Home » The Rhythm Of The Challenge – My 31-in-31 2022 Experience
I’m not going to lie to you, staying the course of a 31-day challenge isn’t easy. But having done our 31-pastels-in-31-days Challenge for seven (!) years in a row, I now know that there’s a rhythm to it, a rhythm to the challenge.
Let’s have a look at that rhythm and how it relates to the work I did this year. Although I’ve been posting my paintings from the Challenge on my Instagram and Facebook accounts, you may not have seen my Challenge body of work yet. I’ve had curious requests to see all the paintings!
About the 31-in-31 Challenge
The challenge is about a daily practice. Daily work means taking action which means moving forward. I think success in this 31-in-31 Challenge is putting pastel to paper each and every day. This means letting go of a hoped for or expected outcome, namely a finished painting that makes you smile and garners likes from friends and followers. It means being satisfied with (and learning from) every mark you make. Every mark you make is a mark more than you did yesterday.
Part of what helps us move through the Challenge is the company we keep – being accountable to someone or a group (like the HowToPastelFacebook group). Another part is the commitment to ourselves, to give ourself permission and encouragement to paint every day for 31 days.
The Rhythm of the Challenge
This is the rhythm of the challenge for me but I think it may be true for many participants.
Generally when we start the Challenge we’re gung ho! Yes! Let’s do this!! We have a determination to do this thing! And so for a week or so we dive in with energy and enthusiasm and paint daily. Around the end of the first week or 10 days in, it all starts to get a bit harder. We’ve lost that initial thrust of power that we had at the start of the Challenge. I think this is the time some participants may be tempted to give up. But for those who push through, it will be worth it.
By the end of thesecond week going into the third week, the thing that can help keep you on course is the wall behind you. This is where you see work accumulating whether finished or not, successful or not. It’s a huge motivator to keep going. And by now, we need all the help we can get!
Often the challenge means putting other things on the back burner. It means sacrificing other things to make room for this daily painting practice. The rhythm of the Challenge means perhaps others have to assume some of the duties, responsibilities, errands that are normally ours. We may start to feel guilty about that or use it as an excuse to quit the Challenge. Yet this is a gift from those who love us and are supporting our decision to do the 31–in-31 Challenge and we owe it to their generosity to keep going! So we push on!
Sometimes life intercedes and it really can get difficult to put pastel to paper. I certainly had that happen a few times during the 31-day rhythm of the challenge. But I found ways to work around or with these life interludes. It’s easy to use these as an excuse to miss a few days. The thing is that each piece you do doesn’t have to be large. It can be small, fast, furious, merely marks. So no excuses!
And that last week – where does it fit into the rhythm of the challenge? We get a surge of yes-I-can energy to complete the course. Now is not the time to quit, that’s what we tell ourselves. We’ve come too far to give up now! Now we know what we’re capable of and we want to prove to ourselves that we can indeed complete the 31-day Challenge.
My Work Within The Rhythm of the Challenge
So let me take you through some of my pieces and share how they relate to the rhythm I’ve just described. (Most pieces are still available from me. At the end of next week, a number of them will head to Peninsula Gallery. If you’re interested in any, just let me know!)
Initially, I wasn’t even sure I was going to do the Challenge this year as quite a bit was going on. But as the start day neared, I reminded myself what a useful and satisfying experience it is. Cam and I were on Salt Spring Island staying at a friend’s house. Since I wasn’t in my studio, I decided to work en small plein air (from life) on small pieces. Definitely feeling rusty at the start!
(By the way, all of these images have been taken with my iPhone so may not be as accurate as they could be.)
Gail Sibley, “The Two of Us,” Unison Colour pastels on UART 600, 5 1/2 x 8 1/4in. Available. $250. The two roses, one on its way out, one just about to open, caught my attention. But it was the graphic simplicity of dark leaves and their corresponding cast shadow that stopped me to paint. I wanted to keep a loose abstracted quality to the piece.Gail Sibley, “Poppy Riot,” Unison Colour pastels on UART 600, 7 1/2 x 5 1/4 in. Available. $225. Tricky thing with California Poppies- the flowers and foliage, although different in hue, are very similar in value! So the value contrast needs to be “found” elsewhere.Gail Sibley, “Calm As Can Be,” Unison Colour pastels on UART 600, 4 1/4 x 8 1/4 in. Available. $150. A very high key painting and a good test for my set of Unison Colour pastels! There was a slight pinky yellow that contrasted with the turquoise blue, so fun to play with!Gail Sibley, “Last Light, Last Night,” Unison Colour pastels on UART 600, 8 1/4 x 6 1/4 in. Available. $225.
