SKETCHBOOK STUDY OF WOLF KAHN PAINTING!

I found the page in my sketchbook that I described in yesterday's post. A visual is always better than trying to describe with words. It's always fun to translate a color palette used in a different subject to a portrait.

The following is a wonderful little discussion of creativity I found in my e-mails this morning. Food for thought.

Creativity and stretching the sweatshirt by Seth Godin
sethgodin.typepad.com

What does it mean to be creative?
You could watch the most non-creative, linear-thinking, do-it-by-the-book cop work to solve a crime and you'd be amazed at how creative her solutions seem to be. Creative for you, because you've never been in that territory before, it's all new, it's all at the edges. Boring for her, because it's the same thing she does every time. It's not creative at all.
For me, creativity is the stuff you do at the edges. But the edges are different for everyone, and the edges change over time. If you visualize the territory you work in as an old Boston Bruins sweatshirt, realize that over time, it stretches out, it gets looser, the edges move away. Stuff that would have been creative last year isn't creative at all today, because it's not near the edges any more.
This gives you two useful tactics for problem solving:
1. If you want to be creative, understand that you'll need to get to the edges, even if the edges have moved. Being creative means immediately going to the place the last person left off.
2. If you are "not creative," if you are the sort of person that gets uncomfortable being creative or has been persuaded you're not capable, don't worry about it. Just stretch the sweatshirt in your spare time, watch the creative things other people have done, keep up with the state of the art. Then, when you do your "not creative" thing, most people will think it's pretty creative indeed.

FINALLY!!

My first series that I did in Mike Bailey's fabulous course "Watercolor Beyond the Obvious" (see sidebar for a link to Mike's blog) was "Vern". These two images in the series were inspired by a landscape by Wolf Kahn. Kahn is a master of incredible color. I analyzed his painting, deciding which watercolor pigments would reproduce the colors I was seeing. Then I determined the value number for each color and lastly the percentage of the painting each value had. I loved the results...the painting "glows" and it was one of my favorites in the series. Unfortunately, I was never able to adjust the color in the photograph I took so it always looked dreadful on my website and anywhere it appeared. Until today!!! It was a gorgeous sunny day, so I took the painting outside and re-photographed it. I am thrilled with the results. Looks like I will have to do more serious photography of paintings outside. I do have a setup of special lights, etc. for indoors but it is a total pain in the ____ to do, so I usually just prop the painting up on the kitchen counter and take the photo. I re-photographed another painting so I could enter it into a national watercolor show.

The second Vern painting is a different value pattern using the same pigments as the first. I loved how these color came together. Now I have a "pair" that I like to hang together. I need more walls!

FROM MY SKETCHBOOK

While I wrap up finishing my taxes, I thought I would post something from my sketchbook. This study was done from a gorgeous anatomy book by DK press in England. I have three of their books. The others are on drawing and sketching and one on Athletes. I am so looking forward to getting back to my art tomorrow but it is a huge relief to have this dreaded number crunching business over for the year.

DRAWING MARATHON PAINTING OF SHANNON

Today was another drawing marathon at the Palo Alto Art Center. I decided to stay on the "long pose" side and work with my new slow drying acrylics on canvas. At the last minute, I had the "brilliant" idea to collage some papers on one canvas and cover the other with red gesso. The freshly gessoed canvas was partially wet when I had to leave (that's the brilliant part) but my carpeting, car and clothing managed to come out unscathed.

I painted Shannon in the morning and was very pleased with the result. There are two layers of tissue. The first with several shades of blue paint on tissue, the second what was left of my stamping session a few days ago. I felt like I was getting the hang of these new paints. Then came the afternoon session.....a total waste of paint! (It's never a waste of effort) Like I always say, you can slap some gesso over a bad painting.

If you attend these sessions very often you start to see the same models over and over. Some you fall in love with and are excited to draw or paint them, and some annoy you for whatever reason. I was not happy with the afternoon model and somehow that seemed to show up in the final results. I am thinking about putting some collage over the image and a few other altering ideas and then working on it some more. The best part about having a painting you don't like is you have no fear of ruining it, so exploring other ideas is very liberating. There's a pony in there somewhere!

There was a gentleman at the Marathon who does beautiful charcoal figures and he had made a book through a website called "blurb.com" I checked it out when I came home and I am very excited. I think I will create a workbook to go along with my "Variations" workshop. I think there will be room in the book (40 pages) to include some of the work people have sent me of the Frenchman. I will get everyone's permission beforehand. If you have done something and never sent it to me, it's not too late. This little project may take some time.

