Starting afresh in 2008

I wanted to put this post up on New Year’s Eve, but I could not due to some other work. I am not the kind that makes New Year resolutions, since I know I am lazy to keep it up even for the first week of the year. This time around, things are different. I see that a lot of artists work this way, with a set of defined goals, and they work far more efficiently than I do. So I have decided why not give it a shot. I am randomly noting down the things that I want to do during the year, these are not very ‘specific’ goals, but I would refine them in due course of time. This blog post would also get updated accordingly, and we would have an appraisal at the end of the year! So here goes, all that I want to do this year, only on the art front. I have other goals too, but they are outside the scope of this blog.

Learn – I want to pick up a few art books on composition and design. I completely lack any sense of composition, and have miserably failed in several attempts to come up with my own still life arrangements etc. I want to change that, and I want to learn composition.

Sketch – I want to refine my figure drawing skills, which I think are terrible right now. I can do very good portraits and figures with references, but without a reference, I am lost. I cannot draw something that would remotely seem human. I want to change this by practicing a lot of sketching and probably spending some time on the figure drawing forum at WetCanvas.

Do a series – I want to complete at least 2 different series of paintings. A series is a set of 5 or more paintings on the same subject. I want to see how much I can sustain my interest in a subject, in a painting. These would be at least 16 * 20 in size. I already have a lot of subjects in mind for this, let me see.

Study subjects in detail – I would be studying different subjects, and painting a subject each month. I would reveal the subject for each month at the beginning of the month. I have found that my mind is extremely wandering and cannot keep at any particular thing beyond a couple of days. This has often resulted in cases where I begin paintings with great zeal and abandon them midway due to lack of interest. I want to overcome this, and have consciously made this a written goal for the year. It is a very remote possibility that I would study 12 subjects, but I’d be happy even if I do 5. It would be ideal if I can combine this with the previous point and do series as and when I study subjects, but I never know.

Art Business – I am an absolute beginner when it comes to the business side of art, but I want to improve. I want to learn marketing skills and market myself better. That obviously means improving a LOT on the art itself, making more saleable stuff. I hope to improve on both fronts.

Paint for myself – I have two paintings that I have been planning forever - a self portrait and a portrait of my daughter. I am listing this here so that I know I need to make time for it and get them done by the year end.

Maintain my blog and website - I want to maintain my blog regularly, by posting at least thrice a week. My website would be updated every month or so.

I think this is enough for now. I have these written down and I will be sharing with my readers as and when I cross each one out. Wish you all a very happy New Year.

Looking back at 2007

As the year draws to a close, it is time to look back and reflect upon my art and growth as an artist during the year. The year seems to have gone by just like that, and I would certainly say that I have grown as an artist. I am happier with my art than I was same time last year. Whether I am satisfied or not is a different story altogether, but I think I am on my way there. It is time to reward myself for everything that I managed to do, and introspect things that went wrong.

The foremost achievement for me this year is the very fact that I have managed to draw/paint very regularly. I wanted to make this a daily habit, which I did during the latter part of the year. Initially I was painting whenever I found the time, and slowly I have learnt to make the time for it. This was my first year of painting with a child, with her taking most of my time. I would say I fared reasonably well.

The next good outcome from this year is I finally started making some money with my art. I started taking up private commissions and it has been a lovely ride so far. The money that I have made is not even worth mentioning, it is a miniscule percentage of what I earn through my job, but it is the one that excites me much more. The feeling that someone is ready to pay for your art is simply priceless, and I got that happiness this year.

And then I took part in my first ever exhibition. Though I did not have much success, I got a chance to interact with other artists and stuff. And it gave me a first hand view of the art market here.

This one is not an achievement by any means, but one that I am happy about - I ventured into doing Art Cards (miniatures) and loved it so much. I will continue to do more of them in 2008.

I updated my website and also blogged my paintings during the year. The website thing was pending forever, and I finally got to do it. I would be improvising it as I go, but I have a decent looking site ready to inform anyone who wants to see what I do. I used to blog my art regularly till 2005, and stopped it last year when I was on long leave. Now I have started again and it has been good so far. I have also interacted more often at WetCanvas and learnt immensely from other artists out there.

And finally, my biggest achievement this year has been the great progress in my time management skills, where I could effectively make time for art amidst everything else. I have gotten over my laziness in a big way, something that I am very proud of! There is still a long way to go, but I have made good progress. So with all these behind me, I am really looking forward to making a fresh start in the new year. Lots of more art to come in the coming days, watch this space.