One of my goals for 2016 is to do some kind of art every day.  Anything that will help me to improve my artistic skills (as I haven’t drawn on a regular basis since middle school) is fair game:  the Daily Doodle can be as simple as a quick 10-minute sketch or as involved as a full watercolor painting that takes two hours, or anything in between.

I technically have already failed at this goal, having missed a couple of days (a few of which I have already ‘made up’), but I’m not worried about that.  I have plenty of time to catch up and finish out the year with 366 drawings (this is a leap year!)

The desired outcomes of this project are:

1. Improve my drawing ability.  Often, I have an idea in my head that I want to either use as an example on the blog or show to the Mister to get my point across on a potential project.  I do okay with project sketches, but I would like to do better.
2. Practice with and expand my skill set with watercolors.  I used to love painting with watercolors, and then I took about a 15-year break.  When I worked on the Mister’s birthday gift in August, I really enjoyed them and kept looking forward to the next opportunity I would have to sit down and paint. Often, my work tends to look a little cartoon-y and one-dimensional, and I would like them to look less flat and more realistic.  But if cartoon-y is my style, then that’s my style, and daily practice will reveal/confirm it…and perhaps encourage me to work WITH it instead of against it.
3. Enjoy dabbling in art again, taking the time to SIT down and be creative in a different way than usual (while continuing to DIY, sew, etc!).
4. Have a selection of artwork by the end of the year to use for gifts and blog projects (See the blog header?  I painted those items in October to represent the different categories of projects I share here).  I wanted to make a 2016 calendar last month to give to family as a Christmas gift, but I waited too late to start it and was rushing to get it done.  By the time I had completed the first four pieces, I politely told myself that there wasn’t time to get it done.  By working throughout the year this year, I’ll have plenty to choose from for 2017!

Today’s drawing represents the new year and a new project – and also all the ladybugs that live in our office space.  When I started cleaning it out last year, I came upon a little ladybug graveyard with the vacuum cleaner, and even now, a few will come to join me every week, not realizing it’s the last place they’ll ever visit.  View on Instagram

 

After dinner tonight, I took my watch off and sketched it out.  While considering what I could draw, I realized how many times I had looked at it during the day to make sure I got where I needed to go on time:  I started my day with an early shift starting from 7-11, then went for a run, came home for a quick shower and lunch, then headed back to work from 3 until 8:30…Like I said, January’s a busy time in the fitness world!  Again, I practiced the ‘don’t erase’ method.  View on Instagram