Speaking of workshops, my website has been updated with the most current workshop dates along with descriptions of each of the three workshops I give along with slide shows and photos. Click on the title of this post and it will take you to my web page. I have 4 scheduled for this year and 4 for next year. I like to do 6 each year, so pass the word on if you would like me to come to your area.

"COLLEEN"

I am proud to report that I worked on my taxes Friday at the Gallery Concord and now only have a few more hours of work before I can take them to the accountant. I have never completed this task so early in the year. I feel like a grownup!

Today I worked on my workshop outline and script for awhile, then went to the shopping center. I sat on a bench and did some sketching for about 1/2 hour. I had a clear view of the M.A.C (cosmetics) window. What fun! Most of the sketches were terrible because everyone kept moving. I think there is a painting in there somewhere. Anyway, I don't think anyone noticed what I was doing and I was highly entertained with my activity. I hadn't thought about this as a good spot for sketching. No weather to deal with and the bench was very comfortable. I shall do this again, but leave my credit cards at home.

The best part of my outing is that I ran into an old friend I haven't seen in so many years. What a joy to see her and catch up a little.

And that brings me to todays' image. This is a painting of Colleen. She was in the Charles Reid Workshop I took a few years ago. I thought she had such a wonderful face and expressive gestures that I kept photographing her while she was checking out the Master's work. I did tell her I had taken some photos of her and she was okay with that. I ran into Colleen at the Drawing Marathon in Oakland recently and she asked me to send her this image. It is a favorite painting of mine but I never get to show it because it is on Clayboard, not paper. The nice thing about a blog is it works like your own personal gallery, so now I get to show off "Colleen".

KILLING TIME ON THE WEB...BUT OH, SO MUCH FUN!!!

The ubiquitous poster image of President Obama now has a website where you can upload a photo and make it into a poster style image using the same colors and "feel" of the original. Click on the blog title and be prepared to spend some time with this toy. I saw this on Carol Carter's blogsite and couldn't resist. You can adjust the colors somewhat (more this color, less that color etc.) The really clever part is then you can have your image printed as a poster, on a t-shirt, a mug, etc. How's that for good marketing! I have made two additional images and will eventually have a t-shirt made. Most people are using a photograph, but I prefer working with an image I have drawn and painted. I think it will make a great t-shirt. I haven't experimented with a straight drawing with this little toy, but I intend to.

If you belong to an art group, you definitely want to have Karen Druker in your group! Not only is she an inspired and inspiring painter, but she is constantly organizing interesting things for us to do and great places to go. She has so many talents and boundless energy. A fabulous force to be reckoned with. Today we toured a private medical clinic that has an amazing art collection throughout the facility. The woman responsible for acquiring the art pieces led the tour. It started with the two large Chihuly glass sculptures in the 3 story atrium, hung one over the other and progressed from there. Lots of inspiration and ideas were garnered from seeing this collection. Karen set up this outing for us.

Tomorrow I sit again at Gallery Concord. I can't decide if I will paint or work on my taxes. I just might bite the bullet and get the taxes done and out of the way so I don't have to think about it anymore. Procrastination takes it's toll in the form of constant unease about what I am avoiding. I need to grow up and put duty before play....but it is so hard!

LAST THREE OBAMA SKETCHES DONE

I was impatient to get this project done, so the price was paid. When working with a new image, I like to do quite a few drawings in my sketchbook. One has the choice of working with an erasable mark or drawing over and over making mental adjustments each time. I prefer to do lots of drawings with no erasing. Consequently, some of these sketches look pretty accurate and others are way off. So, I guess I will cut up the book , mat the ones I like and gesso over the failed images. I may try this again sometime, but for now I will consider it completed.

I received a note from Jill asking about the manuscript part of the image. That is from a stamp. It is illegible so I'm not even sure if it is English, but it looks like a hand written document of some sort. I wanted a visual reference to the Constitution or some other important document. She also thought I had planned where the different elements would fall on the head. Actually I just moved the stamped things around a bit from frame to frame for variety. The fun is seeing how the random elements come together as a whole image after you add the drawing.

