Wednesday, January 21, 2009

101 Goals in 1001 Days

We skipped sketch group yesterday to stay home and watch the inauguration.  Nothing warmed my heart more than seeing Bush waving from the plane as he exited D.C.   We celebrated with cake and champagne.  It really feels like we are beginning a new era.

I've been sketching quite a bit on my own lately.  Every day, in fact, for 2 weeks straight as part of my 101 goals.  3 years ago Debi in my art group suggested we do the 101 goals in 1001 days project.  You can read more about it here.  At the time, 1001 days sounded like forever, and now the time is up next month.  Even though I won't finish all 101 goals, I am really happy that I've made substantial progress.  I've marked off some really big items (go to Mexico), lots of small, mundane ones (organize garage), realized some will always be on the goal list (lose 15 lbs.) and have found that some no longer interest me (make paper cones for my mantle).  

 I'm now trying to see how many little goals I can squeeze in before the time expires.  I set a time limit on a lot of my goals so that they were things that could be checked off.  One was "sketch every day for 2 weeks straight."  This has ended up being more beneficial than I imagined, mainly because it forced me to sketch when I wasn't in the mood.  I often tried to squeeze it in right before bed so I rushed through the sketches, which resulted in looser work--something I'm always trying to accomplish anyway.

I do all my drawings in ink so they cannot be corrected and fussed over then put on a quick watercolor wash, but I have a hard time keeping them fresh and accurate without getting too tight.

I'm happy with the looseness of these sketches, especially for these subjects.  This is one of my favorites, my 2 boys' shoes:


And looseness fits the bulldog very well:


3 comments:

Paula Hewitt said...

i like the 101 goals in 1001 days - it does seem a long time. i like your idea of sketching in ink so you can't correct it. i have just started sketching and i find myself getting very uptight about it - I think I will try this.

Dreamcicle Journeys said...

Robin, These sketches are great and capture the looser style you want to create. Sketch daily for two weeks- I'll have to consider this, too.

Anonymous said...

How cool that your dog is so still. What wonderful sketches. Looking forward to seeing more.