Artist in Scotland (was on the Isle of Skye, now in Aberdeenshire)
Whether you use it for a daily little drawing or painting, a word to use in a micro-story or a poem, I hope my free printable word prompt charts from a couple of years ago (see this blog) might be an enjoyable distraction amidst all the uncertainty and social distancing.
The printable monthly sheets: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December.
Whose 2019 New Year’s resolutions included the one about drawing every day? Well, let Tessa and Eddie who completed all 12 months of drawing word prompts in 2018 be an inspiration, who’ve proved to us that it can be done. Thanks to everyone else who participated through the year and let us see your drawings.
So, for the 12th time, here are some December Word Prompt Sheets for you to enjoy, and my thanks for sharing! Once again, all sorts of intriguing responses!
From Eddie, who said: “The exercises throughout the year have been fun and challenging in equal measure.”
From Tessa, who has written a blogpost about doing it, see Jumpstart a drawing habit.
And from Tessa’s grand-daughter, Amelia, her completed November sheet: 
And here’s everyone’s from the year.
If you look at these charts and, like me, wish you’d persevered with yours, don’t beat yourself up about it but pick it up again. Even if you only did a week that’s still more than someone who only got as far as thinking about it.
To see all the related posts: Drawing Word Prompts Category
Buy online: Art Workbook: 365 Word Prompts to Create a Daily Drawing Habit
The printable monthly sheets: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December.
Another month of intriguing and imaginative drawings in response to the word prompts! My thanks to Tessa, Eddie and Margaret for sharing your creativity and tenacity.
Tessa’s chart. I love how dancing (19) extends into the other blocks, extending the joy of dancing across rigid lines.
From Eddie: “Here is my attempt for this month. Some were quite challenging but all were fun.” I love the black ink used in (2) and (3) for the sense of smoke, making my mind wonder whether it was the candle that caused the fire that led to the smoke. I think my favourite is (13) camouflage though, as it made me look really closely!
From Margaret: “I think my rabbit (28) is off on an adventure. Deliberately went carton like on the fire engine (4) and steam train (17). Took some time to come up with the idea for the reflective (14) but felt very clever when I did.”
I agree, Margaret, an inspired and clever 14! I hadn’t realised the potential at all when I created the grid. I also love Rabbit (28) + Several (27).
There’s still time to get started with December’s chart!
A little late because I was off-island for a workshop without my computer, but here are some Word Prompt Drawing Charts for October. My thanks to everyone for sharing, it really is fascinating looking at all the drawings, all the ideas from the same word. My favourites include Eddie’s #18 Jam-packed, Tessa’s #14 Stranger, Amelie’s #8 Hedgehog and #24 Beanstalk, and Margaret’s #28 Phonia. That one of the #12 chickens is presented as dinner also caught my eye!
From Eddie, who said: “Some of these had me scratching my head.”
From Tessa, working in black ink “with touches of colour”.
And from Amelie (age 7), Tessa’s granddaughter:
From Margaret, who said: “Struggled with phobia until I realised that there were quite a few items on the sheet that could be phobias — so the pink squiggly thing is supposed to be a brain.”
If you’d like to have a go with November’s word prompt chart, you can download it here. I also still have some copies of my book version available, buy online here.
Ready for another month of drawing prompts? Here’s
November’s chart!
My mind is currently bouncing with hopes and anxieties about next week’s workshop at Higham Hall, and I may only get photos of October’s word prompt charts posted after that, but do send them in!
Another month of beautiful and inspiring results!
From Jerry: “Some good words for creative thought.”
From Tessa: “The yoyo had to be big to cover a mark made by chocolate. Looking forward to October’s one and the rest of the chocs.”
From Eddie: “Lots of interesting stuff as usual.”
From Margaret: “This month quite a few of my drawing went outside the lines. I thought about doing an A3 chart but then I’d get too detailed so I’m spreading where required. I think my animals are getting better and I like my dragonfly (7). My rhino (24) looks a little smooth and friendly. I’ve also learned what a kudu is (10). Not sure that my yoyo (29) would even yo. Printer’s printing Oct sheet as I write.”
And mine. For which I am fighting the urge to write defensive words about why so many blocks are empty and why I’ve used mostly just black pen, but that’s not in the spirit of this challenge, it’s about the doing more days than not to whatever level. I realised looking at the photo that I didn’t follow through the thought of punching a pencil through the page for “torn” (6). :
October’s word prompt chart can be downloaded here.
Thanks for sharing everyone, and have fun with October’s!
From Jerry: “Fun!!”
From Margaret: “21 thinking is the position I found myself in thinking how to draw thinking. I think my alien 13 and my octopus 7 are related. The animals look a bit grumpy as I was when a found a number 27 deposited in the middle of the front garden last week. Lastly I have no idea why my suitcase 7 is dancing.”
From Eddie: “Lots of interesting subjects this month.”
From Tessa:
Lots of interesting drawings! I find myself fascinated that three poodles are facing to the left and one to the right. Dominant hand influence maybe? Thanks for sharing!
Where’s mine? Well it wasn’t in its usual spot in the corner of the table, and I must have scooped it up with something when I was tidying up and sorting out last week, so I’m going to have to go with “the studio cat ate my homework”.
You’ll find September’s word-prompt sheet here. Have fun!
You’ll find September’s word-prompt sheet here. Have fun!
And don’t forget to send photos of your August word prompt pages — I’ll be posting them in a blog tomorrow on Tuesday. Don’t worry if you haven’t done every block, the aim is more days than not, but every single one counts!
If you’ve been enjoying these drawing prompts, how about giving a friend a copy of my book version? Take a look…
Are you ready for August’s word prompt chart? You’ll find it here. For inspiration and motivation, here are four completed July charts:
From Karen, who says: “The calendar words make me think outside the box.”
— I love the connection of 19 and 20 through the nursery rhyme!
From Tessa, who says: ” I?m pleased with the cat. The waiter went pear shaped.”
— The waiter looks like she’s in that precarious moment where you wonder if it’s going to crash (go pear shaped) or be niftily slid onto the table!?
From Eddie, who says: “There are some interesting challenges this month which caused some head-scratching but were fun to do.”
— I think 16 is a particularly inspired idea!
From Margaret, who says: “Have to admit to a bit of Googleing to help with some of the images — in particular the piranha — well we don’t have any piranhas in Cumbria that I’m aware of. We do have a few standing stones in Cumbria so that one was soon put together. I was stuck on Mum and Dad when my arty pals suggested the male / female symbols and a family tree.”
— I think the family tree idea is an inspired bit of thinking!
My thanks to everyone for sharing (and do email yours if you haven’t yet). Look forward to seeing what August’s chart brings.
A key moment in this little seascape, which I finished yesterday and an very pleased with, was through happenstance.
I had a bit of dark acrylic ink on a brush from another painting I was working on that I didn’t want to waste, so impulsively applied it to the texture paste of base the mountains and foreground, then put it aside again. Next day I noticed and loved the result. (I later added some lighter tones on top.)
But I can’t remember now if it were sepia or Payne’s grey, and so will have to try both. Maybe it was a bit of both? I know these two colours are the only possibilities because these ink bottles were on the table next to my palette — I tend to have only those colours I’m using on the top. It’s not a problem, but an excuse to play with colour to figure out how to do it again. It was also a reminder of the joys of glazing vs opaque paint.
And here’s another June Word Prompts Chart, from Tessa who says: “I like the way one idea generates another and I find links between the boxes. I quite like doing a catch-up batch. I enjoy doing them in pen with dashes of colour.”
I particularly like the way you’ve combined 5 Snake and 6 Danger Tessa!