Goals of 2008

Last year, I gave a lot of thought to the goals I wanted to achieve and ended up not setting any goals. Instead I chose some suggestions, some things that I thought I could achieve, and that would go a ways to increasing my confidence and my joy in creating. In looking back, I see that what I mostly achieved was a sense of exploration, and a realization that creativity is an important part of my life. I tried to draw or sketch something everyday, and to use it as a way to bring balance and perspective to the other things that happened in my life.

This handsome nutcracker prince is the keeper of the goals. Here's how he thought it all went down:


1. Have fun, relax, experiment, explore and enjoy.

This was the most important goal, because if it's not fun why do it? This is a hobby, a relaxation and joy and there is no room for shoulds, musts and havetos. And enjoy it I did. I used different kinds of papers, used pigment pens, brush pens, watercolor pencils. I drew in public and outside, I used borders and lettering for a more illustrated look. I practiced line drawing and black and white drawing.

2. Take a class. Learn proper technique. I signed up for Kate's watercolor pencil class in February. It took a while, but I have come to love these pencils. They have unique qualities and in some cases are the absolute best medium for the task. For working outside and in public, they rule!

3. Continue to do the EDM challenges weekly, and try to do one of the ones that I have not yet done. Although I didn't complete all the challenges, I made a real effort to do as many as I could, and I also did some of the past ones, often doing two a week.

4. Begin including people and urban landscapes in my repertoire. I did not achive this. I discovered that there are lots of outside factors included in this - like crappy weather, and working from photos is a whole different thing than working in real life.

5. Use lots of color because lots of color makes me happy (see goal #1). I did work hard at creating and using bright bold dark colors.

It was a good year, and setting some suggestions like this clarified why I was going down this road and where I wanted to end up. For now, I have no destination in sight, but I'm simply enjoying the journey.