Are you excited about the feeling of spring coming? It's not far off and I felt everything changing this week. I wasn't sure if I was going to participate this year but I really have been missing my art practice and the 100 Day Project is the perfect way to jump in and just get started. Every day for 100 days you commit to doing (or trying) something creative. It helps if you can keep it simple and do something you know you can do every day because towards the end, 100 days feels like a million.
When I was deciding what I could do for this year's project I was also doing some organizing and spotted the beautiful Holbein Gouache set that I bought last year and hadn't even opened. The colors are beautiful and I have 18 colors plus a few extra! It's sad to me that things have been so hard that I didn't even swatch my new toys. I got them in Tokyo and have great memories around our trip and the amazing stores there.
I don't have a lot of experience with gouache so this is the perfect time to try. It's always energizing to try a new medium and 100 days will really give me a good feel for it, I think. I am going to focus on understanding the gouache and on different aspects of color when I use them. As I am keeping my project to a fairly open-ended topic, I will use a structured format and will be putting them all in this 4" x 6" Fabriano 96-page book. Since I am a few pages short, I will mount the extras onto the end papers or maybe tip-ins at the end if I need.
Funny thing that all the books only have 96 pages (or often much less) but so many people do the 100 day project you would think there would be a 100 page option or even 102 or...anything suitable for the project. It just always feels so good to have everything in a proper container (like last year's box) or a sketchbook to fit everything together. I didn't have time to make a book since I decided so late but I bought some papers so maybe I can get a head start on a book (or two) for next year.
I'm also testing out this sealed palette that I haven't used before so I hope it goes well. It has plenty of space for the 18 colors in the set, plus a primary triad (magenta, yellow, cyan), plus three metallics I picked up for fun. I spritzed them with water when I sealed it up after using it so I will see how it does tomorrow. Maybe I should just plan for the traditional dried and cracking and crumbling as gouache dries and use another palette. I will adjust accordingly as I go if needed. It's one of the things that bothered me about gouache when I was trying them for urban sketching quite a few years ago. The other problem I had was the strong smell of the paints but these Holbein are really not noticeable at all in that respect so I am thrilled to use these beautiful colors.
I would love to hear if you are doing the #100dayproject or if you have ever tried it. Feel free to post below in the comments.
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