Day Fourteen

I FINISHED THE SHOES. FINALLY.  My kitchen is free! And Mitch can wear his shoes again!

I am really pleased with them! After a refresher in drawing I'm feeling good about tackling new projects. I'm going to be taking care of my three cousins for the next week while their parents are out of town, so my next few posts are most likely going to be fun, crafty things that I can do with them.

Day Thirteen

Yesterday

Almost done these danged shoes. Just need to finish off the laces.

Day Twelve

Still working on the shoes. I need to finish them tomorrow so I can get them out of the middle of the kitchen floor- that was poor planning. I've been having to put a dining room chair on top of the shoes so my husband and I don't trip on them. (Clarification: I put them in the middle of the kitchen in the first place because the kitchen has the best lighting of the entire house).

I'm liking this rule change; getting to take my time on one piece and really make it perfect, instead of hurrying to do something new everyday. Though it's lot less interesting for anyone reading this. Sorry.

Two days ago

Yesterday

Day Eleven

I spent another couple hours working on the still life I started yesterday. It's taking forever! But I'm actually kind of enjoying it.

It's been so long since I did any drawing that I feel like I need to start back at the basics before I move on to more stylistic, "me" things. If that makes any sense at all.

Here's what I did yesterday:

And today's progress:

Day Ten, Some Changes, and a Rant

So... I'm realizing that I may have set a goal that is a little unrealistic. I think I'm going to change my rules a bit so that I'm still being challenged but so this blog doesn't end up being my whole life. So from now on instead of having to complete an entire project every single day, I just want to do a significant amount of work on a project every day. That way I can work on larger projects and not always end up with dinky last minute sharpie things.


I spent a few hours on a drawing, but didn't finish it because I am sloooooooow. I had absolutely no idea what to do today and finally just did a still life - when forced to do them in art classes the suck, but I've always like drawing shoes.

It was nice to just let my brain go numb while shading and listening to podcasts, especially after a crappy day.

EDIT: I had a few people contact me saying that they were disappointed with this change to my rules, claiming that the previous goal of a finished project every single day was "completely attainable" (I don't see them trying it!) and even giving me lists of ideas and links to sites with kiddy craft ideas. This rather provoked me...

I have this to say to anyone who disagrees with my rule change (this is what I told them):

I don't think you understand what I am trying to do here with this blog. I am not trying to make a blog full of ideas for kids craft projects; there are already a ton of those. What I am trying to do is to create a mechanism that forces me to continue being creative and making art. ART. I want to be an artist. Not a crafty mom, not a writer (I got a lot of suggestions that were all writing focused). Art almost always takes a long time to make. If I'm constantly stressing about getting something semi-artistic done by midnight, I'm never going to work on bigger pieces, I will always just make little cutesy things and that is NOT what I am going for here. Yes I will do some crafty stuff too because I love crafts, but I also want to make large paintings and drawings, and maybe sculptures if I get some clay. 
(Reading over this, it occurs to me that this sounds extremely snobbish, but it's not intended to be- I just have different goals, and crafts, though I love them, are not a big part of those goals).

Everything takes me a long time. I worked on that shoe sketch for three hours and wasn't even halfway done. I'M SLOW. I'm a perfectionist. For me to not constantly be disappointed in the things I make (which would end up with me abandoning the blog altogether), I need to have a lot of time to work on them. And with me getting a job soon I won't have all day to work on art projects anymore.

I am working towards my goals more than I ever have. To me it's obvious that this decision is the best one for me. I'm not going to do what other people want me to do just because they think it would be cool. Those are not my goals. I am following my goals, and I am following them even more effectively than I was before, because I changed my rules for the blog.