Monday, December 28, 2009

ARE YOU READY WITH YOUR ART PLANS FOR 2010?



The New Year is fast approaching. I have been giving much consideration to my art goals for 2010. First, a quick overview of what constitutes a true goal:
1. Must be written down!
2. Must be specific (words like more, some, better etc. are not specific enough)
3. Must be attainable (example...I will paint on the moon is not an attainable goal)
Once I have established my goals, a plan must be created to make things happen. I came across my written goals for 2009 today while cleaning up my desk. It was satisfying to see that most of them were accomplished. The two disappointments were beyond my direct control but I did do everything in my power to make them happen. Most years I write out the goals, contemplate what actions I need to take, and then set the sheet aside. There is something in this process that sets it internally for me. When I check the list at the end of the year, much has come to pass.

One goal I wanted to carry over from last year was to draw every day. I did a lot of drawing this past year but I missed the "every day" part. It started me thinking. What might I do to encourage this practice. It occurred to me that drawing on a calendar would keep me on track. Especially one of those 365 day calendars with a separate page for each day. I headed out for the bookstore today to find one. Calendars are 50% off now with many wonderful themes to choose from. Maybe I should improve my pathetic French with a word a day, or attempt Italian or Spanish. In the end, I settled on a perfect match for me. I am focusing on grids (especially quilt patterns at the moment), self portraits, collage, quick sketching. It will all come together with this neat daily calendar of quilt blocks. I am going to use them as a collage element after drawing on them. To reinforce the "daily" element, I have started a blog just for this activity. There is nothing like public declarations to embarrass ourselves into following through. Starting January 1 you can follow my progress on www.drawntothemirror.blogspot.com

This is my planned setup. I want to draw from life and there is a program in my MacBook called Photobooth which turns on the internal camera. I could just prop up a mirror but I like the Photobooth program for now. I can use all manner of pen and ink materials, icluding white ink. The calendar fits in front of the computer and has a built in easel so it is propped up at a nice angle to draw. Here is my trial sample using a bamboo pen and India ink.

If you want to improve your drawing, why not give this idea a try. You can draw any subject you like. At the very least, you need to get busy with your art goals for 2010. It's going to be a wonderful year!

17 comments:

Julie Dunion said...

Love your calendar idea! What a great prompt to ensure you do something everyday.

Mariela said...

Happy new year!!!

Liz said...

Really interesting idea! I am learning so much from you.
(You need to add dot-com to the address for your new blog...which I immediately subscribed to! )

Vicki Holdwick said...

I love this idea. I'm definitely going to pick up one of those 50% daily ones like you are using.

Hope you don't mind that I am a copycat!

xoxo

jane.w.ferguson@gmail.com said...

What an inspiration you are Myrna keeping us all on track.A goal of mine this year is to create a new ACT card everyday ,starting with the caracture like figures I posted on Facebook.365 new faces may prove a bit of a challenge don't you think?

RH Carpenter said...

What a great idea to do the drawing-a-day!!! Happy 2010 and may all your New Year's resolutions come to be :)

Mary Crowell said...

you are a whiz! and your inspiration makes ME want to draw! such great ideas, I will be on board. thank you for your all your time and wisdom.

KathyM said...

Very inspiring Myrna. I would like to make some drawing every day, or every other day resolution as well.

Unknown said...

What a creative solution for meeting your goal! I guess I shouldn't be too surprised since you're one of the most creative people I know. I really like the idea of utilizing the quilt calendar - you've expanded my horizons. Happy New Year!

Cynthia said...

You motivate me sooo much!!! I love your blog! Of course ,,,I will be there with the drawing blog too...now back to my 2010 plans.

Peggy Montano & Paintings said...

I like the calendar idea also.
I have the photobooth on Macbook but man, who is that person that I see?

Desiree's Designs said...

You are such an inspiration, I could kick myself for throwing out those old pages from my quilting calendar. I love your idea, and I, like you, need to commit it to paper, its nice to look back and see how you did and see what you thought was important to accomplish last year. I look forward to your new daily blog, might have to do something similar to challenge myself. I just hate the feelings of failure and disappointment that seems to follow that first day I miss.

Anonymous said...

Hi Myrna, I like your drawing everyday idea! I'll look forward to seeing your blog. I'm still working on my goals; your definitions help! Cool drawing on calendar!

N. C. McKinney said...

I subscribed! What a fun year this will be!

Myrna Wacknov said...

I'm glad you are all excited about this idea and ready to jump in! Don't worry about missing a day. You can always play catch up by doing more than one in a day. As long as all the calendar pages are sketched on at the end of the year, I consider that goal accomplished! Worrying that you can't complete the task is no reason not to start. Anything is better than no attempt at all. Hope you find an inspiring calendar!

donnamcm said...

Myrna, loved the calendar idea so much, I went out and bought it. Plan on joining you in this. Thanks for the inspiration! Should be fun.

Gwen said...

Billiant idea, and I have an ancient B&N gift card burning a hole in my pocket.

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