OK, ok, every year you make them full of hope and determination, and every year you run out of steam about the middle of February -- you know what I am talking about: NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS, we love them, we hate them, we stress over them, they always significantly affect our self-confidence... And here we go again. Instead of doing an over-the-top planning normal of my style, I've decided to start modestly and aim at something that (maybe) is manageable:
-- I would like to finish a big (at least 11" x 14") painting every month, and at least a small painting every week to post on Daily Paintworks for sale;
-- I would like to submit my work to 12 National Juried Exhibitions;
-- I would like to exhibit my work with Silicon Valley Open Studio and three one-day or two-day art fairs;
-- I would like to redesign and update my website, and send out newsletters once a month;
-- I would like to continue my effort on Ampersand Aquabord, and try out at least one new medium -- pastel, acrylic, oil or colored pencil for a continued period of time besides painting in watercolor;
-- I would like to learn from three artists whose style of painting I love by doing master study copies of three of their paintings to continue hone my techniques;
-- Last but not least, I would like to take at least one landscape painting workshop and a portrait painting workshop in watercolor, and try out both these genres -- painting at least a portrait painting and two landscape paintings every month. For landscape, I would also like to go out and paint "En Plein Air" at least once a month.
... Ok, I can see the list is already getting long -- I will stop here by saying that I have joined the crowd and decided to kick off my new year by signing up for something that may seem completely impossible for me -- answering Leslie Saeta's challenge of create 30 paintings in 30 days! I have realized that with my speed and school resuming, it may be difficult to do a painting from start to finish on each day the coming month. So, I've decided to use this as an opportunity for me to finish up some of the older projects started last year, and do some studies in looser style than I am feeling comfortable to. We'll see how this turns out...
For now, I will end this post with the last painting I finished in 2012 but never got around to share with you here, and wish every one Happy New Year again!
Soar, Watercolor on Arches 140# Cold Press Paper, 6"h x 6"w, 2012 #54
Sold!
You can purchase my 2013 wall and desk calendars here:
Dear Arena, it is always better to set more ambitious goals. Even if you complete some of them just partially, you will still get much satisfaction from that. I sincerely wish you to get most of your list checked off a year from now! And, looking at the previous post, I truly believe that you can very well do it!
ReplyDeleteDear Blaga, thank you for your kind encouragement! I will definitely try to stick to them for as much as I could! Even if I do get everything I would like to done, I think I will still gain from the ones I do get to try my hands on... For starters, I am learning to focus much better by trying to finish a painting a day in the "30 paintings in 30 days" challenge already... Just hoping to keep it up and do not run out of steam after a week or two...
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