Back home in the comfort of my studio, I jumped right into continuing my Dog Walker series. I’d been looking forward to working on these for sometime. There are a LOT of people walking their dogs here in my neighbourhood and in Victoria in general!
Gail Sibley, Last Walk (Dog Walker series), Unison Colour pastels on UART 400, 6 x 6 in. Available. $225. While I was painting this, a dear friend passed away in hospital. Bettie was a dog lover and I feel this painting of a figure (albeit a man) and dog companion walking towards the light expresses something of her journey to another possibility of existence.Gail Sibley, “Heading Home After Play (Dog Walker series),” Unison Colour pastels on UART 400, 6 x 6 in. Available. $225. I have a favourite walk I do after I visit the library on Saturday afternoons. This time, I met a man and his dog at the pedestrian crossing. They’d just come from playing ball on the beach. I loved the feeling of companionship and also the sidelight.Gail Sibley, “Threesome (Dog Walker series),” Unison Colour pastels on UART 400, 6 x 6 in. Available. $225. Evening begins and this man and his dog head home before full dark falls. I liked the symmetry of man, dog, and bicycle. Also what attracted me was the light-coloured dog against the darkly dressed man both set off against a greying landscape except where the sun still could reach. Gail Sibley, “The Orange Coat (Dog Walker series),” Unison Colour pastels on UART 400, 6 x 6 in. Available. $225. Rather than use the dull colours in the reference photo, and following my thumbnail value plan, I started in with intense colours and decided to keep them that way rather than dull them. Love the way this came out!Gail Sibley, “Heading For The Hydrant (Dog Walker series),” Unison Colour pastels on UART 500 paper, 6 x 6 in. Available $225. Another dog walker, this time complete with umbrella on a wet day. I loved that the dog was heading for the hydrant – typical dog behaviour lol. I couldn’t resist!
Then finally I was ready to start painting more work in the Gallery Goer series. This is, for sure, a passion subject of mine. I love painting a person looking at a painting and discovering and expressing something visual that connects them.
Gail Sibley, “Stripes and Checks (Gallery Goers series),” Unison Colour on UART 400, 12 x 8 in. Available. $600. I’ve been wanting to do this for sometime (my thumbnail for it was done last October). My hesitation was around the regularity of the stripes of this painting by Gene Davis in the Utah Museum of Fine Arts which I’d visited in March 2020 just as the pandemic was announced. I was attracted by the figure, stopped mid-track. So I decided just to go for it. I think the irregularity of the pastel stripes gives interest.
Gene Davis, “Jasmine Sidewinder #91,” 1969, acrylic, 116 x 59 in, Utah Museum of Art, Sslt Lake City, Utah, USA.
Gail Sibley, “The Breath of Thought (Gallery Goers series),” Unison Colour on UART 400, 8 x 12 in. Available. $600. I loved this sculpture by Roberto Almagno in the Vatican Museums. (I’ve used his title for my painting.) There’s a simplicity yet complexity in his work, a solid sturdiness combined with a lightness. The shadows on the wall change as the curve and thickness of a piece of wood changed. The sculpture also move slightly which also shifted the shadow shapes. It was difficult to capture the piece and the feelings I had about the sculpture in my pastel painting!Gail Sibley, “Black Hats (Gallery Goer series),” Unison Colour pastels on UART 500, 10 x 10 in. Available. $625. Ever since I saw this man looking at this painting by Klimt at an exhibition of Klimt’s work at the San Francisco Legion of Honor a few years ago, I’ve wanted to paint this scene. (In the reference photo, the man is actually looking at the label so I pushed him over a bit!). I was drawn to the similarity of the two hats of viewer and painting subject as well as the connection in colur of clothing.Gail Sibley, “The Red Circle,” Unison Colour pastels on UART 320, 8 x 12 in. Available. $600. I love that the red circle in Miro’s painting is the thing we see in this boy’s phone. I wanted to make Miro’s painting the star of this piece and then have the second red circle (and figures) noticed secondarily.
