Wondering what to do for your 100-day project?
Pick something that activates delight + curiosity
Hello, friends!
In case you missed it, we announced the project start date yesterday. The next round of The 100 Day Project starts February 22, 2026.
Over the coming weeks, we’ll have lots of resources coming your way, including interviews and live sessions here on Substack. Today we’re starting with Annie Wong, who spent 100 days filling a sketchbook and recently turned the entire project into a self-published book! Annie talks about switching mediums mid-project, choosing subjects and materials that delight you, and why facing the blank page every day helped dissolve her creative fear.
1. Do you remember what made you decide to do The 100 Day Project, and what you hoped to get out of it?
I had seen my friend Booky do The 100 Day Project and was really inspired not just by the quantity of art that comes from it, but how much one can learn about themselves through the process, so I decided to join the fun last year. I used 100 days as an excuse to “reinvigorate” my sketchbook practice. I used to draw/doodle/paint in my sketchbook a lot, but overtime, perfectionist tendencies created a fear of the blank page. I hoped committing to a 100-day practice would be a sort of exposure therapy where I would just have to face the page and draw something, and dissolve that fear.
2. You mentioned feeling creatively blocked before starting—how did committing to 100 days help you rebuild that “idea muscle”?
I liked giving myself weekly prompts so I could use the 7 days to thoroughly explore or iterate on an idea. For example, the first week’s theme was body parts, so each day was drawing lots of different eyes, then hands, then mouths, feet, etc. Through the practice of researching lots of different reference images, and then drawing my own version of them, it felt like “doing reps”, just low pressure allowing myself to try lots of different ideas so I could have a larger visual vocabulary to pull from in the future whenever I need to brainstorm something.
3. At what point did you realize the project was working? What changed for you?
I actually started to get a bit bored with what I was doing by Day 12, so on Day 13 I switched to using a drawing tool I wasn’t as familiar with (oil pastels!) and it got super fun. The first 12 days I was mainly using pencil or pen and focusing on line, but with the oil pastels it felt more like painting with crayons. I realized I get really excited by color, shape, and texture, and so I started looking forward to doing my sketch page at night. The change in medium kept the practice fresh and exciting for me.
4. You turned your entire project into a self-published book! What does it feel like to hold all 100 days in your hands?
It feels really special! It felt like a really nice way to celebrate and honor this personal project that really kinda healed my relationship to making art just for me. It also feels like holding a visual diary in my hands, I remember some of the things I was thinking or where I was at when I made certain drawings. Also, through publishing it, kinda validates the idea that the practice mattered to me—and now I get to share it with people!
5. What’s your best advice for someone thinking about doing The 100 Day Project for the first time?
I would say pick an idea/medium/format that activates delight and curiosity for you—as opposed to choosing something you feel like you should do or get better at. After finishing a sketchbook page, I would often (not always, but most of the time!) be delighted by what I had created which gave me a sense of satisfaction, and then curiosity about what I could come up with the next day kept me wanting to come back to the page.
6. Anything else you’d like to share?
Much gratitude to the originators and facilitators of this project—there’s something really lovely and encouraging about trying out a creative practice in community with others. I love nerding out about the creative process and can usually be found babbling about it on my Substack. I’ll also have copies of my book at AZN Zine Fest in Portland at the end of February if anyone wants to say hi and talk process!
Thanks so much for sharing, Annie! Readers, here’s where you can find Annie online for more.
Newsletter:
Website: Headexplodie.co
IG: @headexplodie
A few prompts for you:
What medium, tool, subject, or idea is ✨delighting✨ you right now?
Where in your creative life are you trying to “should” yourself into something instead of following curiosity?
If you got bored on day 12, what would you switch to on day 13?
The project that keeps you coming back isn’t usually the one you think you should do—it’s the one that makes you curious about tomorrow.
More soon!
XO,
Lindsay
P.S. I put together a roundup of tips from the community on Instagram—what did we miss? Add yours in the comments (with your IG handle for credit, if you want to be tagged) and I’ll make another one!
I'll be focusing on 100 days of gratitude for the Earth, tiny poem-prayers to the sun, the moon, insects, animals, flowers, weeds, water and anything else in nature that inspires me along the way.
So excited for this 100 Day Project, Lindsay!!! I think I am going to draw 100 plants, a few real ones but mostly fantasy. I can't wait to begin.