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For the last several years, I’ve been participating in a challenge in June and July—Daisy Yellow’s Index-Card-a-Day challenge, otherwise known as ICAD.
I love a good creativity challenge, from NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) to InCoWriMo (International Correspondence Writing Month), and I’m always doing one or another to keep myself motivated and creating. I especially like ICAD because it’s a chance to create 61 new pieces of art on lowly, ever-present index cards.
ICAD encourages participants to do whatever they can in that small space, with no sense of competition and no high expectations. Its simplicity and nonjudgmental atmosphere allow for experimentation and free-form creativity, and I always look forward to what I and others make.
To facilitate the challenge, Tammy Garcia, the creative force behind Daisy Yellow, posts free prompts and ideas on her website. Participants can also choose to join the ICAD Facebook group or purchase other extras, but those aren’t necessary to complete the challenge. All you need is a stack of index cards, some art supplies, and a willingness to see where your sense of experimentation takes you.
Some days I’m stumped by the prompt. One day, for instance, the prompt was “magenta,” and I ended up just using watercolor on a card from pink on one side to purple on the other, letting them blend in the middle to form something like magenta. It wasn’t a complicated card, but it gave me a chance to play with colors.
Other days, the prompt's so inspiring that I find myself making several cards based on it, like the “leaf” day when I ended up doing several colored-pencil rubbings of leaves from my yard, using various shades of green. Or I paint a little watercolor of macarons that I would never have painted if it weren’t for the prompt.
And no, index cards don’t have the best surface for watercolor or any other kind of medium, and that’s kind of the point. The unforgiving surface—and the cards' inherent lack of seriousness—keep the challenge light-hearted. You’re not expected to create masterpieces. It’s all about having fun and seeing where your ideas lead you.
I’m not primarily a visual artist. As an English professor and writer, I spend most of my days with words. I do love creating visual art, however, and the ICAD challenge provides just the right combination of inspiration and community to keep me creating, even when I don’t start with any particular ideas of my own. And it’s always interesting at the end of July to look back at all 61 cards and realize just how much I’ve created, and how much fun I had along the way.
