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This post is going to be a little bit out there, so bear with me for a bit. A while ago I played World of Warcraft (I ain’t ashamed!) all the frickin’ time. WoW popularized daily quests. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the concept, daily quests are quests that can repeatedly do every single day, and they usually give you some sort of neat reward.

Here’s my thought: why not use daily quests to improve your art skills? Yeah, I know it sounds a little bit goofy, but I think it holds a lot of promise. After all, the single best way to become a better artist is to practice, and the fastest way to improve is to practice daily. Daily quests can give you the motivation to constantly strive to improve.

Create a List of Random Daily Quests

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I don’t know about you, but I’m the type of person who loves to constantly mix things up with new ideas. Sometimes I run out of ideas with artist’s block, which leaves me uninspired and unmotivated. A list of random daily quests can keep things new and exciting.

Create a list of challenges that includes things like:

-Complete a 30 minute speed painting.
-Invent a character that would fit in a video game world.
-Sketch an environment that would fit in a sci-fi or fantasy movie.
-Improve one of your earlier daily quest projects.
-Spend 30 minutes working on a long-term project.
-Do a Google image search for a random term like “samurai purple space rock-n-roll” and create an art piece inspired by the first result.

Then, create a list of themes that will affect your project:

-Dark and spooky
-Science-fiction
-Fantasy
-Cartoonish

You could draw these options from a hat and have a huge list of potential projects.

Reward Yourself for Completion

A daily quest without a reward isn’t a daily quest at all. You can keep things exciting by promising yourself rewards for completing daily quests. For example, you could tell yourself that you won’t play video games or watch TV until you complete your quest for the day. Alternatively, you could post your quests online and use the attention from your adoring Internet fans as a way to keep you motivated. Whatever you do, just be sure to make daily quests fun. Once it becomes a grind, it will begin to feel more like homework and less like a fun activity that will improve your skills.

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Why Bother with Daily Quests?

You might be thinking, “Eh, this is a dumb idea. Why bother with daily quests when I could just practice on my own whenever I want?” Well, there are a couple of advantages of daily quests that can’t get through other means.

Persistence: Daily quests are daily, after all. Practicing whenever you feel like it will inevitably lead to days when you don’t do anything productive.

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Versatility: Picking your own projects can be dangerous because you undoubtedly have certain preferences. You might love working on modeling but hate working on texture, which means that you’ll probably spend all of your time modeling. The randomness of daily quests means that you’ll constantly have to hone different skills.

Creativity: The same rule applies to creativity. Your preferences will influence your artwork. For example, I love fantasy art loads more than sci-fi art. As a result, I don’t really spend a lot of time cultivating my skills as a sci-fi artist. Daily quests can force you to work outside of your creative comfort zone by forcing you to create new different types of artwork.

Daily quests don’t sound so silly anymore, do they? If you apply daily quests to your life, then your art skills will level up in no time!

Right at this very second, hundreds or possibly even thousands of artists across the world are practicing their artistic skills. Don’t get left in the dust! At the Gnomon School, you’ll learn invaluable techniques that can help you take your art skills to the next level. Discover new and exciting sources of inspiration! Learn art techniques from veterans of the industry! Learn how to create a niche for yourself in this ever-growing market! Are you ready to become a better artist? Get started today!