“And suddenly you know:
It’s time to start something new and
trust the magic of beginnings.”
― Meister Eckhart
I’ll never forget when the idea for a sketching challenge first came to life.
It was December 16th, 2016, and I was on a call with my dear friend Mike Sowden in England, a storytelling consultant with unmistakably British wit and always astute insights. During that evening’s chat, he said something I immediately raced to write down:
“Find a project that is within the larger vision of your blog, that people can get behind.”
One thing led to another, and we soon came up with the idea of a monthly sketching challenge. It would be a virtual sketch-crawl that people could join online no matter where they were in the world.
Always eager to jump ahead on a new idea, one of the first things I said next was:
“Should I start another website for it??”
But before Mike could reply, I remember shooting my own idea down first.
I could have set up a separate website for Moment Sketchers before I’d even hosted the first sketching challenge. Instead, it felt right to let the idea unfold naturally, without forcing it to be something it hadn’t yet become.
Two years and more than 2,000 sketches (!) after that fateful call, it’s amazing to realize that Moment Sketchers has indeed become something. But in addition to being an inspiring monthly challenge, it has also evolved into something even more meaningful:
A community.
A tribe.
A family of artists spread out all across the world, yet connected through our love of sketching and an even greater love for supporting one another.
Recently, I took some time to record everyone who’s ever participated in a sketching challenge, even if only once. I also noted the different countries and nationalities that make up our community.
The final figures just about blew me away — we’ve had 280 artists join in our challenges, representing more than 30 nationalities in 70 countries.
Not too shabby for a 2-year-old tribe, ay?
Since its inception, Moment Sketchers has been hosted on my personal site, although it has slowly taken steps towards independence — starting with its own Instagram account in March 2018.
But just in time for our third year together, it’s time to give Moment Sketchers its own home.
I couldn’t be more thrilled to share MomentSketchers.com with you today. We also have a new community email address — hello@momentsketchers.com — and our own newsletter list, which you can subscribe to here.
And perhaps most thrilling of all, we’ve got a new logo and look:
Our first sketching challenge of 2019 kicks off on Saturday, January 5th.
We so hope you’ll join us, and if you feel inspired to do so, spread the word. We can’t wait to make this our most inspiring year yet.
See you in 2019, friends!