Canada 150

'Build the Habit of Art Production'

In the book I am reading 'My Real Job is Being an Artist', de Wal recommends building an art habit.  Popular belief is that if you do something daily for 3 weeks, it will become a habit.  No matter what  is happening you must spend time daily creating some art if you want to get 'good enough'.   I am not great at this, life happens, so I am going to make a concerted effort this year to put in some more hours.  So, my challenge to myself is to create 150 paintings and or pottery pieces with Canadian themes for Canada 150.  Our big national celebration is this year and I am jumping on the bandwagon with artists such as TimothyWilson Hoey and Carla Perkins among others, and choosing Canada related themes to paint.  Also check out Canada 150 Projects for other interesting projects happening this year.

Here is the official start of painting #1 - this is just the underpainting, which is the base to establish values,

before I tackle the oil painting on top of this. Hope to get it done sometime this week.

Underpainting of a bridge in Jasper, AB

the photo by my son

A 'Real' Artist

In my constant struggle to become a serious 'real artist' I try to find books to help me learn how to do this.   Aletta de Wal's book, My Real Job is Being an Artist, is probably the best book I have found yet and I am attempting to work through the strategies she recommends and get SERIOUS.

One of the first things I need to address is producing more art in order to develop a signature style.  I spent a couple of hours today 'getting my creative space organized', which de Wal recommends you do right away.  I know this is very important for me - as I find if there is too much clutter or mess going on I just can't seem to get focused - Clear Space, Clear Mind.  The picture below is my art space and home office.  I also committed to doing some art today, so I sketched a fish while eating breakfast to get me off on the right foot.  I plan to tackle some painting this evening, too.