Joan Miró, “Figure in Front of the Sun,” 1968, acrylic on canvas, 174 x 260 cm, Miro Foundation, Barcelona, Spain.
Gail Sibley, “Capturing Beatrice (Gallery Goer series),” Unison Colour pastels on UART 500, 10 x 10 in. Available. $625. I’ve looked forward to painting this subject for a while now. (I was in the Uffizi in 2019 which is where I snapped the photo.) What attracted me was the connection between the two women. Although centuries apart, I found similarities – the elaborate hairstyle/headdress, the decorative clothing, and the intensity of looking. And then there’s the ubiquitous smartphone that reveals the Rennaissance model through the lens of the 21st century!
Attributed to Alessandro Araldi, “Portrait of Beatrice d’Este,” c.1495, oil on panel, size unknown, Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy
I’m at the end of two weeks and starting to lose enthusiasm even while doing the work I love to do. The daily muscle is out of practice and feeling exhausted! It was time to change things up a bit and get a bit looser. (The Gallery Goers, as fabulous as they are to do, take a lot of focus, care, and energy.)
Gail Sibley, “Two Trees,” Unison Colour pastels on UART 500, 6×9 in. Available $325. I was going to work on another Gallery Goer painting but time was short and tell you the truth, I was weary and not feeling like painting in a careful and considered way. Soooo I put on the music and just went for it!!Gail Sibley, “Quiet Afternoon in Trequanda, Tuscany,” Unison Colour pastels on UART 500, 8 3/4 x 5 3/4 in. Available. $295. I started this piece a couple of years ago, got it drawn up, and made a start with a partial first layer down. I can’t remember what made me stop but as I was looking for paper to use, I came across it. It was a perfect break from figurative work!Gail Sibley, “View from Songhees Walkway,” Victoria, Unison Colour pastels on UART 400, 4 x 11 in. Available $225. Cam and I took a leisurely walk on a record-breaking temperature day – the highest since 1961. It was gloriously warm but with a coolness that comes from being by the water. This was an attempt to capture the late afternoon view of the end of Victoria Harbour from the Songhees Walkway.Gail Sibley, “Shade!,” Unison Colour pastels on UART 400, 4 ¾ x 4 ½ in. Available $100. There’s a photo I’ve used for a number of small pieces and this day, wanting to do a small and simple piece of trees, I reached for it once again. Time was short so I worked small and fast! 30 mins from finding the photo, making a couple of quick thumbnails and diving in with pastels!Gail Sibley, “Glads at Rio Chirripo Lodge,” Unison Colour pastels on UART 400, 6¾ x 4 ½ in. Available $150. Memories of the beautiful communal area at the Rio Chirripo Lodge where a group of us stayed when I taught a destination workshop in Costa Rica in February. Flowers are always on display. The lodge is a perfect place to spend a week of painting, teaching, and eating!
And then a bit of life happened. Cam and I took my Dad and Mum up island to visit with my brother and his wife (to celebrate my Dad’s 93rd birthday 😀 ). I took my pastels but had pared down, no easel for instance. I also decided to challenge myself by using a small set of Sennelier pastels that I wasn’t familiar with. Ohhhh, I definitely had some frustrating moments but I just kept going! I had little time and worked sitting down (rather than my usual standing pose) so it was all very challenging. I worked from life and from photos. All pieces were small!
