What direction to take ... in 2010...

Hello –

Now that we are into 2010 some I am now comfortable with what type of resolution to make this year. Compared with last year where I made three resolution categories that each had a specific item or a list of things to accomplish. This year I am only going to define my goals by establishing two key words that will embody my decision making process and direct my actions. They are:

1} Growth: the act or process, or a manner of growing; development; gradual increase

2} Inquiry: a close examination of a matter in a search for information or truth

Why these words? … Because after taking the big step last year to become a full time artist I realized that one of the most important factors to be satisfied with my work was to feel that I was growing in some way. It did not matter as much if the product is what I wanted or expected, but whether I gained something from the experience. Though sometimes I felt a nagging sense that all actions and projects must produce a “product” and at times it seemed to me that my sense of exploration and desire to learn was given a back seat for the more specific goals I had outlined.

Thus I want this year to be filled with growth, the gradual increase in skills and understanding of what a career in art making is all about, and where I allow my natural tendency to investigate further and to understand something in more depth is also given room to breathe.

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I was inspired to pursue this method of making resolutions

by the talented Lisa Call and Anna T.

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{15 min. study & detail}

I have been thinking about how to establish goals in 2010 for awhile and after yesterday believe using these defining words to give direction will work out.

Yesterday was the first figure painting class of the winter term. This term I will be exploring the differences in drawing the human figure versus painting the figure by taking a class in each. In the painting class we started with three 15 minute studies. With this one I used the gray ground to be the initial shadow mass and then started laying in the skin tone with variations in paint thickness and color temperature. After the timer when off, this sketch was scraped down and a new sketch was begun.