The horror… The horror.
Seems like there’s a lot of it around, these days. From pandemics and war to corruption, lies and the death of truth, it’s hard not to feel like we’re watching the end of the world in real time, while (as a popular meme says) somehow still having to go to work.
Welcome to the apocalypse.
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I believe in staying informed about what’s going on in the world. But, doing so has been hard on the ol’ “reason to keep getting out of bed in the morning” reserves lately. Everything seems terrible. Mostly because it is.
I felt the need to do something about that (for my own mental health and to try to inject something good into the world), and realized that the things that feed me and keep me sane usually revolve around creativity and art in all its forms.
I am not an artist by any stretch, but in addition to my love for consuming and enjoying others’ art, I do like to dabble in making art, despite not being very good at it. Finding the time and making myself do that is sometimes a struggle, and I do better when I’m given parameters - an assignment, a theme, some kind of structure, and maybe even a deadline.
I asked a couple of friends if they’d be interested in joining me in committing to weekly art assignments or “missions” as our own way of being defiant in the face of the apocalypse and its horrors. They stupidly said “yes.”
So, now we’re taking turns assigning art projects each Thursday, with our submissions due the following Thursday. The point isn’t necessarily to make “good” art - it’s just to commit to doing something creative with some regularity, and to enjoy seeing the art that others create.
If, like us, you feel the need for something fun and creative amongst the horror, you’re more than welcome to join us.
You’ll find the “rules” (loose as they may be) below.
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Each Thursday, a new “mission” (art assignment) will be posted below.Participants can devote as much or as little time and effort as they want and/or can afford that week. Spend five minutes jotting something on a napkin if that’s all you have time or energy for, or get carried away with a project and spend days on it - any amount of effort is welcome.
The point is not necessarily to make good art – it’s just to be accountable enough to others that you force yourself to make art of some kind each week, to share it with others, to get to enjoy others’ art, etc.
No one has to give any critique or suggestions or feedback at all. Of course you’re welcome to tell someone you really like their work, but this is not about criticism or even artistic feedback - it’s just for fun.
Submissions are due each Thursday by 7:00 p.m. (Eastern Time), but you can send them earlier that day or even earlier that week if you want.
For now (until/unless I come up with a better vehicle), projects are submitted by email to artpocalypsethursdays@gmail.com.
Attach a JPEG or PDF file of your artwork (if the assignment was written work, you could paste it in the body of the email instead of attaching, if you prefer).Along with your submission, include your name or (preferably) an alias you want to go by (Some of us feel more comfortable posting our art publicly under an alias instead of our actual names and, besides, it’s more fun that way). Bonus points if your alias is a reference to the movie Apocalypse Now.
Submission of your art is considered permission to include it on this website and/or associated social media accounts.
Don’t want to have your art viewed by the public? (even under an alias?) Totally understandable. Feel free to lurk and just enjoy what others create, or use the weekly missions to create art for yourself that you don’t share with us.
Submissions will be posted on this site for all to view - hopefully sometime on the Thursday they are due - perhaps slightly later when I’m busy. :)
The Missions:
Continuous Line Drawing: September 4-11, 2025
The Mission: Draw something (person, animal, object, whatever) using only one continuous line - never lifting your pencil/pen/etc. from the paper from start to finish…
Line & Photo: August 28-September 4, 2025
The Mission: Combine a line from a famous poem with a compatible photo that you take this week…
Cootie Catcher: August 7-14, 2025
The Mission: Make a “cootie catcher” fortune teller. Find a way to pick your numbers or other choices at random (online randomizer, dice, pieces of paper in a hat, whatever) and use the cootie catcher to make an actual decision for you this week. Submit a photo of your catcher, along with proof of or a short story about how the decision impacted your week…
Homemade Ice Cream: July 31-August 7, 2025
The Mission: It’s summertime, and it’s been ridiculously hot where I live, so we’re going to stretch the definition of “art” this week. Make your own, unique, homemade ice cream flavor. Submit photos of the process and the final product, as well as your review of how you thought it turned out…
Colorize It: July 24-31, 2025
The Mission: Find an old black and white photo - your own or from elsewhere - and add color to it in a way that makes it come alive…
Cemetery Story: July 17-24, 2025
The Mission: Take a walk (literal or virtual) through a cemetery and write a fictional story, poem, or ballad about someone buried there…
Quiet Fireworks: July 3-17, 2025
The Mission: Make your own (non-combustible) fireworks using whatever medium you like…
Fix the Funny Papers: June 26-July 3, 2025
The Mission: Replace the text in a comic strip with different text of your own. Or, do the opposite and keep the text from a comic strip, but replace the drawings with ones of your own. Bonus points if you do both…
Household Pattern Art: June 19-26, 2025
The Mission: Find objects in your house that have interesting patterns or textures. Take photos of those patterns and use them (print and cut them out, assemble digitally, whatever) to create a collage, landscape, or other piece of art…
Commencement Speech: May 29-June 19, 2025
The Mission: Pretend you’ve been given the honor of delivering the commencement address to a class of graduating high school or college seniors. Write part or all of your speech, giving them your best advice for the world ahead of them…
Inanimotion: May 22-29, 2025
The Mission: Arrange inanimate objects (furniture, office supplies, food, whatever) and photograph them in a way that conveys a sense of emotion…
Portrait of a Stranger: May 15-22, 2025
The Mission: Sketch, paint, or otherwise depict the likeness of a stranger you see out in the world this week. Up to you whether you get their permission or do it surreptitiously…
Mother’s Day Kid Craft: May 8-15, 2025
The Mission: Pretend you’re back in elementary school, and create a crafty Mother’s Day gift to give to or to honor your mom. We’re talkin’ hand prints in clay, macaroni art, paper plate flowers, etc. The cheesier the better…
Sonnet: April 24-May 8, 2025
The Mission: Rounding out Poetry Month, this week’s assignment is to write a sonnet, using your pet or favorite animal as the subject…
Here Lies: April 17-24, 2025
The Mission: Poetry month continues. This week, write at least three poems as epitaphs for people’s tombstones, starting each with “Here lies ___”…
Cinquain: April 10-17, 2025
The Mission: Continuing with National Poetry Month, this week’s assignment is to write a cinquain poem about April or springtime. A cinquain is a five-line poem consisting of twenty-two syllables: two in the first line, then four, then six, then eight, and then two syllables again in the last line…
Found Poetry from Lyrics: April 3-10, 2025
The Mission: For National Poetry Month, we’ll do a take on “Found Poetry.” Create a poem using some of your favorite lines from songs. Arrange those quoted lyrics to create your own poetry. You can add other words as needed to make it make sense, but the fewer extra words, the better. If you want to provide a list of where each line came from, that’s great!…
Homemade Musical Instrument: March 27-April 3, 2025
The Mission: Make your own musical instrument, using whatever materials you like. Submit a photo of your instrument, along with (if possible) an audio or video clip of you playing it…
Faux Stained Glass: March 20-27, 2025
The Mission: Make a “stained glass window” out of paper - construction paper, tissue paper, or whatever paper you have on hand…