A REMEMBERANCE FOR AN HISTORIC DAY

This was such a special day in the history of our country that I had to create something to commemorate the occasion. I kept thinking of this idea all day. I finally had the time to prepare the accordion sketchbook. I took photographs off of the television this morning during the inauguration so I had my own original photographs of Barack Obama to work from. I have finished these three images. I will complete the sketchbook tomorrow. I really think the 2nd image is accurate and the 3rd misses the mark, but that is always the chance you take working this way. I started out using my Interactive Atelier acrylic paints for the stamps. By adding the slow medium, I can take my time preparing the stamp and get a good impression. After the stamped acrylic dried, I added some "dirty glaze". The last step was using the Elegant Writer and using a wet brush for contouring.

Congratulations, Mr. President!!!!!

ICONOCLASTIC ARTISTS...HOW TO THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX

I have fallen into a pattern most days. I try to read for about a half hour in the morning before I get out of bed. Reading often acts like a sleeping pill at night, but I can focus better in the morning. Right now I am excited about this book "Iconoclast", which is someone who is an original thinker. I also check my e-mails on my computer while I eat breakfast. I signed up for this Artist A Day service. Each morning there is a new artist to check out. Many times I am not too taken with the art but today I was blown away. Talk about an iconic thinker! This guy does amazing things with a sheet of typing paper. Click on the blog title and it links to his website. He also works with bigger pieces of paper....much bigger. I always love when things link up unexpectantly, like the book and the Artist A day website.

In the afternoon I went to a terrific demo and hands on session sponsored by the Santa Clara Valley Watercolor Society, with a representative of Atelier Interactive Acrylics by Chroma. I have been very curious about them and actualy bought a trial set but was waiting for this session to figure out how they work. They are in competition with Golden's Open Acrylics but I think these are more versatile. They are highly saturated and thick bodied but can be diluted with just water to a spray bottle consistency without loosing the acrylic bond! One set of paints can be used for the entire gamet of viscosity. You also can rewet the paint after it has dried and you can speed up the drying time as well as slow it down dramatically.

I have been wanting to try mono-printing for a long time but after reading the books on this process, I didn't want to invest in the various paints that it required. I thought slow drying acrylics might just do the job. So, that is what I played with this afternoon. I painted the image (guess who) on a piece of glass and then placed the paper on top. The first image was slightly marred because I used a brayer on the back of the paper and you can see the uneven marks. I repainted the glass and this time just rubbed the back of the paper with my hand. This print looks like a woodcut. The eyes are startling. I like the effect. There was still lots of paint on the glass, so I sprayed it with the unlocking solution (how you rewet dried paint) and got the last print. I think this one will look interesting with lines drawn on top. I am going to explore this technique further. Lots of fun and always a surprise when you pull of the paper. Isn't it nice that art is always full of surprises!

THE BEST LAYED PLANS...

Well, I learned a lot...enjoyed my painting time...and produced a painting that is pretty darn ugly! I did follow my plan. I chose the "film noir" value plan and came pretty close! I am pleased about that. I made the painting black and white in photoshop to compare my results with my sketch. I am working with the high key palette in Nina Leland's color book to see what I could do with those colors. This is a dark as I could get with many layers of color. I decided to have a warm dark on the face and a cool dark for the background. Really don't like the warm dark very much. The second image shows the painting pretty much done. I thought the colors needed to relate more, so I put a quin gold glaze over it as a unifying force. That color wasn't in the palette. Almost all of the colors in this palette are semi opaque and granulating. They are beautiful by themselves but don't lend very much to layering or glazing. The palette that I normally use has little or no semi opaque. I like very transparent and strong colors that can create rich darks. I was trying to get the feel of a poured painting without actually masking off and pouring. The last image is the final result. Keep in mind that this isn't exactly how it actually looks but close enough to get the idea.

I am going to try again using a value pattern with just a little dark, mostly light and some mid value shapes. Also, I am going to keep from neutralizing the color too much. You can read about color until the cows come home but the only way to truly learn is by doing.

I had to wait until each layer dried before I could continue, so I started reading an interesting book. I spent the afternoon painting then reading, then painting, .... The book is called "Iconoclast" by Dr. Gregory Berns. A neuroscientist reveals how to think differently. Turns out innovator's brains fire differently and one can learn how to do this. There is so much interesting research on how the brain works. I may figure mine out yet!

THE VALUE OF THE VALUE SKETCH

These are 4 value studies I did yesterday in preparation for my next painting. I want to do more because I really like this image and plan to use it to explore color ideas. It gives me so much more confidence to start painting when I have the darks, lights and middle values already decided. I totally messed up the Zentangle painting because I didn't have a plan. That is when I really became a total believer in creating these multi-value sketches. Each time I do one, another variation comes to mind. I finally had to quit after four because it was getting late.

