What I’ve Learned so Far...

Days 1 - 7 of this year’s 100 Day Project

Whoa. I’m still processing Week One of the 100 Day Project, and here we are on Day Eight — the beginning of Week Two. That went fast!

To review: the idea is to carve out a small space of time every day for my creative practice. The 100 Day Project has a history of sorts, and thousands of participants worldwide. You can read about it here. I’m pretty sure this is my fifth go-round with the project. (It could be my sixth time, but there was one year when I just ran out of dailiness and sorta flaked out fairly early.)

Day 1 of 100. Warming up with a watery abstract.

Last weekend I cut many, many small rectangles from some very good Strathmore watercolor paper and some even better Arches watercolor paper. I chose 10 colors for a limited palette — because why not add to the challenge? And I cleared the deck — by which I mean my corner of the dining room table — so that I could launch my project in an organized manner.

Which I did. Yay, me.

Days 2, 3, and 4. As the mood struck me.

Aside from challenging myself to use a limited watercolor palette, I also told myself that I would not use tutorials for my 100 small paintings. And then, on or about Day Four, it dawned on me:

OMG, that means I’m going to have to come up with 100 subjects to paint. On my own.

Uh-oh.

For a couple of years, I’ve been making pretty steady progress with both watercolor and gouache, by following online “paint-along” tutorials. Every so often, I try my hand at sketching or painting on my own, without the guidance of a tutor. Painting all by myself is a bigger challenge than painting-along. I know it’s really great for building skills and self-confidence.

It can also be a tiny bit stressful.

As soon as I sit down with my paint and brushes, the Creative Practice Forum comes to order in my brain. Things can get pretty noisy in there. The Good Student is present, of course, doing her best to get every single thing right and create something presentable. The Vague Memory and the Less Vague Memory pop up frequently with reminders that I’ve been taught to mix my own greens and browns… that I’ve been taught to use shading so objects in the painting seem to have mass… and that I need to decide where the light source is, before I start to push paint around. A neon sign in my peripheral vision warns: Don’t Make Mud.

Days 5 and 6. Copied from photos.

And — darn it all — the Self-Critic is always in attendance, sitting right in the front row. What a big mouth she has. Harsh, you could say. There is rarely a creative session when Self-Critic isn’t suggesting, snidely, that I should just tear up the mess I’ve made. Maybe just stop trying to be an artist, she hisses. Especially if this is the best you can do.

Sometimes, I can’t help wondering if Self-Critic might be right. I’m a person, after all, who wants to learn the Whole Thing in one gulp and then be perfect forever after. Impossible, I know, but I seem to be programmed that way.

This year, for the very first time, I’m quite conscious that something has changed. A new Being has joined the Creative Practice Forum: The Encourager.

The Encourager is quick to step in front of the Self-Critic to cheer me on. That’s just the right amount of pigment, she says. And, Wow! look how that brushstroke brought your sunset to life. And when the Self-Critic tries to muscle in, as she often does, the Encourager murmurs, She’s wayyyy out of line, Kathy. You know what you’re capable of!

Thanks to the Encourager, I now have a mantra to use before, during, and after my creative sessions:

There are no mistakes. There is only learning.

And sometimes, all of a sudden, the Encourager and I speak at once:
Look what I just did! How cool is that?

Disclaimer; Typos, wonky grammar and em-dashes courtesy of my very human brain.