30 fun drawing prompts and art collaboration ideas
Want to get creative but not sure what to draw or where to start? Try our 30-day drawing challenge and get tips and ideas for creating art with other people!
You are viewing: Pro artist Victoria’s art collaboration tips
Hi, I’m Nicola, one of the Teenage Cancer Trust Youth Support Coordinators in Scotland. We’ve created 30 days of drawing prompts for you to get creative and have some fun! We’d LOVE to see what you come up with – tag us @teenage_cancer #30daychallenge
We’ve included a few days that you might want to try drawing in collaboration with someone else.
How to set up a collaborative drawing project
- Decide who is going to be involved. Can you all sit together? Are your going to send something in the post – maybe a shared sketchbook? Can you email the art back and forth?
- Decide what art materials you are going to use. You might all use different materials and that’s ok. Work with what you have.
- Decide a theme or topic to draw to (use our list of prompts to give you some ideas).
- Keep passing the work around until the pages are full or the pieces feel like they’re finished.
Top collaborative drawing tips
- Each person should start a new drawing and draw a little bit on each theme around the page – remember to leave plenty of space for others to add to your drawing.
- We suggest choosing only 3 or 4 colours. This will help your finished piece look more cohesive.
- You might also be able to try a similar set up with creative writing!
You don’t have to be great at drawing to take part in a collaborative drawing challenge. This might be something that you do to develop your drawing skills, but you can also try a creative challenge like this just for fun.
Some of our favourite drawings are filled with all sorts of funny mistakes. Ever seen a bird with four legs? Well we have – it can be great fun to laugh at these wonky drawings together!
If you don’t feel up to our daily drawing challenge, why not try out some of these fun drawing games with your family and friends instead:
- Draw Something app
- Pass It On! app
- Pictionary board game
Pro artist Victoria’s art collaboration tips
Victoria was treated on one of our units in Scotland, and is now working as a professional artist after graduating in Illustration and Printmaking. Here’s what she had to say about the benefits of working with other people to create art…
“My work varies a lot in style and really depends on my mood – but mainly focusses on my surroundings and daily life.
I have always struggled with finding my “style” and how my artwork compares to others. As a printmaker, I usually would work within a studio with lots of different equipment and people; but since graduating, I no longer have that studio space available to me. I really struggled to adapt to making art without the studio around me. I was so used to working in the same place surrounded by others, that working alone in my house left me a bit uneasy.
However, in the past year I have rediscovered my love for drawing just with a piece of paper and a pencil and found that there are different ways to work with others from my own house.
Collaboration is a term used to describe two artists putting their work together to make a new artwork – something I love doing as an artist. It doesn’t matter if it’s a friend, a family member or someone close by – with the use of technology nowadays anything is possible!
Collaboration is a great way to expand your knowledge and skills as an artist. By working collaboratively, you get the opportunity to see how other artists work and how their style – whether different or similar to yours – can harmonise with your own work. One of the greatest benefits is to see the process others use to make their artwork. As an artist myself, this is one of my favourite things to learn when working with others – and most of the time, how I learn my new techniques.
Art is all about expressing how you see things, and by working collaboratively you not only get to express yourself but see how other artists view the world around you.
Here are some tips on how to set up a collaboration:
- Research - Find an artist or friend which you are interested in and like the art they make.
- Idea - On a piece of paper, write down some ideas you’d like to make with the help of someone else. It could be something as simple as a drawing you want to do, or even as big as a full project. No matter how extravagant they are, write them down anyway!
- Communicate - Approach the other artist in a way you feel comfortable – email, phone, message or write a letter. Introduce yourself and explain your vision.
For example:
Hello, my name is _________. I am an artist and would love to collaborate with you to create ___________________. If this sounds like something you would like to work with me to do, please let me know. Many thanks, look forward to hearing from you, _____________.
(Don’t get disheartened if you don’t get a reply. Most artists and creators are very busy and if they do not reply, it is not a reflection of your work, but just their time.) - Get started! - If you and your friend or fellow artist are both keen to work together, then get going! Arrange how you will keep in touch, discuss ideas and see what both your ideas are. Be willing to compromise from your initial ideas so that you can find a middle ground for both your ideas to come together. Listen to one another and most importantly – enjoy!”
Thanks Victoria! Check out some of Victoria’s work over at www.vjsanches.com or on Instagram: @vjs_art