Gail Sibley, “Folded Towels,” Sennelier pastels on UART 600, 4 x 5 ½ in. Painted from life. Available $85. I spent the weekend with family, staying at my brother’s and sister-in-law’s house. I snuck off to the basement to work on my 31-in-31 paintings. What to paint? I saw these two folded towels sitting on a ping pong table. There wasn’t much light but rather than spending more time looking, I just got down to work! Process, not outcome!!Gail Sibley, “Trees at Sunset,” Sennelier pastels on UART 600, 5 ½ x 4 in. Painted from life. Available $75. Back in the basement, in desperation, I looked out the window and there were a couple of trees tipped by the disappearing sun. That was it. Fast and furious!!Gail Sibley, “Nokia Historical Society Meeting,” Sennelier pastels on UART 600, 4 x 5 ½ in. Available $85. Sitting on the windowsill in the basement were three old phones lined up together. A bit boring so why not give them a try. The neat thing is that once I looked more deeply and really saw what was there, I smiled at the small differences that would make the painting more interesting both to do and to look at. Thanks for the title Brett!Gail Sibley, “Calliope,” Sennelier pastels on UART 600, 4 x 5 ½ in. Available $85. On the patio, a pot of geraniums (pelargoniums). This one is a perfect red and my sister-in-law’s fav.Gail Sibley, “Walkies!,” Sennelier pastels on UART 600, 3 ½ x 2 ½ in. Available $50. A very small piece! Loved the pattern of light and got stuck in even with only 20 mins. Quick thumbnail to familiarize myself with the subject and then GO!
Back home, it was the last week of the Challenge – yay! The rhythm of the challenge was a burst of energy to finish! I did a couple of smaller pieces before blasting into three more Gallery Goer paintings. And finally, I wanted to make sure to include a piece with laundry as I’m known for my love of clotheslines filled with people’s lives as seen through their clothes, bed linen and towels, and intimate apparel.
Gail Sibley, “Purple Evening,” Unison Colour pastels on UART 320, 6 x 6 in. This is from a photo I took from my friend Sandy’s house on Salt Spring Island. It was dusk, still with colour in the sky and water but the sun was long gone. I’ve been wanting to paint it for some time and so the Challenge was a perfect time to play with it. I envisioned a piece with purples and greens.Gail Sibley, “White Jug with Flowers,” Unison Colour pastels on UART 400, 4 ½ x 4 ½ in. Available. $100. I had a short amount of time but that wasn’t an excuse. Using a lovely photo I’d taken at Mum and Dad’s, I made a thumbnail and was offt! Even though I didn’t have the right pink in my palette (for the flowers), that didn’t stop me!Gail Sibley, “Selfie with Women, Birds, (Gallery Goers series),” Unison Colour pastels on UART 320, 10 x 10 in. Available $625. After I taught a destination retreat workshop on the coast of Spain, I headed to Barcelona for some “me” time. I adored the Miro Foundation and many of my Gallery Goer paintings have been set in this wonderful museum. I smiled when I saw this guy trying to take a selfie with this gigantic piece by Miró!Gail Sibley, “Mother and Son with The Lark’s Wing (Gallery Goers series),” Unison Colour pastels on UART 500, 12 x 8 in. Available $600. I was hesitant to do this scene with figures facing the viewer. But I so loved the pose, the focused and intimate connection between what looks like a mother with her son. I also love how the red and white seen in the painting is repeated in the boy’s shirt. Gail Sibley, “Facing Fragonard (Gallery Goers series),” Unison Colour pastels on UART 500, 10 x 10 in. Available. $625. It’s so much about the pose! This time it’s not only the Gallery Goer’s pose but also the lounging figure in Fragonard’s painting. Capturing both men, their gestures and positions proved challenging. I loved it!
Jean-Honoré Fragonard, “Portrait of Charles-Michel-Ange Challe (?),“ c. 1769, oil on canvas, 93.8 x 73.8 cm, The Cambó Bequest, National Musuem of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain
Gail Sibley, “The Laundry Line,” Unison Colour pastels on UART 500, 6 x 6 in. Available. $175. This is painted from a small part of a photo I took while whizzing along in a car in Ontario. (And no, I wasn’t driving!). I’m a lover of laundry on the line so I snapped a photo of a clothesline in the distance.
And in case you are actually counting the pieces and found there’s one missing, you’re correct. One of my 31-in-31 days was spent creating a Lesson for my IGNITE! Members (and we’re reopening on 20th November so get on the Waitlist here!). I decided to include that as one of my Challenge pieces.
Gail Sibley – An exercise done for my IGNITE! members on pressure! Unison Colour pastels on Canson Mi-Teintes paper
The 31-in-31 Challenge offers so many benefits. Understanding the natural rhythm of the challenge allows us to go easier on ourselves especially when things get tough. I hope you’ll try the Challenge next year with us!
