Trying The 100 Heads Challenge BROKE ME 

this is exactly the kind of video I was looking for when it came to the 100 heads challenge. someone who wasn't already a professional-level character artist. someone who I could watch actually grow and improve as the challenge went on. visible, tangible improvement. this is such a huge inspiration for me, and as much as I KNOW I'm going to absolutely suffer from doing this, I think I'm at least...somewhat ready to begin the challenge for myself. haha. thank you for sharing! your process, seeing you hate it and push through, was so important for us to see. thank you so much.

“Looked like the reference photo mugged you in a parking lot and you were describing it to me” 🤣🤣🤣 I laughed so much. We’ll done on peering through the challenge. 🥳🥳

When you were talking about being a "real artist" it reminded me of when peter draws did a video about self portraits and he said something like "not everything valuable lies in the realm of realism" and that really made me look at my art differently. Although when other people's art don't look exactly like reference I don't hold them to the same "ideas" I do to my own art.

I love that you uploaded the reality of your drawing challenge rather than a carefully curated & manipulated version. It's a respectful approach to your audience's ability to process the content for themselves rather than force feeding a particular narrative. It's a really pure way of putting yourself out there. I also love how introspective you are; this is very relatable. You seem like an awesome human, Kelsey ✌️💕

The 100 heads struggle is REAL. I love drawing portraits nowadays, but I did this challenge a few years ago when I was still just starting to develop as an artist and remember too well how exhausting it was. But I saw a lot of improvement over those days and was really proud when I finished it. There really is something to be said for intense bursts of practice like this. Even though it's always soooo uncomfortable to step out of your comfort zone as an artist and experience really sucking at something. 😂 Great video and high five for getting through the challenge! 🎉

I'm proud that you managed to finish this video! This whole thing turned out beautiful. I liked how thoughtful and introspective you were... as much as it sounds like a stressful experience, it makes me wanna try it out myself.

so cool and inspiring video, i really liked that you share the whole progress with us, Also im so happy for you for 10k, congratulation, you deserve so much!!!

A massive hats off to you for doing this challenge and for sharing the journey! I sometimes fill sketchbook pages with faces but have always felt too out of my comfort zone to share them. Another fun way I sometimes practice when the Pinterest references feel a bit too 'pinteresty' is trying to sketch the characters from tv programmes. Capturing someone whilst they're moving is really hard but can also add an element of their personality which is sometimes lacking from static photos.

this is easily one of the most inspiring art videos i've watched recently! congrats on completing the challenge and on pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone! as someone who could never draw people (i admit i quickly labeled myself as someone who only draws animals and landscapes) but wants to develop that skill, this video is exactly what i needed to watch. keep up the good work! i found your chanel by chance and im so glad i clicked on it!

honestly, this is the most inspiring 100 heads challenge video I have seen, where the goal is to improve 1 head a time. Every other video I have seen has such perfection that it intimidates me too even begin cuz I know it will never be that good. Your video was amazing and hearing your thoughts was motivating!!!

Huge congrats on completing this challenge Kelsey. I can only imagine how exhausting it would be 😅 Love that you are vulnerable about how much of a strain it was but that you pushed through. Keep creating! You’re killing it!

I love how as the pages go on, the faces start to look more and more varied from one another! Great job, thank you for your vulnerability❤️

oh god - I started this challenge in June 2020. And I got so detailed and "distracted" by the individual faces. I just couldn't finish the challenge and I still have the dedicated sketchbook on my desk. From time to time I draw a head and play around with my watercolors. I really want to have all the heads at some point. Maybe I'll grab it right now and so some faces in ballpoint pen ;D Congrats on finishing! I was able to catch a bit of your lifestreams - good stuff. You are really motivating!

Excellent message :) This challenge looks absolutely bonkers. Kudos on completing it!

Idk how I haven’t noticed that I don’t follow you bc I watch a lot of your videos, you’re an amazing person Kelsey. You inspire me truly, when I’m in doubt I look for your videos. You give me hope please never stop making art or doing your videos bc you are truly amazing:) I hope you have a great day

Hah, I love your sub par sketch artist jokes - I know that feeling when it comes to drawing heads! That 'waxing and waning' of accuracy is so true. Thanks for sharing your journey with us - go you!! We are all on a journey of improvement... and somehow getting the left eye to match the right...

