So how did the last week of watercolor painting go? As with last week, it's a resounding "just fine."
I am well and truly out of my slump from the holidays, and I am painting consistently. The week was disappointing in other ways--I'm sure you won't be surprised to hear my "real job" is still agonizingly boring. It's a very "feast or famine" type of workflow, and I'm in an unusually long drought. I've spent a lot more time and energy looking for a new job this week but it's super discouraging, time-consuming, and tiring.
I've kept my #100daysproject going consistently. I'm exactly 1/4 of the way through today and I haven't missed a day, or even wanted to skip. This is really different from my experiences painting daily for World Watercolor Month in July. I'm not sure where exactly the difference lies, but I suspect it's in the tighter boundaries. Every day my color is already chosen for me, and it's only the one. I've allowed it to guide me in my subject too, like when I painted a wine bottle with the color Bordeaux.
I've been painting with a brush for the project as well, which means my little daily art has been more realistic. That's been a mixed bag--I'm happier with my pencil sketches than I thought I would be, but it also means using layers which means waiting for paint to dry before moving on, and that really grates my impatient nature.
I fell into the trap of painting for sales this week again, and feeling stuck because it seems like all I'm good for is painting the same palette knife watercolor landscape over and over again. I finished a 5x7 that's been sitting in my "needs something else" stack for months though! And I have been experimenting / ruining a few more from that stack in an attempt to shrink the stack & push my ability to complete paintings.
(Seriously, it took me months, or maybe even a year, to add the tree & fence that finished this moody monochrome landscape. [face palm])
I did a bunch of business work this week (a free marketing course and a one-on-one call with a SCORE mentor) and I think that was part of my failure to stick with my intention. The good news from my new mentor is that I have done a lot of things right with my website. Everyone seems to be a bit baffled by how poor my visitor numbers are though, and usually suggest the same things: more videos on social media. Also better SEO stuffing. Here's a dumb attempt at it: art for your walls, unique paintings, this Kansas City watercolor artist has it.
So again for this next week I need to recommit to painting for the fun of it. I also need to prep for the Valentine's Day pop up at KCDC on Saturday. I cross my fingers it'll go decently--I did the vast majority of my sales last year at events! I haven't sold anything yet this year, so maybe this will break that spell.
