What comes next?

Reflections, plans and favourites

Hello my friends.

It’s the evening after Day 100 and I’ve spent the day thinking, reflecting, dreaming. I’d promised myself this time today to let the last few weeks’ experiment solidify. It’s so easy to rush onto the next thing. That’s what I’ve done all too often before. We’re programmed to, right? Thank you, next.

To help me close off this achievement, I’m going to share some thoughts, some plans, and nine of my favourite paintings from the 100 days.

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reflections

• Proving to myself that I can make art every day has been by far the most valuable part of this whole project. Even if I’m exhausted, even if it doesn’t go well, it’s worth it. It feeds me in a profoundly important way.

• I loved some of the paintings I made and I hated a whole bunch more, but do you know what? It didn’t matter. Nothing bad happened because I made art I didn’t like. I could just make something new tomorrow. I know this is silly, but it’s been a hugely valuable lesson to me. I have long carried such big resistance to making Bad Art. A ‘bad’ (in my eyes) piece of work in the past could discourage me and block me for weeks or even months. I am determined never to fall into that trap again.

• I think… I hope… I am beginning to break down my all or nothing thinking around art-making, too. It’s ok to do a lot some days and very little the next. In fact, some of my faster, simpler work ended up being some of my favourite pieces. ‘Every day’ is a good rule and eliminates excuses, but that container can be as big or as small as I like.

• Sharing publicly has been key to keeping me accountable. I am so so grateful for people cheering me along. I have learnt that community and accountability is far more valuable to me than success or popularity. This Substack didn’t need to be a big deal or try to get on any bestseller lists, it just needed to exist and for a small group of people to help me feel less alone. Thank you, all of you, for providing that.

• I’ve found my writing voice, but I’m still not sure what my distinctive voice and preferred style is when it comes to making art. I had hoped that maybe I might find out though daily painting but I’m definitely not there yet. I look at what I made and I’m proud of it, but I’m not sure it’s wholly me yet. I don’t connect with it much. And that’s ok! What an adventure to continue on!

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plans

Which leads me on quite nicely to what I’d like to do next.

I DO feel like I’m on adventure. It would be so easy for me to beat myself up about the fact I’m ‘not there yet’, especially as I’ve been playing around with art for so many years, but I refuse to get drawn into that lie that I’m somehow behind or running out of time. The adventure — the learning and discovery — is the whole point. There’s nowhere to get to.

The temptation was to launch myself into a serious course of ‘proper’ study, like the online degree I talked about, but I’m not sure that’s wise just yet. I really want to find this voice of mine, and I’m not sure pressing myself into a degree-conforming shape is quite the way to do it. It would be a huge financial commitment and I’m not bringing much money in, and that’s before we factor in this wild body of mine.

What I would like to do for now, I’ve decided, is the following:

1. Continue to make art every day

2. Experiment and explore LOTS

3. Work on strengthening my basic art skills

4. Build my confidence in sketching and making art on-the-go

5. Focus on enjoyment and expression, not ‘being good’

I’m going to think of it as a DIY arts education.

And I’d like to share it here!

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what to expect

Moving forward, if you’d like to stick around, you can expect to see the following:

• Frequent posts — possibly not every single day, but as often as I can (I promise to keep making some art every day though)

• Photos of my sketchbooks and what I’m exploring in there

• Finished pieces that I’ve decided to develop

• Insight and reflections on what I’m learning and being inspired by

I’m making myself a little curriculum that feels really manageable and exciting. It has filled me full of so much joy today to think about it!

So, think of shaped now as my art diary. It will remain free — I just want to keep it small, fun and low pressure — and if you’d like follow along, I’d be delighted.

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favourites

I’d like to end with a gallery of some of my favourites from the project. I’d love to know your favourites too!

As for your very kind queries about whether I’m going to sell them, I’m going to have a think about it. Each piece was just painted in a sketchbook quickly and often had blobs that I masked out when posting, so I’m not sure whether they’ll quite be good enough quality, but I’ll ponder on it and let you know. I had to paint them as if they were just for fun, if that makes sense. Making a piece to sell every day would have been FAR too much pressure!

In any case, thank you again for being here. It really means a lot.

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You’re reading the art diary of author Josie George. For more words, check out bimblings.