This past Monday began The Great Discontent’s 100 Day Project. The purpose was to do a creative exercise everyday for 100 days. Some people do songs, others do art, photography, make videos. The point behind it was to not focus on the end result, but on the creative process. See what influences you when you’re focused on a single project and watch your improvement.
Since I’m learning hand lettering, I decided to combine that with my immense love of world travel. I am doing 100 days of Travel Lettering (see hashtag #100DaysofTravelLettering on my Instagram account, @noeldolangd). I am drawing the names of countries, cities, states that either I have visited and loved or are on my bucket list as must-sees before I die. The project has to be manageable since it’s so lengthy, and I feel illustrating a single word every day is something I can fit into my busy schedule.
I’m trying to work on the process part and mix styles and try new things. Some days I include a visual that goes with the location (i.e., I did the Golden Gate Bridge for San Francisco and the curved end of a gondola for Venice) and others I just draw the letters (like Morocco). So far, I see my lettering improving a bit, but more importantly, I’m learning that I have time to draw every day. It’s a good creative exercise for me and great for relaxing.
I’m enjoying viewing other participants’ projects as well. There is so much talent and creativity in this world. I like the ones where artists take everyday objects like post-it notes, matchbooks, napkins, etc and make them canvases for their art. They are producing some gorgeous sketches. I love how encouraging it is and that people are taking risks to try new mediums, new processes and share their work out in the open.
It’s not too late to join! Get on Instagram and start following #The100DayProject and my hashtag, #100DaysofTravelLettering.