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Allowed to be a Beginner
Most of the time, I spend my life learning all that I can to be the best I can be in whatever I’m doing … life, work, art, home. Perfect would be awesome, but I’m not a computer, so I’m striving for excellence instead of perfection. I want to give life my best effort, and I have high expectations. I like to see myself as learning … improving myself and my skills, but I also like to be good at what I do.
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Letter Z and Zinnia
We’ve reached the last letter, letter Z, the end of the alphabet study (unless I decide to do it again at a later point with lowercase letters). What a time of learning and exploring letters, watercolor, and ink! I’ve enjoyed it, and I hope you have too. Letter Z proved itself as another terrible letter to use for watercolor and ink. And I refuse to use zebra. I have decided to stay away from the usual Z. The end of the alphabet is filled with difficult letters. Letters X, Y, and Z all together. When the study is finished, I’m sure I’ll see options for letter Z all over the…
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Letter Y and Yellow
The end of the alphabet has so many difficult letters when looking for subjects. Letter Y is much less difficult than letter X though. Yams, Yucca, Ylang-ylang, Yarrow, and Yard all came to mind, but in the middle of a snowy winter, Yellow won out. I needed some color, some sunshine, something bright to bring cheer to my day. Aside from the difficulties of choosing a subject to study in watercolor and ink, I think letter Y is one of my favorite letters. Why? Because I love asking questions. Y? I love to learn.
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Letter X and XOXO
Do you know how hard it is to find an object that starts with the letter X (already difficult), is conducive to a watercolor study (how can I make X-ray look good in watercolor?), and understandable in regular everyday vocabulary (rather than names derived from long ago unspoken scientific languages)?! It’s almost impossible without cheating (aka dropping letters like this Xample and Xtreme).
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Letter W and Winterberries
As I looked back through my notes from this study, Letter W has always been winterberries. Some of the other letters changed as time passed or were randomly selected from a large group of options. Not W. I love winterberries! They add pizzazz to winter, a pop of color to a dull, sleeping landscape ...
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Letter V and Vision
Letter V starts us back into our alphabet study project. Letter V?! Already? And, at the same time, we’re only at V?! I didn't realize how long 26 letters could take me. Four more letters to go until we have an alphabet of styles. Unless, of course, I add a study of lowercase letters or of numbers ... or of symbols. That could be fun. For letter V, I’ve stepped a little bit out of my usual study subject. Again, actually ...
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Vision and Goal Nuggets
It’s January and everyone has goal fever. We look for a vision. We chase after goal nuggets, trying to find the secret to success for the next year and trying to stuff a year into the first week of January. Why January is nominated as goal-setting time? Goals can happen anytime. Maybe it’s because it’s the start of the calendar year and that new planner looks desperately empty … though I view the start of the school year in a similar light and almost more of a start than January (I guess I need a different planner for that kind of year). Maybe it’s because ...
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Christmas Styles
As Christmas approaches, I will take a break from creating and posting to enjoy family times and (hopefully) get ready for the new year. Today, we’ll have an early, shortened post. I refuse to send you posts on Christmas or New Year’s Day (as Tuesday is my normal post day). I want you to enjoy your holidays. Yes, create, but you won’t have a notification from me. Instead, find silent moments to fill or not fill as you choose. Cozy in a corner with a good book and a listener or two (that’s what I’ll be doing some of the time). Have an extra cup of coffee and a cookie…
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Letter U and Undivided Christmas
Letter U and Undivided Christmas are part of a watercolor and ink study in letter styles and object styles beginning with that letter. Each study will focus on one letter and one object beginning with that letter in order to collect and practice various artistic styles and alphabets. As I mentioned in my last post, I reserve the right to twist these studies at Christmastime. Anytime, really, but especially at Christmas. And I did just that with Letter U and Undivided Christmas. I may even do a week of just Christmas styles in between letter U and letter V. Shhh. Don’t tell anyone. And I may take a week just…
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Letter T and Tags
Letter T and Tags Letter T and Tags are part of a watercolor and ink study in letter styles and object styles beginning with that letter. Each study will focus on one letter and one object beginning with that letter in order to collect and practice various artistic styles and alphabets. Letter T brings us right around Thanksgiving. Right around the time when my brain has done a full-on switch into Christmas. No, I don’t skip Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving and Christmas mesh into one big holiday for me. Giving and gratitude go together. Why not just extend both seasons?! This is one of my favorite times of the year. That said,…
