And just like that half of 2017 is gone.
Things are moving at a steady pace, first half of the year was pretty busy for me and I feel like I learned a lot.
June was interesting and I felt overwhelmed most of the time, but overall it was productive.
Let’s take a quick look at the final 5 days of June artwork and talk a bit about plans for July:
I did three paintings, one for an instagram marathon, funny thing about this one is that the majority of people who drew for the challenge used their pastel pencils and I went at it with my regular Terry Ludwig sticks, thus the lack of precision I suppose, but I am happy with it anyways.
and two just to practice, the pears were an absolute delight to draw because I felt completely relaxed and just played with all the colors and strokes.
The hobbit hole I drew today, listening to Howard Shore The Lord of the Rings soundtrack for the mood. It was fun for sure.
Plans for July:
I have a class with Tony Allain coming up on July 10. I am very excited and very nervous. It will be my very first workshop and a 7 hour affair at that. Since I am completely self-taught when it comes to pastels, I am nervous about tons of simple things I might not know (for instance I only found out this week I was attaching my paper wrong to the board). I hope people are friendly, worried I will look like an idiot and screw up everything. But I am sure it will be fun and I am looking forward to learn all the new things.
I am hoping to read Dawn Emerson’s “Pastel Innovations” book, I already started it and there are many thoughts and techniques to ponder.
I hope to paint a lot, especially outside.
2) Make Art That Sells (my MATS adventures can be seen on instagram under the tag #greenrainartmats):
This week I completed an assignment for MATS A unit on Gift industry. I drew a couple more collections for the mini assignment:
shoes
and sea collection
My assignment piece ended up being none of my mini images, we were instructed to go crazy with colors and I did just that. I am very drawn to folk motifs and embroidery of Easter Europe, thus my Matryoshka ladies in the garden. This illustration is available on multiple products in my Redbubble and Society6 shops.
Plans for July:
I still have one more assignment to go from MATS Bootcamp. Lilla Rogers promised it to be a fun one, I am so looking forward to it. I feel I learned so much from the class already, tremendous progress. I am going to tackle Home Decor unit in MATS A in preparation for an upcoming Live Home Decor MATS class which starts in August.
I am hoping to read Spoonflower handbook and finally get my designs there. I also need to get new stuff up on Etsy shop and start preparing 2018 calendar which I hope to release to a wider audience this time.
3) I only did one #greenrainartembroidery this week 😦 It was one of my weakest links this month and I miss it terribly, hoping to step up my game next month
Other plans:
I am all ready to celebrate World Watercolor Month with daily watercolor exercises.
I will continue drawing for Sketchflashmob #greenrainartfromlife
I will definitely continue with 52 weeks illustration challenge #greenrainart52w
I will try to make collages and paper cuttings whenever I can. I was terrible with 100 days challenge this year. But then again, I do art daily most of the time anyway and it’s not like I need to motivate myself with this. I just feel bad I failed my color theory studies again.
Illustrated Journal continues as usual (See all on instagram under #greenrainartij ) and will continue in July
As you can see, my plate is pretty full. I am hoping I can be liberated by these projects and will try to cultivate free spirited approach (like I did with pears this week) of having the most fun while drawing.
Here’s to a gorgeous July for all!
Love,
Anya
As always, please find me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Etsy
Green Rain Art 