Thank you for this video. I have recently found your channel a few months ago and I love your art work. I have been inspired by your videos and transparency in your videos to create my own art channel and to start documenting my journey back to art. I haven't created art since 2018 but finally got back on the wagon after watching your videos. I am 23 years old and have always wanted to make art and RU-vid my full time career but never thought I could. To make my long comment shorter, I really appreciate you putting yourself out there and showing this challenge even though you didn't feel like your art was perfect or that good. I have been putting off this challenge bc I know I wont be good and I'm scared to document it but you have inspired me to do just that. You have to start somewhere. It takes time to develop the skills other people have acquired

The Oxford dictionary says "Artist - person who produces paintings or drawings as a profession or hobby." So, Kelsey you are an artist no matter what anyone says!

58, 78, and 97 are my favorites! You absolutely made a noticeable improvement and that's awesome. I love your vulnerability and love everything about this video!

I love this so much...sad the challenge was such a struggle, but great job pushing through! Someday I'll try the 100 heads challenge, I think it'd be really rewarding in the end even if it is a slog. And I second you 100%, you gotta be willing to fail or do something poorly, otherwise you can't improve. I feel so inspired to create now!

I hear you on the tight-rope walker exercise of both showing competence and expertise and not hiding failures. It is HARD. You managed beautifully ! Now I'm tempted to try my hand at it as well....

"huh, this looks like a great way to improve. I'll have to try it sometime" -the person who got tired just watching this💀

Thank your for your video and your take on this challenge. I also did this challenge this month and it was really exhausting. In total, I needed 3 more days because I still have a full-time job and I had the same experience.... sometimes I hit the reference well and sometimes I put completely different faces on paper. But it was a great experience and I would say who doesn't have the time per day start with one portrait, with five, whatever fits into your day. I really learned a lot from it, just by drawing every day.

Wow great job! There’s huge improvement from the first few heads compared to the last!

I LOVE that you documented this struggle. I haven’t ever made it through the challenge because it’s HARD. I really feel you on the wax and wane of accuracy. I’m doing the 50 feet challenge right now and feel like this is the follow up that makes the most sense but 😬 I’m scared lol

You did AMAZING kelsey!!!! The commitment is insane!!!!!!!!! Seeing your improvement was so, so cool!!!

Thanks for sharing your journey. I could relate with this video. Some of the 100 heads challenge videos inspired me a lot but they were kinda daunting at the same time. It's been 2 years since I've been wanting to take up this challenge but i haven't yet. Hope I can take it up by the end of 2022.

I think you're brilliant! A real inspiration and courageous enough to put yourself "out there" - anyone coming up in this industry, hobbyist or otherwise can only be encouraged by your shared experiences. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise - keep doing you! 🔥😎💪🌞

I feel your pain through all of this. I experience this almost every time that I open up my sketchbook. I think that it is really important to show this side of art though. Too often we are seeing “perfect art” speedpaints, and drawings. Thank you for sharing all of this journey with us. This is something our community really needs more of.

When it comes to failure I prefer the NLP presupposition - "Failure doesn’t exist - Only feedback exists." Failure is just a label if a person chooses to use it or they can learn from the experience and grow.

Well done! Really inspirational. I’m about to start this challenge myself, I’ve returned to art recently and have learned to start letting go of perfectionism which is why I stoped for years before and have enjoyed int more than ever. Thanks for sharing!

Can't wait to watch it+ big love from Egypt ❤️😄

Wow - you can definitely see how much you improve as you proceed through the video - well done 👏

Great job. I’ve started and stopped this challenge at least once a year for like three years now and now I’m starting again and I’m on head 11 and it’s already been a week. Thanks for sharing

I've done this challenge too and that so real that it's not pleasant to do. But, at the end. The sensation of accomplicement !

I do love this video, Kelsey. Thanks for making it. I've watched it a couple of times now. What's funny is that I was thinking "this looks easy, how can it have been so difficult for her?!" Then, three heads in I was like "is it time for my nap yet?!" 😂😁

Wow! What. A. Challenge. I honestly don't think I could bring myself to do this - big congrats to you for getting through it all and keeping up with it!! I'd say my favourite head was probably #58. Love seeing the progress you've made through this video 😃

Nice work on preserving through a tough challenge dude!!!!

