Linda van den Berg is the Illustrator & graphic designer behind @housecatillustration. She hosts an art challenge called #tekenuurtje (Dutch for Drawing Hour), where she encourages you to take an hour a week (without over thinking your process) to draw your version of a photo reference she posts every Sunday, and then share it using the challenge hashtag.

This is the first time I’ve taken part in the challenge but I was excited to encounter it, because it’s not often you get a Draw This In Your Style challenge that features people.

Rather than take an hour to do it, I used this art challenge as a 20-minute warm up exercise at the beginning of my sketching day. I didn’t spend much time on any of my four versions:

• A Line Drawing in my style (I made the swimming costumes skimpier)
• A Blind Contour
• A Continuous Line Drawing
• A Paint Only – without any guidelines

When I sketch I take a bit more time and effort to increase the believability of a sketch, but during these warm-up sessions I like to just lose myself in the flow and do them as quickly as possible. They’re meant to be fun and loose to warm up my sketching arm.

Hashtags like https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/tekenuurtje/ and fun to review, because everyone is working off the same reference photo, but there’s such a variety of interpretations. Some people aim for realism, some lean towards illustrative interpretation, and others lean into the abstract. Not only do the styles differ, but the art materials used do too, and you can see how artists use pencil, pen, and watercolour differently.

If you’re looking for a weekly challenge that will help you draw people, this challenge is an excellent option—and it’s fun. The reference photos are always entertaining, and will push you out of your comfort zone.

If you did this art challenge, leave me a message in the comments section below with a link to your post so I can look at your version.