#drawthisinyourstyle Challenge

I follow a lot of artists on IG. I spent a lot of time just watching all the time-lapse procreate videos and reading the mini-comics. It’s probably the biggest category I spend time online browsing. One of the things I see artists doing is this #drawthisinyourstyle challenge.

I wasn’t able to find out who started it and did see one blog say that the source of the challenge has been buried deep within the internet for years.

Rules and Restrictions

From what I can gather, you just find someone who has tagged their artwork with #drawthisinyourstyle and you go for it. Whatever your style may be, remake this art in the way you would have done it.

As far as any actual rules, I wasn’t able to find any definite rules. One consistency is that people will post the original with their version for comparison and credit.

One blog stated restriction that you are not allowed to sell your #drawthisinyourstyle art. I realise that may have seemed obvious. I figured as much, but I was still curious about about the rules. It would have been efficient to be able to do a challenge and also add the art to your shop.

The Benefits of the #drawthisinyourstyle challenge

With the above in mind, it could seem like a waste of time if you’re attempting to actually make some money from your art. Time doing the challenge could very well be spent on artwork that you do have rights to sell. It’s definitely what I would like to do, but here’s why I’m pushing to do more of these:

It’s Fun

Ok, so duh, right? But again, it’s not exactly the best use of time when you’re trying to fill a portfolio of sellable content. Yet, everyone knows how beneficial it is to give your brain a break and take the pressure off once in a while.

What’s great about #drawthisinyourstyle is that if you have a creative block, the reference art is already provided for you. Just choose one that you like and go with it. It relieves the frozen terror some of us feel at a blank page. Some of us open a sketchbook or app and just kinda… stare at it wondering WHAT to draw.

This gives us our jumping-off point, where the biggest blocks can happen.

It Helps Define Your Style

#drawthisinyourstyle challenge doesn’t restrict you. You can do it analogue or digital, anime or American, line-art or watercolour. It begs you to interpret it so that you’re not mimicking, but a reimagining.

I have been working in the Fashion Industry for many years and I’m often making some type of art. Branding, apparel design, packaging design, layouts… And I can do those well. But when it came to my first #drawthisinyourstyle challenge, I was stumped.

It was enjoyable picking my jumping off point (the original art). I thought it would be easy. It turned out that I had a couple of false starts before I found one that I really fell into. Even that one had a lot of erasing and undoing before I landed on the finished product.

I realised while in the challenge that I couldn’t remember my style. My career kept me busy learning how to adjust myself to the branding guidelines of others. My own personal artwork lacked its own personality because of this.

I kept trying to make it everything it wasn’t and was forcing a certain style for a while until I realized the art had a mind of its own. It’s quite possible that the end result is my style, but I think it was just where it wanted to begin. I feel like I have a lot of evolution to do, but it’s helping me find my way.

It’s No Pressure

This challenge wasn’t set up to have a winner, really. Maybe some IG artists will use it to pick someone for a giveaway or another promo, but this challenge is really just there to share within a community.

I think it actually encourages you to toss the rules out the window and create art outside of the box because the challenge isn’t about learning how to make art like others or to match their style. This is all about you and how you see another piece of artwork.

It’s a nice way to get out of your own head and out of the strict rules of the internet and all its privacy policies. You can draw this as close to or as far off from the source material as you like. It’s up to you how far you want to deviate from the original, but have fun with it and seek out the path that feels yours.

The Final Product

I have to say that this wasn’t without its challenges. I have watched artists create amazing drawings in one sitting (albeit in a timelapse, but still) and this took me a little over four days to accomplish.

There were little things I started to notice every time I thought I was done. Sometimes, it felt a little too flat and I would notice some shading that I just didn’t see before. The challenge allowed me to pause and look at the details.

Why did theirs shine so brightly and have such dimension compared to mine? It would be at those moments that I would notice a blush on their cheeks, extra shadows around her shoulders, and a glow all around her that made the difference.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone, whether they feel like an artist or not. It expands your mind and vision just a little bit further and the results are a piece of artwork you can be proud of.

Also, just because you can’t sell it online doesn’t mean you can’t print one out for yourself and hang it up in your own home. Maybe someone will be inclined to ask where you purchased it.

With that in mind, check out my Society6 shop if you’d like to see some of my original artwork. Add me on Instagram and I’ll let you know of upcoming sales!