Love the feelings your sharing so openly with us ♡

You are an artist... Bravo for your honesty!

It broke me too, and scared me, do it SCARED, I am an absolute beginner, thank you so much for sharing your experience from the heart. But I'm up for the next big CHALLENGE.

you are an artist, people that say otherwise of prob just jealous or just your everyday internet troll congrats on getting all those heads done!!

So inspiring! I'm awaiting a new sketchbook to arrive and was thinking how to start the sketchbook and set the tone right because I have found that if the early pieces are too good I feel pressure to not suck in it and if it starts haphazardly without aim or "real art" I lose motivation to use it so I had the brilliant idea to do the 100 heads challenge! 1. I never draw people, 2. I want to be able to draw people, 3. The challenge takes away the find something to draw aspect of it. 4. I need to practice drawing from reference. 5 and the biggest of them all; it would set the tone of "in this sketchbook we are learning"! I will first off modify the challenge to swap pictures I don't feel inspired to draw and even if it makes it easier I will need the inspiration boost. Secondly I will not have the 10 day pressure because I want to fall in love with drawing heads not traumatize myself unecessarily. The goal is to make it to 100 in any time frame. I'm super excited! I'm also curious how do you feel about drawing heads now a few months later?

Well done!!💛You're awesome!

#50 looks so good!! your improvement is so clear throughout

I am usually a silent observer but when I saw you struggle with the heads i remembered myself 2 years ago. I started the 100 headchallange a few years ago to improve my portrait skills and in the beginning it really sucked .really...but as time went one an di did this challenge now.. i guess 4 times...over these years...I realized...that when i lay down my first sketchbook and the actal one..i see improvements...konfuzius once said "it doesn't matter how slow you walk..as long you do't stop moving." dear kelsey ..you gelped me to get my life in line with notion and all these beautiful things , while being more than 10000 miles away (greetings from germany btw! (: ) now I'd like to give you one little advice here : time isn't wasted..its invested. Keep woking on yopur skill.but take your time..if you do it one day a week...and just 1 head.so be it! Nobody is stopping time there...just find your own pace

I love that you committed yourself to this and pushed through and did it; weirdly I feel so inspired to do it too even though you were so miserable during the process, what does that say about me?? 😂

Holy smokes - I could barely do the 30 faces in 30 days challenge. I'm so glad I missed the 100 heads challenge 😁 Good job! Thanks for sharing.

You are an inspiration! Love your videos!

I stopped at 50 something heads and the sketchbook I did them in continues to mock me to this day 😂😂😭

You make a lot of great points. I’m learning to let go and make mistakes so I can grow as an artist.

Your words Really motivated me ,love your videos , and this challenge ❤️❤️❤️

I like this and the insights you have shared. Makes me want to try 100 heads challenge

Thanks a lot. So inspiring and you are so right. Much Respect !

I’ve attempted this challenge a few times. I never felt the need to finish it, though. I always ran into a point of diminishing returns in regards to improvement, and I burn out suuuper easily, So I’d just stop it, and work on other stuff. But it’s been really effective Just being a little more relaxed with setting the goals.

Thank you so much for the words of motivation! I am 12 now and I do not like drawing humans And then i thought im not a artist because of that reason! But now I know that im an artist thank you so much

if you begin to hate it, detest it, and become burned out by it, you're not going to get anywhere. burnout will slow your progress. it's ok to not enjoy every study, but it's way more harmful to your progress as an artist if you burnout and hate drawing than if you draw a little less. of course, do challenges like these if you WANT, you WILL improve, but try doing them at your own pace and don't get too caught up in them! love the video

A chronic perfectionist? Still sounds like me and still trying to break away from that. New to your channel and inhaling all your videos. Thank you for what you do.

HELLO KELSEY, good work! You know you can put them all together in a book and publish it. Or not. Anyway I love it!

i didnt actually do that challange but i tried to draw heads as much as i can and in 10 days i almost draw 100 heads. it didnt challanged me that much because i draw much of my drawings on line of action web site (5 minute ones) so they were fast and easy actually but i think it kinda helped me to get better at drawing. and it was kinda fun at first 4-5 days but it gets really hard and boring after that. but seeing that youre processing your drawing it makes you keep going

That's awesome, I know the struggle haha. Keep it up

Studying the Reilly Rhythms is very helpful in learning to draw faces (especially from the imagination).

