding, trying out a geometric illustration style to go along with my lettering. I plan to turn some of these into finished pieces in the coming weeks.
How would you improve Summer of Sketching?
I hope you enjoyed participating in (or at least observing) the project this year. I'd love to hear your feedback and thoughts about how we can improve it for next year. Thanks so much!