The 100 Day Project

by Lydia Makepeace

Illustration by Elle Luna via The Great Discontent

Wanna learn the #1 secret to being a prolific artist, designer, writer..? It’s profoundly simple.

Create something small every day.

or nearly ;)

All creatively productive people have something in common - they have a routine and have made their work an everyday habit. This is such a simple concept that it’s easy to overlook. You don’t have to have hours and hours of time or loads of inspiration. In fact, most of the time you won’t. The power lies in doing a little something - often.

I used this powerful concept to create 106 watercolor paintings last year! Sounds pretty impressive, right?! In reality, I was experiencing the painter’s version of writer’s block and was becoming paralyzed by fear anytime I approached my paint and brushes. So I decided that no matter what I would put some paint on some paper, even if it was just one brushstroke, every day. This habit lead to the most productive year I’ve ever experienced creatively. Not every painting was beautiful and some were very small, only 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches, but as I like to say, “You can’t make any good paintings if you’re not painting."

One of my goals this year is to keep the momentum going, which is why I was really excited to come across the 100-Day Project on one of my favorite blogs, The Great Discontent. It’s super simple - choose one action and do it every day for 100 days. I haven’t made a final decision about what I’ll do, but I like the idea of doing 100 self portraits...

The 100-Day Project officially starts on April 6th. There’s still time for you to choose an action and take part! Details below -

Visit The Great Discontent blog to learn even more about the 100-Day Project - www.thegreatdiscontent.com/interview/elle-luna-100-day-project