I appreciate your insights 🌸

I would have been in the same boat as you. Is there any advice for people who want to do this challenge? Thank you for pushing yourself and take a break if you need it girl. You're very inspirational. You can definitely tell your progress in it

This video is most motivating than other 100 head videos

Well fuuuuuuuuuuuuuudge!!! 🤣🤣🤣 I “know” I need to do this challenge!!! Am I now terrified to do so? Absoflippinglutely!!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣 Am I going to do it? Oh probably, but I am sure it will be with much kicking and screaming all along the way, with none too few tears I am sure.

Your words are so spot on! THANK YOU! you're awesome.

The creator of this challenge (Ahmed Aldoori) made a 50 heads challenge for people who can’t do 100 😭😭😭😭 I attempted this one a few years ago so I understand your pain (horrible results and I definitely got lazy by the end) if you wanna commit to improving on heads you could maybe try out a portrait class (Chris hong has a SUPER helpful one on skill share) I think it would be more helpful for you and your schedule and it’s good to learn from people who mastered it :)

I was literally typing out a comment about Van Gogh when you mentioned him… that is the best example I can think of to discredit the “must sell” statement… Some people just want to make people feel bad.

I Love to see and i really appreciate that to shear your sorry for 100 heads challenge coz today i wanna start my 100 heads i feel your Video will help me to achieve my 100 head challenge

I LOVE THIS VIDEO. CAPS LOCK IS ON BUT IT DOESN'T EVEN MATTER. THANK YOU FOR SAYING THIS. YOU'RE VERY INSPIRING AND COMFORTING. ALSO IDK WHY BUT I KIND OF GET LIKE LIZZIE MAGUIRE VIBES FROM YOU IN A GOOD WAY. YOU INSPIRED ME TO PICK UP A PEN ONCE AGAIN :)

Seriously can't believe people are so rude!! How dare they say anyone is not an artist. That's simply absurd. I wanted to share this with you. I've been an artist for forever, and I still struggle a lot with fundamentals because of the reasons you've stated before. It's simply damn boring. I'm good at some things, like capturing a likeness of animals or landscapes and such, but I struggle a lot with faces. What I've come to learn in my journey, is that learning how to draw is simply learning how to see. Learning how to see basically comes down to learning how to 'measure' with your eye and figuring out how to simplify something into even one single line. We have to do this because our damn brains don't care for being accurate cause that's not what they're designed for. They're designed so that we survive. So by learning how to see we trick our brain in focusing solely on what matters, and that TAKES A SH*TLOAD OF BRAIN POWER. Basically by simplifying everything to it's absolute basics we'll be able to draw anything, even something as complex as a human face. I'm on this journey myself and it's kind of transformed this really boring fundamental stuff into something... dare I say fun? because it isn't simply about being perfect, but it's about 'dancing' with your eye and your pencil around the page, 'feeling' the movement and the shapes, instead of trying to act as a camera. The camera will always will. What we want is to live in that process, and we do that if we pretend we're dancing, whilst keeping proportions and shapes. Honestly it's been more fun and it has put my perfectionism in the backburner because it doesn't become like a photocopy, but our interpretation of how we experience reality. Magically we end up finding the likeness, which is just crazy to me. Anyways I wanted to share this part of my discovery journey with you!! I wished someone would have bee forthcoming with this, as I also went to art school and got out with no real technical knowledge. The first time I saw this drawing super power was when I read 'drawing with the right side of the head' by Betty Edwards and a couple of schoolism classes (Drawing Fundamentals by Thomas Fluharty and Drawing Workout con Iain McCain. I know shoolism is geared towards like animators, but these classes in particular are just freaking gold and super chill and they WANT you to have fun). We really should be learning how to hone this drawing skill as I see it like a super power that allows us to create the liberty to create literally everything and that's my dream!! Hope your art career keeps on growing and expanding and being the amazing life you want. Thank you for your videos, they're really inspiring. And sorry for my english lol

Beautiful message 🖤

Wow. It would be cool to see you progress even further after another 100... lol. You should. Challenge yourself! :P

Where's no.44? Did you skip it by accident?

Amazing video! I felt every word…

i literally tried and gave up because I almost burnt myself out and I was unhappy with how it was coming out. I started comparing myself to like other creators who I felt did so much better than me but I'm gonna start and finish it one day!!

