The First 30 Days

I've made it to through my first month of daily portraits! Booyah!!!

It's hard to believe that I have sketched more times this past month than I have the entire five years that I've been working as a designer!

After 30 days, I think that the artistic fire inside of me has been rekindled. I look forward every day to creating something new or trying something new. I've really enjoyed the pen and ink process thus far. I never know how things are going to turn out!

"Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, 

is a way to make your soul grow..." - KURT VONEGUT

My husband keeps saying, "You're getting better babe!" And whether or not it's true, the greatest growth I'm seeing is inside me, not just what's on paper.

I am relearning the art of making mistakes (oops, that line isn't supposed to be there), acknowledging them for what they are (well that was a bad idea), embracing them (guys, look at that line!), and moving on (it's just a line).

I am rediscovering the vulnerability I had when I was a student, the same vulnerability that allowed teachers to mold me. Art teachers love it when students are not afraid to put themselves out there. By sharing what I do, I'm including others in the creative process. What good is art if nobody sees it?

 

"...the belief that (the) process, in a sense, is liberating...you don't have to reinvent the wheel every day." - CHUCK CLOSE

A lot has happened in a month's time. With one down and eleven to go, who knows how much more growing will be done?

Week 2: A Year of Portraits

This past week was a struggle, and it was only week two!

I had to remind myself that it's OK if I miss a day or two of drawing. If I draw just so I can say I drew that day, then I'm missing the point.

So what is the point? What is so important about daily creative habits?

"Only now I'm learning to enjoy not being in charge of what 

the next stroke will do to the whole painting. 

I'm still learning that there are no mistakes only discoveries."

- Fernando Araujo

I grew so much as an artist and as a person when I was in art school. My teachers introduced me to techniques and mediums that I had never tried or used before. They also pushed me out of my comfort zone, and challenged me to do things I never thought I could do. Did I become Michelangelo after four years of schooling? No. But my journey towards the Sistine Chapel had begun.

 

Learning and growing did not stop when I graduated. My creative cloud has so much potential for expansion, but it's the daily stretching and practicing that will take me to heights I've never been to. Not everything I do will be a masterpiece, and some things will be terrible. But sometimes it takes a lot of bad ideas to find the best idea.

So here's the point: Daily creative habits are not important. They are essential to my artistic growth. And though I might miss a day, I will continue challenging myself every day.