It wouldn’t be a challenge if it was easy. I slipped up this last week and didn’t paint. I’m not sorry about it though. The holidays were here and I enjoyed a lot of time with my family. Now that they’re over for now though, it’s back to work. I didn’t post last Monday, but…
Sticking to Daily Painting
I don’t think I’ve announced it here on the blog yet, but this summer I finally got some of my art into a local shop called Moab Made. It’s a shop for local artists to sell and display their work. I feel like it’s a bit less formal than a gallery, but it works basically…
Prioritizing Art
Now that life has slowed back down to a normal pace, I think I’m going to try to be consistent with this blog again. I made a few attempts earlier this year but was already too overloaded with obligations for it to stick. Now that October is over, things are slowing down and I feel…
Building a Daily Painting Habit
Building a daily painting habit or rebuilding a daily painting habit, in my case, is no easy task. I used to be very good at maintaining a habit of painting every day, but have struggled considerably since the pandemic started. While some people found the extra time on their hands a boon to their art,…
2021 Art Goals
Goals are important when doing any activity. They’re especially important if you intend on accomplishing anything substantial. The hard part is planning out these goals. For me especially, I’ve been struggling with the long term direction I want to ultimately go with my art. I recently met an artist and thought: “That! That is what…
To what end?
Sometimes you have to ask yourself the question “to what end?” To some extent this most recent hiatus from painting has been a crisis. It has also just been a break, a time to focus on other creative outlets. I’ve driven myself really hard the last few years to improve as an artist. I’ve had…
Painting: Use it or Lose it
Unfortunately, painting is a use it or lose it skill. After a pretty long hiatus, I’m trying to paint again and finding out that I’ve lost a lot of what I had gained over the last few years of consistent painting. All of the effortless color mixing I was doing this time last year is…
2020 Year in Review
It has been a bizarre year. All I wanted after the nightmare that was 2019 was an entirely uneventful year. Nothing like the whole world sinking into pandemic chaos to make your problems feel small. I don’t have very high hopes for next year since we’re still in the full swing of the pandemic right…
2020 Inktober
You may have noticed the distinct lack of ink drawings this year if you’re following me over on instagram or facebook. I do still plan on doing inktober this year, but I’m thinking of maybe starting late or waiting until next month and do… inkvember? The name certainly isn’t as catchy. That’s for sure. I’m…
September 2020 Strada Easel Challenge Days 25-30
I made it! The final six paintings of the challenge are finished. For day 25, I came across these shells and thought they were perfect for the prompt. My other idea was to paint another feather. It was nice to do something I’ve never done before though. I seriously lacked energy on day 26. I…
September 2020 STRADA Easel Challenge Days 18-24
I’ve been wanting to paint a raw egg for a really long time. I can’t think of a good reason why I haven’t either. Especially now that I’ve discovered how fun they are to paint. The egg is from my chickens so it’s almost half the size of a normal egg and the yolk is…
September STRADA Easel Challenge Days 11-17
This week of paintings is going to be good. I know it. Like I said at the end of my last post, I’m finally gessoing my panels. The panels I’m using are Speedball Mona Lisa Panels and are already pre primed. The problem with the primer however, is that it is very smooth. I tried…