Wednesday WrapUp Busy Week

a little red cardinal sitting on a snow-covered berry branch in a snowfall with the quote: Wherever there are birds, there is hope. ~ Mehmet Murat ildan

Welcome!

Each Wednesday check this blog for a strategy, process, or reflection for illustration with the iPad app ProCreate. This Wednesday Wrap Up, I share this week’s style variety as I consider goals for 2023.

A Week of Styles

midcentury stylized pattern getting ready for new years with orange drink, pitcher, clock, oranges, foliage, apple, shapes, most in midcentury patterns — A bird, background, quote

I see: three gouache / nature styles, a mid-century pattern, a bit of abstract, and with / without shadows

I best like the nature / gouache styles. Next, mid-century and pattern. The two are very different styles, and really are of interest to me for improving.

I think I’m leaning towards more patterns, plus some quick ones again– for patterns and for quotes.

One of my friends is also trying photo-doodles. That’s doodling on a photo and they are quite cute. I don’t see any of hers public, though, so I can’t share. I did find a hashtag on Instargram: #photodoodle

I think I’ll take a look through my year of art in my Flickr Album Make Art Every Day. I’ve tried stylized, gouache, watercolor, mid-century, abstract, portraits, patterns, etc. Almost all are Procreate, and each one taught me some skills to carry on with each new attempt.

That’s the thing: I’m still learning. There’s so much to know and practice!

MAE0220101_orange_v2 — A 2022 year of making art

Goals

So—- artists– what are your goals for the year? Do you have monthly projects? weekly ones?

Do you have a learning goal?

One thing I did focus on this year was value: how do the colors fit together. I didn’t often get it right. Here’s an example of a values adjustment in Vibrant Acrylics.

Since I’m also considering different styles, perhaps I need to return to lessons I’ve already taken. A first challenge from Lisa Bardot last year was on styles. We drew oranges in two styles; mine: Orange-Simple. And a Brooke Glasser class took me through a style study by choosing and applying four styles to one sketch: artist study.

Try it!

Try analyzing your past week in art to help you review your last year. That’s what I’ve tried to do in this post– start with last week to jog my memory for what I’ve done all year.

Discover what you’ve liked and did not like, and then make choices in your goals for the next year.

Shannon McNab shares a bit of a review process for a portfolio on her blog: Sketch Design Repeat that might interest you.

Perhaps write you own blog post on your process for considering projects and goals for the new year and share a link in the comments. The artist community of people I share with are so willing to share what works and doesn’t for them. Be a part of that and join in.

And please– share with #warmup4art so we can all enjoy your work too! I look forward to your sharing and tag me at @42Sheri.