I FOUND A TON OF HOARDED ART SUPPLIES AND MAY MAKE A CHALLENGE ABOUT IT

WRITTEN APRIL 21ST, 2024

I've spent the last couple of days/week tidying shit up in my room to make it a space I actually inhabit and enjoy, and as a result I found an absolute ton of both art supplies and sketchbooks. Like a LOT of it. There's two bins of unused sketchbooks (so I'm banning myself from buying new sketchbooks until further notice, which, judging by the number of them, might mean I'm not getting any ones until I'm 40 years old) and two of art supplies, some of which I had NO IDEA I had: when the hell did I buy these oil pastels??

Finding that mountain of supplies I clearly hoarded for the better part of a decade has got me thinking two things. The first being "Oh shit I definitely need to use these" and the second being "I know I'm not the only one with this issue".I know for a fact there's a lot of artists out there waiting for the "perfect opportunity" (or for a sign) to use their stuff, so why not create a challenge about it to get folks started? Hopefully it will push at least one other person past their fear of "ruining" their supplies, because the actual only way you can ruin art supplies is by not using them and having them rot or never enjoying them. Use your nice stuff! Enjoy life! being alive is enough of an occasion! This comes in tandem with me clearing out a deceased person's house last month and finding heaps upon heaps of stuff that was stored away for decades and never used. Objects gain meaning when they're used!!

I haven't quite ironed out the details of said challenge yet, but it's most likely going to be just simple: use your hoarded materials (whatever they are) and work with them for a pre-defined stretch of time (maybe for a month by default or however long the artist personally wants). That's it. Simple, customizable to one's needs, ready to go whenever you want.