Here are some of the biggest takeaways from this year’s participants:
“My best takeaway is the inner push I feel to do a painting every day. Once I sign up, I feel guilty (to myself, no one else), if I haven’t done one! November 1st dawned and all day I felt relieved that I didn’t HAVE TO paint, but the guilt was still there, lol. Seeing the others’ work was great too. I did your very 1st one, 6 years ago. Still fun. Thanks!”
~ Barbara Archer
“I use it as an opportunity to try new things. One year was figuring out my Christmas card images, one was doing long skinny bookmarks and this year was working up the nerve to try portraits. Knowing that I’m just fooling around with new ideas and techniques takes that perfectionism pressure off.”
~ Stephanie Colotti
“Having the incentive of being part of a group challenge and so getting pastel to paper. Every painting is a learning experience. Hence, the more frequently you paint, the more you learn!”
~ Joanna Gray
“The biggest takeaway was the discipline to paint every day whether it was large or small.”
~ Rosie Coleman
“Trying different approaches, and also having a month’s work to look back on has helped me evaluate what I really enjoy doing and given me some ideas for future work. Best of all I’ve enjoyed the group interaction. I’ve learnt from, and been inspired by, other people’s paintings as well as my own.”
~ Judith Turner
“My biggest takeaway is the release from my thought that everything I paint has to be good enough to share. The push to share each day, regardless of whether I was pleased with the painting, was such a relief. It gave me the freedom to let go and just paint. It also kept me from endless fiddling. Knowing that I was going to post the painting before the day was out made me stop messing and overworking. Loved this challenge!”
~ Barbara Garwood
“For me, it was the realization that every day does offer some opportunity for art, even if only a few minutes.”
~ Gail Gudrun Helgason
Aren’t these great?! Having the HTP Facebook group definitely kept many of us on track – knowing we needed to post something at the end of the day keeps us on target. Group accountability is a huge part of our success! As is the encouragement and feedback we get from fellow participants. You’ll find lots of this in IGNITE! An Art-Making membership so be sure to join the waitlist. We open on the 20th November!
I would LOVE to hear your thoughts about the Challenge. If you participated this year, do you resonate with my rhythm of the Challenge? Or was your experience completely different?
If you didn’t participate this time, tell me if you’re tempted to join us next year. Also, if you’ve done other types of challenges, do you feel the rhythm of the challenge I laid out translates over to your challenge? Let me know in the comments!
Until next time!
Gail
PS. If you’re interested in any of my paintings and have questions or would like to purchase, do email me.
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16 thoughts on “The Rhythm Of The Challenge – My 31-in-31 2022 Experience”
Carmel Spencer
Hi Gail, I just loved your ’31 in 31′ pastel paintings. I was smiling before I reached the second painting and continued all the way through till the end. Well done. All your work is so encouraging to me, especially the spontaneity and determination I sensed in your efforts.
I shall set myself a challenge too using your painted encouragement. Thank you.
I contacted you in September but was unable to follow up until now. My pastel group did this kind of challenge last year and I was 1 of 5 that finished. I loved it and look forward to doing it again.
Your 31-in-31 has really inspired me. I love the people with dogs or at galleries. I haven’t been painting for nearly a year as I’m waiting for a hip replacement and in a lot of pain. I need to use this inspiration and make a start. Thank you!
Thanks so much Jennifer. I’m delighted to know you love to gallery goers and dog walkers. This Challenge really cemented for me that I LOVE doing people!
I’m so sorry to hear about your pain as you await a hip replacement…I do hope you will get back to painting. Doing even a small thing will make you feel good, I just know it!
Good morning, Is there a specific month for the 31 day challenge? I participated in Inktober and found it challenging (lol) but I’m looking forward to next October. I had never attempted a daily challenge before. Is there a list of prompts or just the goal of painting every day?
Thanks
Robin
Hey Robin, we hold the 31-pastels-in-31-days Challenge every October. There seem to be so many more Challenges around these days!
The goal is to put pastel to paper each day. There are no prompts but I do have a few blogs I’ve written over the years with ideas and I alwsy post these as inspiration and motivation. Next year I’m thinking of doing a mini – stand-along paid session that will offer a special group and lots of coaching and inspiration and feedback.