It took quite a few steps to get from original drawing to finished value sketch. The original image was created by overlaying two drawings to create a new one. The resulting pattern is half-sheet size. To reduce it down, I photographed it and then tried to adjust the lighting in the computer. This was nearly impossible because tracing paper on a sliding glass door doesn't photograph white. I then printed it out in a reduced size. There wasn't that much difference between the lines and the background. I went over the lines with a pen, then I traced the small image twice and put that in the copier. It's worth all the trouble because now I can print out as many as I want. I glue them into my sketch book to save them.

I have started the first painting using one of the value patterns. Hopefully, I will manage to finish it tomorrow.

"ART SMART" OR IS IT "SMART ART"?

Look what I found in the parking lot of my gym! How cool is this? I actually saw it yesterday and didn't have my camera with me. Today, I made sure it was in my bag, and there it was again, parked in the very same spot. I have visions of me driving around in this adorable little thing with one of my paintings covering the entire body. Upon close inspection, the image must have been put on at the factory. It is not a decal and it is not hand painted. We first saw these "smart cars" in Europe a few years ago and thought they were ingenious. There are so many parking spaces in San Francisco where only a car this size would fit! I am surprised there aren't more of them around.

This special car started a dinner table discussion as to copy right protection. If I inserted an image of this car in a painting, am I plagerizing someone's art work. I say it is public property, unsigned, could be wall paper for all I know and it is the same as inserting a famous painting as part of a composition in a gallery or on a wall in a house, etc. I would, however, change the license plates. My husband, ever the attorney, represented the opposing viewpoint.

SKETCHBOOK STUDY

This is a study I did for a painting called "Morning coffee". The drawing was done with a special pencil where you can wet the graphite drawing with a damp brush to blend and contour, much like non-permanent ink. Simple tools can accomplish very sophisticated results.

I didn't take the time to draw today, as I started working on my taxes. For once, I am not procrastinating. I can hardly believe it. I would call and tell my accountant, but she probably couldn't take the shock.

SKETCHES FROM PARTY PHOTOS

This morning I decided to sit in front of my computer and do some sketches from the photos I took yesterday at the SCVWS party. I need to do this more often. I take so many photos that go languishing, never to be seen again. By sketching, I discover which images have the most potential for larger works, plus I get in all that practice with a wide variety of faces. I discovered one wonderful face that I want to work with in the future. If you think you recognize yourself in any of these drawings, you are mistaken! It's not you. Somebody else that kind of looks like you, wearing the same outfit and going to the same hairdresser. Names have been changed to protect the artist from irate friends.

I am using a Moleskin sketchbook which has pale yellow pages. If the yellow photographs too "loud", I just convert it to black and white. My old computer doesn't have the adjusting capabilities in the i-photo program that the new one does.

Yesterday was world-wide sketch crawl day. You can go to sketchcrawl.com to see some of the results and fun photos of the large groups all over the world. A great concept. There were very big groups in San Francisco in Golden Gate Park and other places. I hope to be able to participate next time I think it will be early April.

FIRST CELEBRATION OF THE NEW YEAR!

Santa Clara Valley Watercolor Society has their annual holiday party in January. Instead of trying to work it into a very busy month, we have this great celebration of art and friendship in January when everything has quieted down. It is always a very special event. An amazing pot luck luncheon, painting exchange, exhibit of pleine air work and a wonderful speaker. This year there was a fun addition....several "group" paintings. Two easels were set up and everyone who wanted could paint on a sheet of watercolor paper. The final paintings came out amazingly well. We had two artists assigned to pull it all together and finish them off. They were raffled off and the lucky winners took them home matted, glazed and framed and ready to hang!

The fantastic centerpieces, courtesy of the imagination and hard work of Karen Druker, were bags of art supplies being donated to women's shelters for the kids and adults to work with. Everything was colorful, festive and definitly in the spirit of reaching out to each other and the community at large.

The unique entertainment was a guest appearance by Paul Cezanne who regailed us with his background, fellow painters of the Impressionist era and explanations of what he was exploring with his art. While everyone was in rapt attention, I had a chance to do a little sketching. I had better results because I slowed down, knowing that people wouldn't be moving much. I was able to absorb all that Mr. Cezanne had to say and draw at the same time. Lest you fear I have given up my camera for my pen, I downloaded 94 photos from the afternoon. Here is a little slide show for everyone's enjoyment. Forgive the sideways view of the beautiful table decorations. I downloaded them right side up and can't figure out how to fix it in the slide show.

