Hmmm... so much for that plan

Well, I'd like to blame my failure to come close to meeting my weekly goals on being sick this week, but truth be told I was well behind last week, too, even when I felt fine.

So what's going on? Why am I resisting spending time at the easel? Fear of failure? Too much else to do? Is the goal too big? I don't really know. Maybe I need a more specific long-term goal to go along with my short-term goals. Whatever the reason, this month's goals just aren't working out. I think I'll adjust them for the second half of the month. Haven't decided how, yet.

I have done a good job at getting going on The Vein of Goldat least. More on that later.

February wrap-up and March challenge

My challenge for myself for February was simple: start 2 new canvases per week.

I completed this challenge with flying colors. My studio is now full of work-in-progress, several of which I'm very excited to continue. I started a handful of new cityscapes, a few portraits, and two abstract red paintings. I've never been much of an abstract artist, but I think it's worth playing with.

This challenge was a great way to motivate myself to choose new subjects and get painting. But while I did start all the canvases (as per my self-imposed rules), some of them are just barely started. Some weeks I spent very little time actually painting.

March's challenge attempts to address this issue: I have to spend 20 hours per week on art. At least 10 hours per week has to be actually painting; the other 10 can include activities such as learning Photoshop (a goal for a while now), researching art classes, etc. I'd also like to finally work through The Vein of Gold, which I've been meaning to do for over a year now. Art blogging counts, too.

I'm not sure how I'll do with this challenge. It's different. I'm not used to working just for the sake of putting in hours; usually I'm most effective when working towards a goal, instead. In this situation, the 'working' is the goal itself.

I am not off to a great start with this challenge. It's already Wednesday afternoon, and I've only logged 1.5 hours in front of the easel. This is not going to be easy, but hey, sometimes challenges should be challenging. :)