I’ll admit: I’m kind of a sucker for reality TV shows. Right now at this exact moment I’ve got last night’s episode of MasterChef waiting on my DVR. I know that we’re not supposed to like reality TV because it’s so trashy, but I love being able to get a sneak peak at the creative process of contestants — whether they’re cooking on MasterChef or building a space alien costume on Face Off.

A little while ago, I pointed out a few reality TV shows that can help get your creative juices flowing. Why not take it one step further by putting yourself through some reality TV-inspired challenges? I realize that it sounds ridiculous, but I guarantee you that there’s much more to these challenges than meets the eye.

Restrictions Require Creativity

Suppose that you give two different people a piece of paper and a pencil. You tell one of them to draw a picture and you tell the other one to draw a picture of a robot. Odds are fairly good that the guy who draws the robot will end up with a more creative and detailed picture than the guy who didn’t have any special requirement. Why? Restrictions encourage creativity. Having unlimited freedom leaves you with so many options that a lot of people are overwhelmed and end up creating something uninspired. I think that’s one of the reasons why reality TV shows are so interesting to watch. You could have a fairly restrictive challenge like, “You must create a werewolf,” but the artists will end up creating dramatically different characters.

Want an example? Check out the werewolf episode of Face Off (the video is tiny, so hit the maximize button for the full effect):

If you’re struggling for creativity, create a miniature challenge for yourself. Cut up a few pieces of paper and drop them into a hat. Add themes like “whimsical” and “gothic,” and then throw in subjects like “zombie” and “super hero.” You’d be surprised by how much creativity you have inside of you when you’re forced to create an unorthodox art piece.

Challenges Force You to Abandon Your Comfort Zone

Experts agree: a comfort zone is a place where talent goes to stagnate and die. If you really want to improve as an artist, you constantly have to push yourself with new and challenging projects. Reality TV shows force their contestants to complete absolutely ridiculous challenges. It’s funny watching people run around like chickens with their heads cut off, but the fact of the matter is that these challenges are pushing the contestants to be better artists.

And nothing catapults a person out of his comfort zone faster than getting chewed out by Gordon Ramsey!

Give yourself arbitrary restrictions and see how it affects your projects. Work with your off-hand. Use only a single color. Create an art piece with no more than 100 lines. Give yourself a 30 minute time restraint. And most importantly: try new things!

Compare and Contrast

The other really cool thing about reality TV challenges is that they give artists an opportunity to see how well they stack up against their peers. If a client hires you to create a certain art piece, then you’re probably not going to get a chance to figure out whether your artwork was better or worse than average because there’s nothing to compare it against.

Take a page out of the book of reality TV and enter online art contests. It’s perfectly fine if you don’t win. The contest will allow you to hone your skills, and when it’s all over you’ll be able to compare your artwork against your peers to see how well you did. You might even learn a thing or two by examining the artwork of the winners. How can you expect to get better if you don’t have a goal in mind?