312in366 Art Challenge Rules and Guidelines

To keep this fun and creative, the rules are few. Orchestrate too much and you'll stifle creativity, but there does need to be some structure. I'll start with the rules.

1. Draw every day possible. Don't worry if you miss a day, you can make it up later if you want to. I won't throw you out, but try to stick to the daily drawings. 
2. Ten-minute artwork must be done on paper or canvas. NO computer art. It is quite possible to be creative and artistic on the computer--beautiful pictures have been made on computers--but this is to be a paper/canvas/cardboard/etc. challenge. Pretty much anything except for computer-done and graffiti.
3. No plagiarism! You can be inspired from other people's work, you can do studies on it. But do NOT try to pass it off as original: ALWAYS give credit where credit is due. 
4. Encourage one another and build each other up! (1st Thessalonians 2:11)
5. Ten Minutes. Max. Stop at the ten minute mark, put down your pencil, close your book! You can keep drawing later, but it's a new picture each day. And each day you get 10 minutes, no more for that picture!  That was the original rule, but I may have broken it a bit...By about 50 minutes...SO. I talked to a few others taking the challenge, and decided to change it to: Draw at least ten minutes a day. I didn't want to just up the time-limit, because some people may not be able to draw 20 minutes a day, or I might have a day with only 10 spare minutes. So, 10 minutes is now the minimum. You may want to write beside the picture how long it did take you, so at the end of the year you can add up all those minutes!

And here are the guidelines. It's just a list on how I plan on doing this challenge, but you can do it with these or your own! Please let me know what guidelines you'd add or change, I'll put them in here to help others.

• Pick a time where you won't be too rushed. After the kids are in bed or before they get up, when you're on break at work, instead of watching that silly T.V. show. Whatever time works for you. I don't know yet when that will be for me, I guess I'll find out in January!
• Buy yourself a decent sketchbook. I like spiral bound, because it doesn't fall apart as easily. I also suggest that you use a 90 lb or 140 lb paper if you plan on using water-based paints. Any lighter weight than 90 and the paper will start to buckle (even 90 is pushing it for me!). The one I plan on using, unless I find a better one, is a 100 page book, so I'll be dividing the pages in half and using both sides. 
• Sit in a spot where you won't be continuously interrupted. 
• Find an idea, then set the timer for 10 minutes. As soon as the time is up, close your book--you're done! If you want to draw more after that, I would suggest using a different paper or book. In 2013, I want to have a book with 312 drawings in it, each one done in 10 minutes. By doing that you may see some progression as the months go by.

I'm sure I'll add some more as we get closer to the kick off, but those are the main ones. 

By the end of 2012, you'll have spent a total of 2 days and 4 hours on 312 different projects. Won't that be something to brag about!

~Laura~