21 Jan Part 3: December 2014 Sketch-A-Day

Ok friends, here’s the last part of December’s kazillion sketches! Had to split them into 3 posts as there were so many due to getting WAY behind on my sketches during the first trimester of my pregnancy. Needless to say, not much got done in September/October. In case you missed it here is Part 1 and Part 2.

Doing a 365 Day project was both challenging and SO fulfilling. It was challenging to force myself to draw something on days where I had been working on a commissioned art piece (with a deadline), while taking care of my two girls and their pick up/drop off schedule of school and activities. It was challenging over the summer months when I was vacationing with my family, or keeping my kids entertained and experiencing all the joys of summer, while trying to grow my small art business.  But it was just one sketch a day, really. Totally doable. Unless, of course I slacked for a couple of days…or in the case of the entirety of my first trimester of pregnancy, a couple weeks! I was determined to do them all…and I did.

Here’s what made it SO worth it…

• Material: I now have 4 sketch books chock-full of ideas for paintings, prints…whatever! Some of my original drawings are already listed at my Etsy shop. I’ll be adding more soon.
• Memories: I have drawings of my precious children that we’ll have in our family forever. I also have drawings of my beloved husband and our pets.  These are priceless.
• Practice: I tried many different styles from detailed portraits to calligraphy to cartoonish abstracts. I worked with different tools. Mostly, I used micron pens, colored pencils and faber-castell pitt artist pen markers. I figured out what I liked to do best…and I feel like my drawing got better!
• Sales: Sharing my sketches led to sales…many sales! I doubled my art income in 2014 from the previous year!!! Showing my drawings on instagram and facebook either reminded people of what I could do for them, or sparked an idea for a commission. I would post a picture of a peony and lo and behold I was commissioned to paint a 3 ft x 3 ft painting of peonies for a client’s dining room!

It was somewhat bittersweet seeing it come to an end on December 31st. I would love to continue my sketch-a-day in 2015 but am giving myself the break as we are welcoming our third child in just a few months. Who knows, though, I may devise some other daily or weekly challenge for a month or two in 2015. Painting a week? Photograph a day? I’ll let you know;) Here are the last group of sketches, in no particular order, from 2014. Thanks for following friends!