Gateway, Dream, Urban, Searching for Flowers
Week 5's Prompt Gateway proved to be the first of many missed "deadlines" in my journey through my 100 Day Project. Initially, I planned to complete a painting, or series of paintings, each week based on the prompt list that I created a few weeks before the start of the project, however, with Gateway, I went a little big and that added more time than anticipated.
In 2020, I completed one large painting. One. It was my 8x10" Stacked Tea Cup painting. The rest of the year, what little art I did was 2.5" x 3.5" ATCs (artist trading cards) or smaller paintings in sketchbooks.
My creative energy and inspiration has been growing since my big move both physically and mentally away from a stifling and unhappy environment. So as the weeks progressed with my prompt list, the more I felt drawn to creating larger, more detailed paintings!
Here is what I created for Gateway, Dream, Urban, and Searching for Flowers.
Week 5: Gateway
Week 5 was the first week I maybe went a little overboard and decided on a size (8" x 10") and an amount of detail that I knew deep down I definitely couldn't finish in a week. It didn't help that I had the concept brewing but didn't start sketching it on the final paper until the Thursday or Friday of that week. There are some things I absolutely love about it and some things I wish I would have done differently, but overall, this piece definitely has shown me how much I grew as an artist and where I can take my art.
Week 6: Dream
Entering week 6, I had no idea what I was going to do. I was focusing most of my energy on Gateway - and understandably so - it's so huge (for me!) and detailed. One morning early in the week I was painting the mushrooms and this idea popped into my mind. I originally was going to do something more subtle color wise, but am glad I made it more whimsical and colorful. I see a lot of issues with it, but overall I really love how it turned out and how well the colors pop! I'm not used to using such a bright color palette, but in the end, I think it looks fantastic and dreamy.
Week 7: Urban
I love walking through a residential neighborhood at dusk. The sky is gently illuminated in a lighter blue toward the horizon and deepens the higher in the sky, lit windows shine bright yellow light out into the darkness. There was always something so serene about it, to me. I've had this idea for a painting for a long time but knew I couldn't execute it yet. Week 7 was a burnt out week for me. I finished Dream and Gateway the Saturday before the start of week 7 and didn't know if I had anything in me until I took the trash out one evening - one of our first warm evenings this year - and saw the illuminated windows against the gentle blue sky and knew I wanted to attempt this idea. I don't have a finished painting for Urban - just a simple painting in gouache in my tiny sketchbook from The Sketchbook Co. I know I'll eventually practice some of the techniques needed to actually pull what I have in my head out onto paper, but I no longer feel scared of it!
Week 8: Searching For Flowers
Oh my. Well...Searching for Flowers was the last painting that I actually finished for my 100 Day Project. It wasn't the last prompt that I did, but it was my last finished painting. I'll post more on that later. I had a hard time coming up with an idea for this one. Overall, I like the theme that I went with, but really am not a huge fan of the execution. There are some parts that I absolutely love and some parts that you can tell I rushed through. I did some experimentation with techniques and color, etc and overall am glad that I went for it and was a little more whimsical and illustrative - something I've struggled with in the past. I don't love this painting. I don't hate it. It's just...fine. It's fine.
And there we have our wrap up of weeks 5-8!