Personal Growth

In the past year I can say I've had a lot of growth. I think any artist who continues to work at their craft should have growth of some kind. The degree to which I have grown is the most obvious to me when I pull out my portfolio and look over the work I have in there from last year.

(Look: people!)

Last year I was determined to stick with acrylic paints. Watercolor was the enemy and I had tried and failed too many times with it to even consider it. Then I found a pack of guoache tubes stashed in the back of my supply closet. I decided to give them a try, since I was just playing around. This wasn't anything that had to go in my portfolio, or that I had to even show anyone. The result was a sleeping fox whose colors were vibrant and interesting. I took it a step further an outlined him using a brush rather than my dip pen. I liked him even more. He felt more organic to me...not so forced or confined.

Since then I've continued to push myself in this new medium and have found I really enjoy the colors and movement I can get. I've also continued to push myself in the unfamiliar territory of people and couldn't be more delighted with the results.

I don't know if I can say that I'm strictly sticking with guoache, but now that I've figured out some of my strengths and weaknesses through my experiments with it I am definitely feeling more comfortable and confident in the direction I am heading.