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2011: The Year for Getting Things Done

graphite pear drawing

©2010 Carolyn A. Pappas, Arrangement of Pears. Graphite on Bristol Board, 6 x 6 inches.

This post outlines my 2011 Art Goals. I love this time of year when I can read other artist’s recaps and goals. If you have made such a post, please leave a comment below and I would love to check out yours. I have tons of ideas and I could easily make a list so long that it would be impossible to complete, but I limited myself to four main areas.

Increase Production
I want to focus on expanding and improving my portfolio this year. If I complete, on average, at least one “good” piece per week I will consider this goal completed. When I say “good” I mean that I want to feel good about it and it could be something to potentially sell (see the last point).

Using Sketchbooks in a Different Way.
I want to make sketching more of a habit in 2011. For years, I used to only work in bound books. I would spend hours on drawings that I should have done on a separate sheet of paper so I could have framed them more easily. This past year I started making more of these “finished pieces” that were suitable for framing, but I found that I was neglecting my sketchbooks for actual sketches in the process. I’m not going to pressure myself to post them all online, but if I spend some time sketching every day then I will feel successful with this goal.

Experiment with New Subject Matter
I’m really curious about still life and I want to complete a number of still life drawings and paintings in 2011. I find some still lifes to be without a soul and I’m not interested in them merely as an exercise in rendering difficult subject matter (think lots of reflections on metal objects). I do, however, have a number of sentimental objects that I would like to capture. I have some ideas for a series, but I don’t want to set a quota on how many pieces I need to produce. I have already added a number of still life painting blogs to my RSS reader and any recommendations would be appreciated!

Start Selling My Work
I am not going to rush myself on this one, but it is something that I have been thinking about. For a long time I held off because I thought my work was substandard, but I have gotten to a point where I feel I am ready to start looking into it seriously.

I also have a few other projects that I have started work on, but they are not ready to unveil yet. I hope everyone has a very happy and productive New Year!

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