See you next year!
Oh Gail, i am so impressed with your October paintings! It is encouraging that an accomplished artist like yourself will rise up to challenges and continue to learn. These are so good! The gestures in your figures are amazing and some of your titles make me smile. Thank you for leading the way.
We are in the process of moving with everything boxed up to travel over 900 miles. I will be so happy to set up a corner of a room for art… eventually! I pledge right now to be in on the challenge next October!
Norren thank you for such complimentary words – I am smiling from ear to ear!!
Moving is SUCH a big thing – it takes energy and focus and can be so stressful. I hope it goes easily for you!! Where are you moving from and to??
Let us know when you are set up again. And yay!! See you in next year’s Challenge! Remember, you can always set yourself a small, manageable (and pushing!) Challenege!
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16 thoughts on “The Rhythm Of The Challenge – My 31-in-31 2022 Experience”
Hi Gail, I just loved your ’31 in 31′ pastel paintings. I was smiling before I reached the second painting and continued all the way through till the end. Well done. All your work is so encouraging to me, especially the spontaneity and determination I sensed in your efforts.
I shall set myself a challenge too using your painted encouragement. Thank you.
Carmel (Australia)
Carmel, you sooooo made me smile with your comment! Thank you! Joy all round 😁
A Challenge is so worth it. And it really helps to have an accountability partner or a group of people who will help you keep your commitment!
I contacted you in September but was unable to follow up until now. My pastel group did this kind of challenge last year and I was 1 of 5 that finished. I loved it and look forward to doing it again.
It’s intense that’s for sure but oh so rewarding!!
And thanks for joining IGNITE! Margot!😁🔥
I love your work Gail! Such a pleasure seeing so many!
Thank you so much Caron!!!
Your 31-in-31 has really inspired me. I love the people with dogs or at galleries. I haven’t been painting for nearly a year as I’m waiting for a hip replacement and in a lot of pain. I need to use this inspiration and make a start. Thank you!
Thanks so much Jennifer. I’m delighted to know you love to gallery goers and dog walkers. This Challenge really cemented for me that I LOVE doing people!
I’m so sorry to hear about your pain as you await a hip replacement…I do hope you will get back to painting. Doing even a small thing will make you feel good, I just know it!
I always like your blog, but this was really inspiring, thank you for sharing!!!
Many thanks Barb! That helps me know it was a good idea to put this together 😁
Good morning, Is there a specific month for the 31 day challenge? I participated in Inktober and found it challenging (lol) but I’m looking forward to next October. I had never attempted a daily challenge before. Is there a list of prompts or just the goal of painting every day?
Thanks
Robin
Hey Robin, we hold the 31-pastels-in-31-days Challenge every October. There seem to be so many more Challenges around these days!
The goal is to put pastel to paper each day. There are no prompts but I do have a few blogs I’ve written over the years with ideas and I alwsy post these as inspiration and motivation. Next year I’m thinking of doing a mini – stand-along paid session that will offer a special group and lots of coaching and inspiration and feedback.
See you next year!
Many lovely works there Gail. Just wanted to say Capturing Beatrice, is my favourite! 😁😁😁😁😁
I think Harmonious, is a great word to describe this one!
Thanks so much Ed!! And thanks for sharing your fav….it’s definitely up there for me too 😁
“Harmonious” … sounds good to me!
Oh Gail, i am so impressed with your October paintings! It is encouraging that an accomplished artist like yourself will rise up to challenges and continue to learn. These are so good! The gestures in your figures are amazing and some of your titles make me smile. Thank you for leading the way.
We are in the process of moving with everything boxed up to travel over 900 miles. I will be so happy to set up a corner of a room for art… eventually! I pledge right now to be in on the challenge next October!
Norren thank you for such complimentary words – I am smiling from ear to ear!!
Moving is SUCH a big thing – it takes energy and focus and can be so stressful. I hope it goes easily for you!! Where are you moving from and to??
Let us know when you are set up again. And yay!! See you in next year’s Challenge! Remember, you can always set yourself a small, manageable (and pushing!) Challenege!