30 Day Procreate Nutcracker Drawing Challenge & Folktale Week 2023
It’s hard to believe December is here in all its glory. Fall leaves are raked and gone, squirrels have stolen the last bits of fruit and nuts from trees, and one can’t go outside without a coat - even a trip to the mailbox seems like a hike.
For the month of November I switched gears, put away my watercolors, and reached for my iPad, challenging myself to draw 30 days of Nutcracker characters and props from the famous Christmas ballet. First I made a list of all the characters, chose the leads, then added my favorites after that. There are so many figures that it wasn’t possible to include them all. In fact, one of my YouTube viewers requested for me to draw an angel or page, but I was unable to fit them in - maybe next year? Here are some of the characters below…
Procreate makes it really easy to share a time-lapse of your video. All you have to do is:
Learn how to make a time-lapse of your drawing in Procreate.
The app condenses your work into a short video. Mine were all less than a minute - and I shortened them even further so they would be generally less than 10 seconds when viewed on Instagram or YouTube shorts. You can see them on my channel Pocket Dreams Co here or on my Instagram feed @RachelSchmiedel.
Oh, and if you would like copies of these characters for your daughter to play with as paper dolls, I have turned them into a set of Nutcracker Printables which are available here on my website as well as in my Etsy shop (until the end of the year).
Cut them out, attach straws to the back, and let your child tell the story with their imagination! This set includes 2 backdrops - the Party Scene and the Land of Sweets.
What inspired me to draw from the ballet? During childhood my best friend was a dancer. I attended all of her performances and got to see her take on just about every role there was - including the Sugar Plum Fairy! I didn’t dance but played piano. When I grew up all three of my daughters took dance (and my friend’s daughter sang and played piano), and two were in the Nutcracker. I had fun decorating pointe shoes for the boutique shop at the shows. Here are some of the examples:
When I started this challenge, I knew that Folktale Week would pop up mid-November. I love participating it in, but wasn’t sure I would be able to fit it into my schedule. So many things popped up in my life - including a trip to the doctor which revealed I have an over-reactive thyroid. For those thinking I have “extra” energy from that - nope- it leaves me drained, but it does explain why I was wondering if I all of a sudden got ADHD!! You can hear me discuss Art ADHD below. It’s not a real thing - but I kinda think I’m not alone when it comes to trying out many different types of art until settling on your niche.
You can see how I jump from topic to topic- it’s my specialty! (Edit: I’m currently awaiting testing after having been diagnosed with Hyper-thyroiditis to see if it is auto-immune related or caused by a virus.)
Back to Folktale Week. I got out my watercolors and decided to try and create patterns in Photoshop. First I drew my images for each prompt, filling 2 pages each for all but one. Then I painted, scanned, cut out, touched up, enhanced, and then arranged them all together for each prompt. I couldn’t seem to remember how to create a pattern in Photoshop, so I switched to Procreate. Even there I had trouble and kept getting a tiny sliver of a line throughout my pattern, so I decided I would create “fake patterns” because I didn’t have time to commit to figuring out how to make proper patterns. In the end I didn’t make any patterns at all - I just arranged my images and decided that someday I can use all the icons in real patterns when I have time. Here is what I created.
I was a little nervous about posting these as they look so different from my regular digital style. Some people say they like my watercolor images better than my digital. Do you have this problem deciding which medium to stick with? I know we have freedom to pursue whatever we want, but I think it’s helpful and less confusing to other people if our art has a consistency to it. But, we artists need to remember to incorporate play and experimentation into our art.
I loved seeing everything you artists created for this art challenge! If you haven’t yet checked it out - head over to Instagram at #FolktaleWeek2023.
Are you gearing up for the holidays? I’m so excited about my next art challenge… I’m joining Jehane for her Christmas Art Challenge which runs throughout December. Yes, it’s a busy season to be doing this, but it is literally one of my favorite art challenges ever! If you want to join in, just head to her website and join her mailing list where you will get more information.