By: William Jones

With the holidays just around the corner, many people begin thinking about reconnecting with parts of themselves that have been set aside during the year or even longer. For some, that means returning to a creative habit they once loved, like drawing.

ArtWorkout is one platform built for moments like these. Known as a drawing practice app, it offers structured, guided lessons designed to help people ease back into drawing, even if their skills are rusty or they have little prior experience.

This winter, ArtWorkout is expanding that idea through its ArtWorkoutCrazyStories Holiday Challenge, which runs from December 25, 2025, to January 8, 2026, and invites participants, where legally permitted, to share personal stories about why they draw and what returning to creativity means to them today.

In doing so, ArtWorkout seeks to spread the message that creative paths can remain accessible even as time passes, and there are always ways to come back to them.

The Holidays As A Moment To Revisit Old Creative Dreams

The holiday season is often one of the most hectic times of the year, filled with obligations, get-togethers, and shopping sprees. Yet it’s also a time for people to reflect on earlier interests and the parts of themselves they once enjoyed but gradually set aside.

For some, that path can take them back to drawing, a creative practice that encourages personal expression with no rules to follow.

But these days, sustaining an interest in a creative pursuit, done either for the sake of it or because there’s a deeper passion underneath, can be difficult, especially when many people grow up being told creative pursuits should take a back seat to more traditional, stable careers.

That pressure has only intensified in recent years, with growing concerns about job security and economic stability, with surveys in countries like the UK suggesting that nearly nine in ten parents today discourage their children from pursuing creative careers.

At the same time, growing access to creative tools is beginning to challenge those long-held assumptions. That shift is at the center of ArtWorkout’s approach and its ArtWorkoutCrazyStories holiday campaign, which aims to show that returning to art later in life is likely more achievable these days, and it doesn’t require giving up personal responsibilities.

ArtWorkout and Its Holiday Campaign: Turning Personal Reflection Into Shared Stories

ArtWorkout is a drawing practice app designed to make drawing feel like something that could be a regular part of everyday life. It offers more than 2,500 short, guided lessons broken down into 10–30 simple steps across a range of styles, with exercises that teach users how to outline, color, and shade figures at their own pace.

One feature that’s proven especially influential is the app’s Multiplayer Mode, where users from different parts of the world can draw together in the same session in real-time. Many of those users have posted videos of these sessions on sites like TikTok, where they capture their progress and the interactions that happen during these sessions. Over time, these videos have helped foster a visible community of people expressing a consistent passion for art and encouraging one another.

Out of those moments came the idea for ArtWorkoutCrazyStories, an initiative centered on the people behind the drawings.

The premise is intentionally simple:

Participants record and post a short video showing their drawing process in ArtWorkout and the role creativity plays in their lives. The video must begin with the phrase “Here is my crazy story with ArtWorkout…” and must be shared on TikTok or YouTube using #artworkoutcrazystories.

Everyone who submits a valid contest entry, as a thank-you for taking part, receives a free one-month ArtWorkout Premium subscription, giving participants full access to the app’s guided lessons and features. The first 100 creators will receive an annual Premium subscription.

The campaign also offers different forms of recognition based on those stories,

including iPad Air devices with Apple Pencil, but the one opportunity standing out in particular is the ArtWorkout Creative Grant.

A fully funded certificate voucher for a professional online art education program delivered at a top-tier academic level will be awarded to the most touching and authentic story as selected by the ArtWorkout team and announced on January 22 on the website.

This reward could be especially appealing to participants, particularly adults, looking for deeper, more structured engagement with the craft. For those individuals, studying fundamentals and technique in an academic setting might give them a better technical foundation to continue pursuing what they love. It also offers the chance to learn alongside others who’ve gone through similar creative returns, creating a greater sense of community and shared progress.

In that way, the initiative hopes to leave participants better equipped to continue (or resume) their artistic journeys with confidence.

Returning to Drawing, With ArtWorkout as a Guide

Early responses to the campaign show just how varied people’s relationships with drawing can be and show the different ways in which creativity might have a place in people’s lives.

One participant described drawing as a rare moment of quiet in an otherwise demanding routine, saying, “I work in a loud team and spend my whole day jumping between tasks, messages, and people who need something from me.” They explained how using ArtWorkout for 10 minutes a day became a much-needed moment of respite. “For those 10 minutes, it’s just me,” they said. “And honestly, I didn’t realize how much I missed myself.”

Other responses spoke to drawing as a tool for regaining focus after a difficult period. “After a difficult period, everything around me felt a little grey,” one participant wrote. They went on to say, “ArtWorkout became a tiny daily step that helped me steady my mind again, a few minutes to breathe, focus, and remember that there’s still something inside me that can create, not just survive.”

These kinds of stories underline what returning to art later in life can look like in practice. They place everyday creative moments into context and reveal how drawing might quietly support emotional balance and personal renewal, often becoming part of daily life before it’s even noticed.

The holidays are a perfect time for people to take a step back and reassess what they want to carry forward into the new year. And with initiatives like ArtWorkoutCrazyStories, that reflection might be just the right opportunity to reconnect with creativity and make space for pursuits that were once set aside.

Disclaimer: No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. See Official Rules. This promotion is not sponsored, endorsed, administered by, or associated with Apple, TikTok, YouTube, or any of their affiliates.