Inchie Challenge 2026

I have just finished the Inchie Challenge for 2026 - seven days of prompts using little watercolour pieces, two inches square.  This is run by Amy Maricle of Mindful Art Studio and I have been joining in for a couple of years. She is still offering this for free  She also offers Slow Drawing most weeks (you need to be signed up to the free tier on her site) - she does take the occasional week off!  She also offers much more on the paid part of her website, such as an extended Inchie Challenge, but I have not signed up to that.  

This year the prompts were (from left to right): Wildflower; Sprinkle; Blue; Landscape.

(From left to right again): Lines; Eucalyptus; Complicate.  What would you have drawn/painted?

Slow drawing is about taking your time and not rushing to complete something. The patterns are usually based in nature and open to interpretation; in fact, Amy encourages us to make the patterns our own and explore.  Materials are few - watercolour paper/card, a permanent ink pen and watercolours.  It is an hour of quiet concentration that I really enjoy each week.

Wanderlust 2023 - weeks sixteen to twenty-three - Pens

I have enjoyed finding out what different pens can do; watercolour pens, permanent markers, acrylic paint pens and drawing pens.  Above was the first week of 'pens' and we used permanent pens (like Sharpies) on tracing paper to layer up an image. I let myself go to create the swirly background patterns, which was fun!

We used acrylic paint pens on a gel plate to make our own collage paper and then created a collage.

Using acrylic paint pens meant we couldn't be perfect, so these quirky faces were enjoyable - the pressure was taken off.  

Watercolour pens created these pretty flowers.

Paint and stencils created the background and we then had to find faces and bring them out with paint pens - again, no trying to be perfect!

Continuous line with a brush pen and ink drew the rocks and then we added collage papers also created using pen and ink and paints.  I found this really relaxing to do.

Collage for a background and using acrylic paint pens through a stencil started this page. We then added botanical silhouettes with a paint pen. 

Finally, in the 'Artful Musings' series where an artist (in this case, Amy Maricle - Mindful Art Studio) discusses their processes, we used watercolour to created a background. The emphasis was on slow lines, adding or removing pressure from the brush to create the thickness of the line.  I loved this and have since signed up for two of Amy Maricle's classes - The Simplest Things journal and Little Book of Wonders.  I have also bought her book, Draw Yourself Calm, as her slow drawing really captured my interest.

The course now moves on to Sprays and Mists.