Well.....

It has been a long week, and I am tired to say the least.  Today I had to take my art to hang at Empire Eye Doctors, and I thought when I left home 18 pieces would be enough.  That is how many pieces I have used in the past although at times there have been hooks for as many as 25 paintings there.  The hooks had been rearranged, and I quickly realized that I needed about 4 more paintings.  It is a good thing that I am not too far away, and I was able to go home and get the extra paintings.

I guess my complaining about the busy week is another way of saying that I didn't get any painting done today or yesterday, nor did I read and the blog was not done yesterday.  So in the future I guess I will have to try harder to fit everything in, but if the blog doesn't get posted it doesn't get posted.  That doesn't mean that I won't paint or do my reading.......or does it???

It's Wednesday!!

Today I have to go back to the WASCO venue, Back to Golf because as venue manager I feel obligated to help the artists who will be hanging there today.  They have never hung there and the venue has lots of little nooks and crannies that need to have art.  I could try to explain this to the artists, but it will be much easier to show them.

The reading is still going well, and I am progressing through the chapters gaining ideas as I go.  Line, size, shape, direction, color, value and texture is expressed everywhere I look now, but I had never really understood it until the Mike Bailey workshop.  I know it has been presented to me before, but for some reason it had never made sense until now.

I have finished the project from the workshop-or at least I think it is finished.  I thought I would post it today to see how it looks in "blog" form.

Another Busy Day

Today was again a busy day.  There was the art group this morning, although it is now down to a duo so that probably doesn't qualify as a group.  I actually finished a painting that I had started a couple weeks ago of some hibiscus that I photographed when we were in Kauai. They are bright yellow and on rice paper so it is a nice soft look.  I will post a picture one of these days.

The next task for the day was to go to Tap Plastics to get a piece of plexiglass for a frame I am going to use for a painting I did of my nephew's daughter.  Since I have to mail it to him, the only practical things is plastic!

The final task for the day was to go to Back to Golf (a physical therapy/doctor's office) to take down some paintings that I had hanging there.  I was showing there with a couple of other WASCO artists.

As for my progress, I did finish the chapter in Edgar Whitney's book.  It is building a foundation for design, and while it is intense reading, I am enjoying it.  The third book that I ordered just arrived, so I do have a lot of reading to do.

It's a New Week

I took yesterday off since it was Easter, and my mom and my youngest son were having dinner with my husband and me.  There was a lot of food prep to do, and I felt I should put my time into that.  I guess I should properly say I took the day off of blogging because I actually got quite a bit accomplished early in the day.  I worked on my painting on Saturday as well as yesterday, and I am feeling pretty good about how it is turning out.  In a few days I think it will be ready to post.

The reading I am doing is now starting to get more interesting as I thought that it would.  After the first two chapters about brushes, paper, paint, washes etc. I am getting to the more complex topic of design.  The third chapter is really quite long, and if I am going to benefit from reading this book, I guess I need to take it slow and really understand the concepts. So that translates to the fact that I haven't finished the chapter yet, but I plan to before tomorrow.

This blog is really forcing me to stay focused on my art, and that is going to really help me.

Progress

Okay, maybe it was the guilt or maybe it was just the desire to learn more about my craft that made me start reading last night. (It was probably the guilt!)  At any rate, I read the first 2 chapters of Edgar Whitney's book, and while it was really back to the basics and for beginners, I still got a few things out of it.  I am sure as get into the heart of this book I will find things get much more interesting.  By the way I slept really well.....

Tomorrow is Easter, so I am doing some cooking today, but I am hoping that somewhere during the day I can work on my current project.  I have the sketch and value study ready, so now it is a matter of getting out the brushes.  It should be fun to work on, so I am excited to get started.

Excuses, Excuses

The 3rd book that I ordered has not arrived yet, so that gives me an excuse for not starting to go for my goal.  I have had a very busy day already, and I really don't feel like reading.  Of course if I I don't do the reading I will probably be awake in the middle of the night again with pangs of guilt because of it.  I guess Mike Bailey was right that this will keep me  honest.
     
I have done some sketching in the form of a value study so that I can eventually finish the other project that I started in the workshop last week.  This plus some Zentangling, and I have at least accomplished something.

Well, tomorrow I will report on how well my reading is going-fingers crossed!

On A Roll

Well, it is day 2 and I am back....of course not before my youngest son Dave reminded me that I should also take care of my facebook page, too.  He is right, so first thing this morning I posted a status about this blog, giving everyone this address.  I recently updated some of the art, so I think at this point in time I have sufficiently fulfilled my duties there.

Two of the books that I ordered have arrived, and I have started to look them over. One is Complete Guide to Watercolor Painting by Edgar A. Whitney and the other is Making Color Sing by Jeanne Dobie.  I am still waiting for the 3rd one to arrive before I get totally serious about this since I am not sure which book I want to start reading.  But at least I am going with my game plan.

I guess another goal I should be thinking about is making more time everyday for painting, rather than just painting when I am "free" to do so.  I think whether I sketch, do a value study or actually paint it will give me a sense of accomplishment.

So, hopefully I have set goals that I can meet-time will tell!

Something New

I decided to start this blog because of a suggestion made by Mike Bailey at the Beyond the Obvious watercolor workshop last week.  He said that a blog was a way of keeping you honest about your goals.  In other words if you say you are going to paint everyday, you had better be able to blog that you have actually done so.  I decided to order some art books that Mike told us about, and actually read them.  So the books are ordered, and when they arrive I will read at least one chapter a day and do the exercises if there are any.  Let's hope this works.