StoryMarch 2020 | sarahbrannen

The Greater Boston Illustrators' Group dreamed up #StoryMarch as the Covid-19 pandemic took over the daily lives of everyone we know. We hoped that #StoryMarch might be a fun way for artists of every age to stretch themselves a little and have fun.

August 10 update - found alphabet

Here's a fun activity for parents to do with a child just learning their letters. All you have to do is keep your eyes open and snap a picture! Letters are all around us. I did this one over ten days in July.

June 23 update

#StoryMarch came to an end today with word #100, Draw. I ended up doing three drawings in all, based on the 100 words. #StoryMarch 2 and 3 were sold and all the money was donated to the We Need Diverse Books Emergency Fund. To donate or apply for a grant, click here.

April 23 update

My own #StoryMarch illustration, which interprets prompts 1 - 42, was auctioned off this week. All the proceeds were donated to the Maurice Sendak Emergency Relief Fund for authors and illustrators.

"StoryMarch 1," Ink on archival paper, 11" x 17".

#StoryMarch rules

It's simple, easy and free! Here's how it works:

Make a piece of art every day. Any medium: pencil, crayon, marker, ink, paint, photography, sculpture... anything! Use the words on the list below (you can change the order) or create your own list, but it's fun when everyone interprets the same word on the same day.

The only rule is, each piece of art should connect to the one done the day before. At the end, you'll have a big complicated drawing or painting, or a collage, or a book, or a scroll, or a map... it's up to you.

We hope parents will try this with their children, too, so that artists of any age can participate. Art teachers are welcome to use #StoryMarch with their classes, in school or online.

You can start any day. You can skip words but it's fun to try and interpret them all. If you like, use the hashtag #storymarch and post on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter. We'll keep this going as until the end of the school year, and we can't wait to see what you come up with!

Prompts:

1. key

2. lock

3. door

4. ship

5. animal

6. moon

7. drop

8. artist

9. light

10. spin

11. space

12. bounce

13. shoe

14. scatter

15. rock

16. fast

17. school

18. balloon

19. reflect

20. wind

Check out @storymarch2020 on Instagram for ideas and inspiration, or search #storymarch

on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Articles: Boston Globe, Wicked Local

Story on NBC Channel 10 Boston

#StoryMarch was created by Sarah S. Brannen, Priscilla Alpaugh and Susan Link, with help from the Greater Boston Illustrators' Group.

March 22 update!

#storymarchwrite

Lots of kids have been doing the #storymarch art project since it started March 16. It seemed like it would be fun to have a writing project too, so here's #StoryMarchWrite! Each day, you write something based on the one-word prompts below. They start easy and get harder.

Your writing can include the day's word or be inspired by it. The only other rule is that each day's piece of writing needs to connect to the previous day's piece in some way. At the end, you might have a story, or a journal, or a poem or book of poems, or almost anything! It's not necessary to share your work online, but if you do, please tag it with #storymarch and #storymarchwrite. Have fun!

Go to the #storymarchwrite page.

#authorshelpingkids

More free resources from children's authors and illustrators

Art

Jarrett Lerner "Finish This Comic!" and more

Jarrett Krosoczka video art lessons, live every weekday at 2 pm Eastern

Tony Diterlizzi - live drawing at 1 pm Eastern

Mo Willems lunch doodles, every day at 1 pm Eastern

Dan Santat "Survival School for the Pandemic" on Instagram and Twitter

Scott Magoon Studio Storytime - weekly

Debbie Ohi daily videos "Let's Make Art Together"

Cece Bell shares the inside story of El Deafo