Challenges are tests for yourself. Or the adventure that artists invent for artists. They often have no time limits and no prizes for winners. Instead, they participate in them to improve their artistic skills, to find an audience, to develop the habit of drawing every day, and for many other reasons.

One of the ways not to lose the desire to draw and feel your productivity is through art challenges. You shouldn’t need any additional incentive for your favorite work if you are a real artist.

ArtStation is one of the largest websites for professional digital media artists. Portfolio on ArtStation is the industry standard for artists working in film, game development, and concept art design.

What is an Art Challenge

In a nutshell, this task invites you to draw daily or weekly on a certain topic, dormant awakening creativity. Naturally, such tasks have specific rules: in what style you have to draw or what materials to use.

Participating in an art challenge means you do not need to think through the project to the smallest detail. You have limits, but they do not limit; on the contrary, they give freedom. You can get away from the technical details and do the task. This is a creative quest in which you must reach the end in any way convenient for you.

Why Do You Need Art Challenges?

No matter what you create pixel characters, concept art for fantasy Android games or landscapes, the hardest part is getting started. It’s like with sports: the most difficult thing is to get to the rocking chair and change clothes, and then everything goes like clockwork. But, this is what art challenges exist for – to help you cope with yourself and direct you in the right direction.

Art challenges unite artists worldwide—mass drawing and creativity in completely different techniques, where there are no winners or prizes. Instead, they are often combined thematically, and each day of the challenge is assigned a theme on which artists from different countries draw.

Challenge Rules

The task of each participant in the challenge is to reach the finish line, to get the declared result. The rules for registration and participation in the challenge are set by the person responsible for the ” challenged tasks.”The presentation of the work is just as important and often has its own judge assigned to it. The rules for participating in the challenge differ and depend on the type of challenge, but there are general rules that are typical for any challenge:

• Express your desire to participate, join or register in the group;
• Complete all tasks (sometimes using the tips) and send a photo, video, or written report;
• Failure to complete tasks in some challenges is an exit from the project.

Benefits of Challenges for Game Designers

For the gaming industry, the visual component completely affects the game’s success. For example, you may have seen the game character design immediately catching your eye when scrolling through applications and new products in the PlayMarket. The reason for this is the clever work of artists who own psychology and a graphic tablet, with the help of which they could attract the user’s attention. Oddly enough, various challenges and events also helped them in this.

For artists who work on the design of games, it is important to have experience and skills in working in different styles. Challenges, in this case, will help to recreate the working conditions on real projects in game dev. No matter what case you have behind you, there is always work to be done, especially if you work for a company that provides services in the field of design.

Whether a beginner or a pro, challenges are a great way to lighten the mood, discover new styles or learn from the best artists. Often, challenges are held under the mentorship of the largest studios so this experience will be indispensable for everyone.

Challenges: Types and Accepted Rules

Most likely, you have encountered such challenges on social networks more than once. But, of course, for an ordinary person, such work is another reason to like the author, and for such inquisitive artists like you and me, it is a reason to get interested and try one of these quests. But to get you started, here are a couple of the most popular ones.

There are tons of challenges for artists, and you can easily choose the one that suits you in terms of theme and style. But they all have one important similarity: no matter how hard you try to select an “easy” challenge, it will contain something you have never tried.

And here, whatever one may say, you will have to plunge into the wonderful world of anatomy, perspective, or color theory – depending on what task you have to solve. So, whether you like it or not, you will have to grow as an artist and become even better at your favorite pastime. Moreover, it will be much easier to do this because the format of the competition and the desire not to miss the topic of the next day will spur you on.

• The ArtStyle Challenge requires participants to draw one or more characters in different styles. It can be your characters and characters from cartoons, movies, games, comics, and other universes. In what techniques to draw – you choose. There are, of course, ready-made collages, but you can always add your own idea.
• 10 seconds, 1 minute, 10 minutes challenge. Limiting yourself in terms of time in a drawing can be very useful. This is where you can and should take action. Can you complete this challenge every day and several times?
• Drawthisinyourstile – Vlogger artists quite often launch it. On Instagram, you can find a concept art for this tag, and choose the one that suits you best.
• The 3 color challenge means you choose three colors without looking and make an illustration with them. The difficulty of creating it is that the colors may not match.
• OneLineArt – you need to draw a subject without taking your hand off the paper.
• Pinterest says that drawing is also a rather unusual challenge. The first picture this art gallery will show you will be the inspiration and reference – an additional drawing.
• Inktober is the most famous of the monthly challenges, but far from the only one. There are thematic lists of tasks for almost every month, which differ slightly. For example, a November art challenge invites you to draw in a color scheme every day. Drawloween is dedicated to Halloween, and its themes invite you to plunge into the holiday’s mysterious and slightly frightening atmosphere and scary backgrounds.
• At one time, the ToonMe challenge was popular. Its essence was to post a photo of yourself, a selfie, on top of which the second part of the face was drawn, but in its style. Now they continue to perform it, but not so actively.

In addition to the above, there are still a bunch of lists for drawing with different things or your author’s character design in all sorts of situations or clothes.

Attention to Creativity – Paths of the Professional Artist

Art challenges do not come from anywhere: they are invented by artists worldwide and invite others to join the process. Finally, you begin not just to draw on the table but to publish works for all to see by following links or tags.

As a rule, all the results of the challenges are published on social networks, blogs, or forums, which are visited by tens of thousands of unique users. First, this is the large audience of artists and the first step in becoming a prominent character in the world of creativity. The result can be different, the path of a freelance artist, or you can become part of a large game development studio.

FAQ

What are ArtStation challenges?

These are some events that the platform holds so beginners can create a portfolio for themselves, find a job, discover sponsors, interact with users in the comment section , or submit arts.

How do I join the ArtStation challenge?

Nothing but registration on the platform is required. However, there are a lot of challenges, so there will be no shortage of content.

Is character design competitive?

It is considered one of the most competitive. The reason for this is the complexity of the process itself and the demand for artists who specialize in character design.

How much does it cost to have a character designed?

The price for a photorealistic character varies from $1000-1500 and more. For characters in 2D, the price will be lower, but everything will depend on the complexity and design development.

Is character design difficult?

It all depends on the artist’s experience and the character’s style. For individual artists who mainly drew pixel characters, drawing photorealism won’t be easy.

Are concept art contests worth it?

This is a good incentive for young artists who want to show their skills and abilities through the concept art works.

What are the best art competitions to enter in 2022?

ArtStation and other platforms run contests every month. Draw 100 Something, Inktober, and Draw This In Your Style are the most popular ones.

How competitive is the concept art industry?

There are a lot of artists, so the competition is growing every quarter, especially for game character design.

How do concept artists get noticed?

Mostly because of the portfolio. The more works in different styles, the higher the chance of being noticed by game companies.

What are some challenges of 3D modeling?

Endless Journeys are one of the most popular challenges for 3D designers and artists.

What is a CG challenge?

Challenges are aimed at demonstrating skills in working with computer graphics. Major challenges are often supported by global brands or studios.

What are some artwork challenges?

Inktober, Drawloween, Game Concept Art and hundreds of other challenges, but everyone can participate

How can I practice 3D modeling?

It is often recommended to start by learning to work in Blender because it is free, including animation and does not take up much resources, and there are a lot of tutorials on it. But it’s best to download more programs and choose what you like best suits your needs.