2017 Review and 2018 Resolutions

Instagram best nine 2017

As December draws to a close, my instagram feed is starting to fill with artist's best nine posts of the year indicating 2018 is almost upon us. So I guess it's time to evaluate where I'm at with my art and how I plan to go forward.

This time last year I made the decision not to set a concrete resolution for myself since I was just coming off of my sketch a day attempt and wanted to try and see if I would continue the habit of regular drawing without the accountability of people following along. However this year has taught me that if I want to improve on my skills, I need to have some sort of measurable goal to keep me motivated. There is only so many times where I can rely on inspiration or motivation falling from the sky and into my lap (I watched a TED talk about how to make your life better, how motivation is for amateurs and I haven't stopped thinking about it - Click here to watch and get a kick up the ass).

And so I definitely need to set goals for myself in some capacity - no matter how small. Inktober highlighted this for me since by the time October rolled around, I craved the incentive, and the 31 drawings as a result proved it. I just need to find a way to strike a balance of not burning myself out while also keeping up a regular practice.

But before I jump fully into my thoughts and plans for next year, I think it would be wise to look over the work I did accomplish this year and what I have learned from it. Even though I didn't produce as much as I would have initially hoped, what I did make I'm happy with, which is an accomplishment in itself.


Review - favourites of 2017

So let's talk my favourite piece of the year - the watercolour piece I did of my Nana and Grandma a.k.a. the two Margarets. My Nana sadly passed this year at the good age of 89 - she was made of strong stuff - and while looking through old photos, I found a rare picture of both my Grandma and Nana together and instantly gravitated towards it. My Nana was the last of my grandparents to pass and so when it finally happened it felt like the end of era in a weird way. Another harsh reminder that I'm not a child anymore. So to see these two women together who shared the same first name, but where very different people and played different roles in my life, in the one picture made me smile.
The painting came together fairly quickly and I enjoyed very much painting the side profiles. Despite a little mishap with the over use of water in one spot and a furry cheek, I think I managed to capture them fairly well. I uploaded the picture to the Women in the Arts Scotland Facebook page and someone commented that it reminded them of two Italian Nonnas which gave me a giggle. Maybe in a parallel universe they where part of the godfather/mafia. The piece also reminded how much I love working from candid old family photographs. Something I definitely will continue to do in the future.

This is probably part of why I love the commission I did for my friend to give to his gran. There is something about old photographs, especially black and white, that are so classic and esthetically pleasing. The smart outfits, the hair, the atmosphere. I'm sure in years to come people of the future will look at the photos we take now and feel similarly but for now I don't feel like our photos have the same romance to them.
In the case of this drawing there was face swap element from another photo for the grandad, in order to make him look a little happier. My aim is never to make my drawings look exactly the same as the photo. So knowing that I could play about with the reference images to this extent to create a new, unique image, raised my confidence a bit. Also the reaction from my friend Gran was so emotional to see and was another reminder why I love drawing family portraits.

I also had a similar experience with another surprise drawing for my best friend's mum of her late dad and dear dog, Woody.
These are the reactions that make doing commissions worth while.

Another favourite from this year is none other than my Betty Cooper from Riverdale drawing. This is by far my most popular piece from this year and when I drew it, I was genuinely taken aback because of how well it turned out. It's one of the few times where I have been able to see an improvement with my own eyes. Prior to drawing it, I hadn't done any portraiture in solely pencil to that extent for a minute. You can imagine my surprise when my own hand started producing the most realistic face I had done in a while with pencils I didn't particular like at first. Just goes to show that sometimes you can't plan these things and that you should never write certain tools off until you have fully put them to the test. I continued to draw other Riverdale characters, however Betty is definitely my best one in my opinion. However I will say Archie comes a close second.

My next favourite was done at the start of the year and was the first time I had used gouche paints - my Audrey Hepburn piece. At this moment in time I think I enjoy gouache paints more than I do watercolour, purely because I think they are easier to work with. When laying down the paint you have a good idea of how the paint will dry, unlike with watercolour where a colour lays down quite pigmented but then once it dries down it's a lot lighter in comparision. So in order for me to do good pieces I need to be patient and let the colours dry before I move forward. You might notice that don't possess much patience when it comes to watercolour. Similar to watercolour though gouache lasts longer than acrylics because you can still activate left over paint on the palette with just water once it's dried. It's a pleasure to use all round and I can't remember why I stopped at just two gouache paintings this year.

Since I've already done a favourites post about inktober I won't go into detail about these pieces but I will say that the inktober ones that make the 2017 faves are my NOPE Turtle, my Thor: Ragnarok piece and the Scream drawing. Ink is such a challenging but fun medium to work with and I have no doubt that I will continue to use it in 2018. It has helped me improve on my line work, colour values and let go of some of perfectionist tendencies.

And finally I'll give my 13 Reasons Why piece an honorable mention because of how much it highlighted the fan art debate and opened my eyes to the world of copyright. And also how I should probably watermark more of my stuff to help prevent people stealing my work and putting it on phonecases. Yeahhhhh .... That was a thing.


Resolutions for 2018

So where do I want to go from here. My overwhelming feeling is that I want to paint more. I was looking at my portraiture work from 2009/2010 thinking it's time to up my painting game. Even though I have made improvements I don't think they have been that drastic from back then. I might talk about this more next year in another blog post and show you my advanced higher pieces. In regards to how often I want to paint I'll keep the number low so the resolution is achievable. Let's say sitting down to paint at least once a month with the hope of finishing a piece a month.

I also need to use those oil paints I bought at the start of the the year. Why does it say everywhere that oils aren't hard to use but then follows it with a warning to remember to watch out for combustible rags. I'm sorry.... WHAT! But aside from that the oils will be used.

This year I did a few more original pieces than normal instead of solely fan art and I want to continue with that thread. And in line with this thought I think I'm going to get myself a sketchbook soley for drawings that I don't intend on showing anyone. So like composition sketches, ideas, quick drawing exercises. I think it's easy to get caught up with making everything look nice but sometimes you need a space where you can allow yourself to be rubbish. Original pieces don't happen over night and if I can develop my style in private I think that will help raise my confidence when I do finally decide to share personal pieces.

And with that thought it's time to get ready for 2018. Hope you all have a lovely new year when it comes and I will see you in January.

Hazel, xoxo