Drawlloween is another great art challenge in “one prompt per day” convence. This time, the prompt lists are inspired by Halloween!
Quick Info:
*There are actually 2 popular art challenges that can be found under the name “Drawlloween”:
– Drawlloween – hosted by Brian Soria
– Mab’s Drawlloween – hosted by Mab Graves
There are also other prompt lists created by different artists, but I mention here these two, as they are the most known.
Brian Soria’s Drawlloween is the oldest of them all (2012), therefore I view it as the main and the original event that inspired other artists to create their own lists, and dedicate this article to it.
Introduction
The motto of the whole challenge is ‘be creative, get weird’. This was the main idea of Drawlloween. Spooky, weird, and creepy works – that’s what it was meant for. In this challenge, you can let yourself experiment and be brave. The creator wanted it to give as much fun as possible, and he clearly achieved that!
What distinguishes Drawlloween from other art challenges?
The author, Brian Soria, is constantly developing it. Drawlloween has its own merch, Spotify, and website! Soria clarifies that it’s one of his main projects and work on the Drawlloween lasts for the whole year, despite it taking place only in October. It is one of the best Halloween-themed art competitions so far, it also takes place in social media which makes it free and very easy to participate.
Also is a great opportunity for artists to start being noticed and gain followers, especially if someone creates in a dark, creepy style, which matches the whole challenge.
Sounds interesting? Below you will find more detailed pieces of information 🙂
What is Drawlloween?
Drawlloween is an art challenge that takes place in October, and it was created as a fun way to celebrate Halloween. The main goal is to draw one drawing for each day of October – accordingly to Drawlloween’s prompt lists (which are heavily influenced by Halloween).
The name Drawlloween is a combination of two words – Draw, and Halloween.
It’s mostly a drawing challenge, which means that most artists use pencils or digital art. However, if you use other media, don’t hold yourself back! Drawlloween (The original) has no set medium – the entire purpose of this challenge is to inspire people to make art.
*There are small prizes provided by the host – Brian Soria. In 2021, his four favorite art pieces (for each prompt) received a Drawlloween pin.
Official websites:
Official website: Drawlloween.com
Brian’s (the creator) website: briansoria.com
Twitter: @drawlloween
Instagram: @Drawlloween
Facebook: @drawlloween
hashtags: #Drawlloween #Drawlloween2023
*Alternative Drawlloween challenges
I should mention that Drawlloween has spawned many little offshoots, with art groups around the world offering their own take. You are free to use the alternative prompt lists, but for the sake of original Drawlloween, only the art that uses the official Drawlloween calendar prompts is featured on Drawlloween social media.
But to be clear, you can still use the hashtags related to Drawlloween:
Brian Soria:
(…) if you see another calendar float around, make sure to tag your ol’ friend @Drawlloween on whatever social media you happen to be using, and let people know you follow the O.G. account!
Drawlloween Prompt list 2023
Here’s a Drawlloween’s Prompt List for 2023. You can download the calendar from the official site drawlloween.com – there’s also a printer-friendly version published on Drawlloween website.
As you can see, the prompts are Halloween related, but funny at the same time, and can be a great inspiration to many amusing illustrations 🙂
Who created Drawlloween?
Drawlloween was founded by Brian Soria in 2012.
The challenge started from scratch, as an interesting form of warm up for Soria’s art group called ‘Society of Malice’. It began spreading itself around the creative community throughout the internet and became a regular, every year challenge. Quickly it has been adapted and copied, therefore the popularity increased even more. Other famous versions are the ones created by Mab Graves or internet user SariSpy56. Soria doesn’t try to fight with the copycats, he is aware of them and he just wants to acknowledge that he created the first, official and original Drawlloween.
One of the first mentions about Drawlloween was published on Brian Soria’s old blog:
Drawlloween Past Prompt list
Here are Drawlloween prompt lists from the past years.
Drawlloween alternative: Mab’s Drawlloween
One of the most popular Drawlloween alternatives is Mab’s Drawlloween.
It’s an art challenge hosted by Mab Graves – its prompt lists also are inspired by Halloween.
What makes this challenge stand out? The “Lite” and “Weekly” prompt lists – for those who are not able to participate in the challenge daily!
hashtags: #mabsdrawlloweenclub #mabsdrawlloweenclub2023 #promptlist
Drawloween Artworks
Here’s my favorite part of every art challenge research: checking out other artists’ artworks!
Below are a few examples of illustrations inspired by Drawlloween prompt lists. I’ve linked to the artist pages, so if you would like to see their other Drawlloween illustrations, just go to their pages (and give them a “thumb up” to show some appreciation 😀 )
I hope this article answers our questions about Drawlloween and that you will also join the challenge!
