2.10.2011

an art challenge



so, i have been attending a nice group with some other artists (who are also mothers) every month for the past 3 months.

we discuss recent work, share ideas and discuss the challenges of finding a balance between staying creative and meeting the demands of motherhood. it's a relaxing evening and it luckily falls on a wednesday...which is "my special day" to leave the house while curtis puts rowan to bed.

this last wednesday night we all agreed to make ONE piece of art EVERY day for a MONTH. quite the commitment eh? i left the meeting feeling very optimistic and focussed.

i promptly got the flu and was stuck in bed (then recovering from being stuck in bed) so i found myself way way behind by the following wednesday.

and then it was wierd. the universe wouldn't let me have my wednesday night out. nothing was happening. no movies were playing. no friends were around. no live music. seriously. i was not intending on actually working on art during my special night, i will admit it.

but i relented.
i locked myself in the upstairs studio with headphones blaring and drew my heart out. literally. i drew every portrait of each day going backwards until i had 7 drawings.

it felt so good.

i decided to use this project as an excuse to experiment with my new tablet and reunite my brain with photoshop. i had to keep the work within the same dimension and medium and then subject-wise, i decided to draw emotionally expressive, diary-style portraits of myself for each day that focussed in on one single moment that stood out over all others.

so here is my first one.

i am at mawa painting a still-life while getting painted by brenna and feeling the fuzzy nausea that is morning sickness at 9:00 pm Wednesday February 2nd. I am wearing a giant hand-printed scarf that I made and my warmest hoodie.

3 comments:

Joel Corriveau said...

I love the drawing. You have captured "poised".

Geek question, what tablet did you go with? I need to buy one for my wife, and I don't know whether it's worth starting with a small Wacom or not. (I know bigger is better.)

tijit said...

hey joel, thanks!!

my tablet is somewhat of a beginner one i think- curtis picked it because it wasn't the cheapest and wasn't too extravagant...that way i could play around on one and see if it was worth it to upgrade later if i really started liking it.

anyways, it's between 100-200 bucks, it's a "bamboo" for pen and touch...not very big. but big enough.

good luck!

Joel said...

Thanks! That is the model that I was looking into. She might be getting a treat soon.