Eyes

I'm taking part in a challenge on Facebook. The challenge is to create 100 eyes over 100 days. It's called #eyecreate100 and was the idea of a needlefelt artist called Sarah Vaci. So a group of us joined in with the challenge.

I decided to concentrate on British wildlife. It's a subject matter that I love painting anyway and my idea was that if I create 100 British wildlife eyes on one sheet of paper then at the end I can sell prints to raise money for RSPB (my family are members and supporters of RSPB). And then I started drawing.

So far I have drawn:

1. Eagle Owl                       11. Pheasent

2. Brown Hare                    12. Bumble Bee  

3. Fox                                13. Red Grouse

4. Crow                              14. Damselfly

5. Badger                           15. Stoat

6. Rainbow Trout                16. Kingfisher

7. Fallow Deer                    17. Buzzard

8. Adder                             18. Mountain Hare

9. Robin                              19. Puffin

10. Red Squirrel                  20. Mallard

It's an interesting challenge which I am really enjoying being part of. I only have 80 left to do!

The Dandy Highwayman

And so the New Year has well and truly started.

The end of the year is always really busy with commissions and Christmas so I don't often get time to work on my own ideas especially when they are as big as this one! But I'm back on it now and getting on with lots of arty ideas. I always start the new year with some art resolutions. Here they are:

1. To finish my Adam Ant painting

2. Paint a stone a day ( it's the only way to build up enough stock for the festivals this summer!)

3. Take part in the #eyecreate100 project by painting 100 eyes over 100 days

4. Finish of the various canvases I started last year but didn't get round to finishing.

5. Improve my art

Is that enough resolutions?

So far I haven't managed to paint a stone a day but I'm painting them quite often so hopefully that will help me build up enough stock. I have also started the Eye challenge. I'm on 13/100 and really enjoying it. I'm doing pen and watercolour British wildlife eyes on one sheet of A2. I'm planning on selling prints of the finished painting to raise money for RSPB. But I have a long way to go on that yet. Yesterday I managed to finish a hare painting I started last year. I know have a crow painting out that I started so I'll carry on with that one.

It will be interesting at the end of the year to look back at these resolutions and see how many I completed. The main one for me though is to improve my art. I see some amazing artists around and it always makes me strive to do better. Having said that I'd better get back to painting.xx