What Will I Have to Show for Months of Shelter in Place?

So, reader, let's jump right in. It's week six (or so) of California's shelter in place for Covid-19 and after much thinking, journaling, dabbling, I've decided once and for all I want to "figure out" this art stuff or quit. Well, maybe not quit, but at least decide not to be a "real" artist and instead just play. The problem is, it's not in my nature to just play.

Composition #1. My drawing skills are rusty,
to say the least.

Here's the plan I've been using for years, which really hasn't been working: order more books, watch more videos, buy more online classes, take more in-person classes, try this method and that method, get confused, go insane; repeat. But with all this time on my hands and no outside distractions, I've had a chance to ponder, what do all these other artists I admire have in common? I've decided it's a dedication, a plan, a method of self-study. So I've borrowed from a few of my heroes, and I've created my own plan. I'm going to do a "composition a day" (thanks Ian Roberts), then I'm going to paint a daily small painting (thanks Bob Burridge and Carol Marine), and I'm going to write about it here. For my own sanity.

What do I hope to accomplish? A joy for painting/making art (which right now, honestly, is just not there). An understanding of what medium (media?) is right for me. (Watercolors are on my s--t list right now, and I'm dabbling in acrylics, but three years ago it was dabbling in oils when I was mad at watercolors, and then pastels are on my mind, which I've bought but never really tried, and don't forget collage, UGH, can you say mixed media? I'd like to be accomplished with at least one, first, before trying to combine them all.) And finally, a painting (or many) that makes me happy, that I'm proud of, that I feel came from me and not from someone else's influence, a painting that I look at and think, "I created that, and I like it, and I'm proud of myself." This last one is tough; I'm a hard person to please.

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Becoming an Artist

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