Maybe one day I would challenge myself with drawings heads, but not push myself that I burn out! I think... with this kinds of challenges they feel more like you also have to look at your process and how faster would it be to finish a head if you tweak your process a bit... to make it faster on your end and can finish the 100 heads or however many heads it is by the given time limit.

So nice.

Well props to ya for commuting to it holy heck I would ho nuts

Great sharing ❤️

My fave is #47.

damn, I might try 50 hands ngl

You need to study the skull and then the muscles at different angles. Otherwise you’re just gonna be copying forms without fully understanding what you’re seeing even if you have the right proportions.

These heads remind me of Henri Matisse's portraits. Very expressionistic

Head #35-39 are the best

Hi, long comment sorry, but I love drawing faces so I have some input Only a few minutes in but, If you want to improve your faces, you should focus more on the planes of the face instead of the details. I think you were focusing more on lines and the drawings look very skewed. I think the planes will help your faces feel more grounded. Have you ever looked into the Andrew Loomis books? Or maybe check out Paint Coach, bc his mention of sculpting out faces as he paints is actually really go for drawing. I don’t think these challenges do people any good. Baylee Jae did the 500 page sketchbook challenge, and you can see no improvement or change in the way she approached art (although that may just be her fault). This is just how I feel though. But besides all that, Congratulations on completing the challenge!! It shows your endurance and your passion for what you’re doing that you were able to push through. 💕 I feel stressed out just thinking about it.

at least you can draw heads. i can’t :( mine suck

You mentioned having struggles with likeness especially when it comes to celebrities: I think that maybe since you're trying to draw at least semi-realism, it's a lot more difficult for celebrities because pretty much all photos of them are photoshopped or somehow altered; so, of course, it's not going to look real in your sketchbook, the model itself isn't truly "real". Maybe this isn't the issue, Idk, just wanted to say my take

Omg I want to do this

Premiere and 7 minute crew Good job! Perceived “1st” (there’s already one there) comment and 13th like

It is a very old challenge (may be 3 to 5 years)... Pro Tip: Draw smaller heads.

hey i have the same pencil :)

This is a great if not long, video. You really tortured yourself with so many heads. One constructive comment, the mouths seem to be all the same, and the eyes are similar too. Full lips on everyone without a beard. LOL.

These challenges are destructive to the self-taught artist/illustrator. Your anatomy doesn’t improve at all if you don’t know the real anatomy of the face under skin and flesh to begin with, and so does your understanding of form, shapes…etc. The only thing that improves with these viral challenges is your confidence, but your confidence at what? Confidence at producing bad drawings, and confidence in a drawing style you don’t like? I think a more superior approach to improve accuracy and discipline as an artist is going through Charles Bargue’s courses. Many of the famous artists/painters we idolize today have took Bargue training courses. Even Picasso and his famously known whacky cubist paintings have started with Bargue’s course and so did Picasso’s father.

damn, you would die making a graphic novel...

"I had to hurry up"- WHY?

Wow, that was some major resistance to doing basic drawing work.

Is it me or some of the faces look the same or similar 🤔 of I were u I would take breaks and maybe draw something else then forcing urself to draw the same thing 😑 but I gotta say respect 🙌

So, isn’t the deadline totally arbitrary? I mean why 10 days and why not just let your own process dictate the time? I mean there is no prize at the end, right? Also, I don’t agree with the “bad at the beginning” idea. If you go back and look at those first drawings I think you’ll see improvement over the 100 heads, but your first heads were not that bad. I think instead of the idea of doing “bad” or “failing” and showing that, consider maybe the joy of just making the marks on the paper. One is product oriented thinking which is always going to be disappointing, while the other is process mode which is all about the joy and is ALWAYS going to give you better product. Also, the myth that Van Gogh only sold one painting is a little misleading. He bartered his paintings all the time. He had no money. He traded them for rent and food and wine pretty consistently. He survived on his paintings. But your comments on “what is an artist” is absolutely dead on. 100% all an artist is is someone who indicates something and calls it Art. Duchamp did that with a urinal and copies of it sit in museums around the world. Go in the forest, break a twig into 5 pieces and lay them in line with one another. If you say that’s art no one can say different and no one can say you are not an artist.