Art & Creative Challenges For January

If you need some help getting started this year, these creative challenges and prompts are sure to inspire you. It’s not too late to join in and if January is a busy time you can always pick and choose a few days through the month or even save them for later in the year.

Amy at Cakes With Faces has brought back her Japanuary challenge for Instagram with daily prompts. Share your photos and memories from past Japan trips or your plans and dreams for a future trip. You can also use the prompts for art or writing projects – I made a Japanuary zine one year.

Spoonflower & Ello Lovey are back with a new set of Doodle-A-Day prompts for 2024. These can be used with any art medium or for digital art and I love that they’ve also created an optional colour palette to get you started. There’s some prizes to win too if you’re inspired to create some surface patterns for Spoonflower’s fabric yardage and home products.

Emma shared some new year journaling ideas yesterday but if you want more, Rainbowholic’s Kawaii Journaling Community has a new Kawaii Journaling 2024 Challenge with prompts for the new year. There’s no pressure here as you can pick your favourites and take your time. You can also join the Facebook group for advice and inspiration.

Or set yourself up for the whole year with A Year of Planning, which has a prompt for every week in 2024! There’s some really interesting ideas here that are great for both beginners and anyone who needs new inspiration. They’ll be posting on Instagram each week with more details on each week’s theme – here’s week one.

The January Challenge from 64millionartists.com has 31 creative prompts, each designed by different people and communities across the UK. It looks like a great way for people of all ages and backgrounds to express your creativity and even find new ways to get involved in your local community. Even if you’re not in the UK, you can still use the prompts.

The Winter Celebration Drawing Challenge has prompts to celebrate the magic of Winter and they make me feel very cosy! It’s hosted by a group of artists including @inestheunicorn – check out all the other artists taking part to see what they all make.

Whimsuary is also back with a new set of prompts to celebrate everything that is whimsical and hopeful about the new year. It’s hosted by a group of artists including @diggitigirl and there’s a @whimsuary Instagram account where they’ll share art throughout the month.

You can also use some of the prompts we shared last year in October Art Prompts & Challenges and June Art Prompts To Join And Follow.