Went out to try and do some watercolors today, but I ran into some problems when my watercolors started to freeze on me.  It's too bad because I had really wanted to paint the scene before me.  Regardless, the beauty of plein air painting is that each painting is more than a painting, each painting is a memory.  I can't wait for spring to arrive.

  Two new sketches as we get ready for a north east snow storm.  The one sketch is of a cat who was enjoying a drink today from our birdbath and the other is a furniture study of a kitchen chair.  I also recently went down to New Brunswick to pick up my watercolors that were in an exhibition.  I've hung two of them up to enjoy and remind myself of summer days.
  My brother's coming back home today to stay for the three day weekend.  I haven't seen him since he took a Christmas vacation with his girlfriend to Hawaii.  He's bringing me back some cool stuff like a really nice ukulele and some Hawaiian shirts.  Hawaii would be really nice right about now...stay safe in the storm everyone. 

  I picked up my old sketchbook tonight and started doing some new sketches in it.  It's a sketchbook that my brother gave me back in 2014 as a gift and I have used it off and on since then.  It's funny to see how my inspirations and style has shifted in the past 4 years.  I used to draw really fast, which appears much more sketchy than my current sketches. I also used to draw from my imagination a lot.
  My current sketches are all from life and the world around me.  I still draw pretty quickly, but it's not as wild as my style back in 2014.  It's an interesting comparison and it brought back a lot of memories.  I have some old notes in there also, some made me sad and some made me smile.  I'll start using this sketchbook more often and I used it tonight to draw small portrait sketches of my family.

  1.  As yourself: How far along am I?  Is it almost finished?  If you're almost finished, then there might not be much hope, but don't give up too easily.  If you just started, then keep working and see how you feel when you push through the difficulties.

  2.  As yourself: Do I feel like I could do better if I redo it?  This is a tricky question because I honestly feel like I could always do better, but the point of this question is to realize when you can do better and when you should just be satisfied with what you have.

  3.  Show the artwork to your friends and family.  This is a tip that I learned really from reading the autobiography of the artist Norman Rockwell.  Rockwell used to show his paintings to everyone to get opinions...even his mailman!

  4.  Sleep on it!  I don't literally mean sleep on your artwork, but I mean get a good night's sleep and look at it again in the morning.  Sometimes you'll feel better the next day and you'll have a better perspective when you leave it be.

  5.  Never be afraid to redo something.  ​I know that sometimes a painting or drawing can feel like it took years to do (and sometimes they actually do!).  But it's important to remember that it's never too late to do it over again.  Stay strong and keep drawing and painting!