FRENCHMAN WITH SKETCHBOOK TECHNIQUE

I sat at Gallery Concord today with one of my favorite people, Juanita Hagberg. It was great having someone to visit with and bounce ideas off of each other. After the close at 4 PM, we went to downtown Walnut Creek and hung out at Barnes and Noble and then went back for the Gallery Reception , celebrating the opening of our new show, at 6 PM. It was a mild night and there was a good crowd, food, drink and lovely musical entertainment. I stayed for an hour working at the sales desk, then headed home. It's an hour's drive but my books on tape keep me entertained.

I had a chance to do a painting during the day of the Frenchman on a half-sheet prepared like the sketchbook I posted yesterday.. I used some pen but mostly Hydrus Liquid Watercolor in Paynes Gray, Indian Red and a little Chrome Yellow (which is actually a yellow orange). I finally added some white acrylic ink because it needed the contrast. I don't think the additional color improved the technique. With collage, sometimes smaller works better because of the scale of the added pieces in the composition. I think I may try this again with just the pen. I don't have that "Eureka!" feeling I had with the sketchbook. I did prepare a second sketchbook, ready for drawings, so I am continuing to work on this idea for awhile.

SKETCHBOOK COMPLETED!

I had a great afternoon. I was listening to a book on tape (cd) in one computer while I did the drawings for the sketchbook using photos from my laptop! (it isn't fixed yet but I brought it back while waiting for a part so I can use the photos stored there) I used the Elegant Writer Caligraphy pen and a wet brush. I like the results so much, I think I will try a half sheet painting using this combination of materials. The Frenchman better look out!

EXPERIMENT FOR THE MONTH!

Here is my experiment for the month. I wanted to create a little sketchbook with good paper. I liked the results from my drawing marathon, so I used the same kind of paper. My idea for the format came from some accordian sketchbooks I had seen on line. I liked the idea of being able to see one or two drawings at a time or the whole series all at once. I had some leftover scraps from a piece of taupe mat board. After cutting the covers for the sketchbook, they were collaged with hand painted and stamped tissue. I am very pleased with the results. I used some of the "dirty glaze" (1 part micaceous iron oxide to 8 parts mat medium) using a brayer to spread the blobs I put on the paper. I used some of my favorite stamps on tissue paper and collaged them on, Right now I am planning to keep the book together but I always have the option of cutting it apart if I want to. The photos show the full spread when totally open, the cover, a double spread page and how it folds.

I may do more experiments this month, but at least I have fulfilled my stated goals. Day 6 and I am still on target!

I also prepared a sheet to redo the Zentangle image since I totally ruined the first one. I am starting to put the patterns down after creating an interesting background. We'll see. It may take several tries before I get a workable combination, but then, that's where all the fun is!

STUDIES FOR LIGHTING THE HEAD

The morning was spent roaming around on the internet. I am getting so many ideas for paintings and techniques. One guy had a 8 x 11 sheet of paper with 77 very detailed images on it! He did about five of these with different series of creatures on each one. Each image was smaller than 1" square!!!!! Boggles the mind. I liked how he drew. A cross between Zentangle and hyper realism. It gave me ideas how to combine styles and techniques, etc. I have included the website for sketchbooks that I was exploring. Just click on my blog title for this post and it will take you there. I don't always have a link with my title, but I will inform everyone when I do.

This afternoon I spent framing my drawings. I finally figured out a way to float a painting or drawing in a secure and easy manner. I am always afraid everything is going to fall apart later in the frame. I like the formatting of the Bainbridge mats but my drawings were just a touch too big to fit in the pre-cut opening. I got the same look by floating on top of mat board. I marked strips of paper the depth of the mat sides (e.g. 4") and placed them on the top and sides. Then I held the mounted image over the mat board, lining it up with the marker strips. Then I was able to position it perfectly without making marks on the board. I set it down in place and weighted it until the glue dried. Voila! I also learned that I needed to use thinner foamcore for the backing of the drawings. That way the spacers kept the plexi from resting on the drawing and it all still fit into the metal frames. It was a lot of work, but I like the results.

I only did about fifteen minutes of drawing today, all of it crappy but I plug along. A bad drawing in the sketchbook is like the first scratch on a new car. Now you don't have to worry, the book will just be for practice. By the time I get it filled, I should be better and the new book will have all good work in it! So instead of showing you bad drawings, I decided to post some studies I did for lighting the face. When you understand the concept, you can change the lighting on any face you have with confidence. This is one of the lessons I cover in my Advanced Portrait workshops.

DISTORTED LINE DRAWING

This is a graphite study I did awhile back. It was not a good likeness, so I did another one but the more I look at this, the more I like the distortion. I may do something with this one, someday.

I spent half the day on the computer, mesmerized by a fantastic site that had tons of self portraits by artists from Giotto to contemporary times. Then I found a website that had the same thing for sketchbooks. I didn't investigate the sketchbook website for fear of losing the rest of my day, but I have it saved for tomorrow's browsing. With all this inspiration to view, there is little time to actually create, if one isn't careful. You can find the self-portrait site by clicking on today's blog title. I will link the other site tomorrow.

I spent the afternoon running around getting plexi and frames so I could put together some things for the Gallery Concord. The exhibit changes on Tuesday. I decided to frame the better sketches from the last drawing marathon. I put together the painting for the CWA annual and reframed "the painting" for the Smithsonian competition. I did a small sketch of my son while we were playing Scrabble tonight, so I got my fifteen minutes in.

Every morning, I start my day by reading about one person in Danny Gregory's new book "An Illustrated Life". This has been such a wonderful way to get inspired and reved up to participate in art for the day. It is filled with different artists and their sketchbooks. Some people are using a magnafying glass so they can view the illustrations and writing on the sketch pages better. That is a great idea. I think I will take a magnafying glass upstairs tonight.

COVER GIRL!

I haven't received my copy but a friend was kind enough to send me this image. What an honor to make the cover of such a fine publication. I am anxiously awaiting my copy.

In the meantime, I did my sketching for the day. I also made my first attempt to draw from my short term memory. I decided a simple object would make the most sense. I have two beautiful glass birds in my kitchen greenhouse window. I starred at them trying to memorize their shapes and the negative shapes surrounding them. Then I went into a different room and tried to put it down in my sketch book. I returned with the sketchbook in hand and drew around my original drawing with the corrected shape. I did this twice (once for each bird). Next time I am going to use pen for one and pencil for the correction. This is going to take lots and lots and lots of practice to master this particular skill, but I am on my way!

The other thing I did today was totally ruin the Zentangle Frenchman. I had glued tissue over the whole thing and that looked sort of promising but turned out to be a bad idea. The paint did funny things in areas and became very ugly. I also didn't have a value plan and I really need to do that for this image. I need to see in advance what different choices will create. I learned a lot from the disaster and I still have my gesso with which to cover the entire mess. Maybe I can count this as trying something new.

January 2 and I am still on track with my goals!

FIRST DAY OF THE NEW YEAR, LAST SKETCH OF THE OLD YEAR!

A shiny brand new year with all the possibilities started today. Last night our friends gathered together to see the old year out and the new year in. Most of us struggled to stay awake until midnight. Some of the guys played cards while others watched some never-ending football. Two groups of women played Mah Jong and 4 of us played Scrabble. I spent a little time drawing the Mahj game. I wanted to finish out the year with a drawing on the last day. My friends would kill me if they saw what I did. Kind of a fun drawing but not much for likeness of anybody. You can see the guys playing cards in the background.

Today I picked up my laptop and it still doesn't work! I am taking it back tomorrow. The "Genius" (that's what the Mac people call the tech guys) tried to fix it without replacing any parts but it didn't work. I am going to insist on a new antenna. In the meantime, I am limping along with my old machine. I am grateful I have it!

I took a few minutes out to reflect on my goals for the New Year. I don't believe in resolutions, just goal setting. Maybe it's the same thing but it has a different attitude! It is a good practice to sit down and really think about where you want to go and what you want to happen at least once a year. I create catagories like career, artistic and personal. They must be specific to be achieved. They must also be WRITTEN DOWN. I did this last year and then set the list aside. When I came across the list a few months ago, I was amazed at how many of the things on the list came about!

My artistic goals this year include drawing everyday for a minimum of 15 minutes, learning to hold an image in my mind's eye so I can draw accurately after someone has moved! Creating 2 serious paintings a month and trying at least one new technique or material once a month.

It's after 10 PM and I haven't done my first drawing of the year, yet. I guess I had better get busy!