It's been hard to do anything at all with my art for almost a year and a half now. I have been in a severe case of burnout and recently wrote down that when I am separated from doing my art I feel dead inside. It's a downward spiral and the only cure is to take the risk and do art. The 100 day project is amazing because it helps to have a huge cohort of people working towards a goal within a set time period. This year my project was a perfect match to get me moving. By combining a somewhat new-to-me medium with a very small-sized daily page and little pressure I have been able to keep up this year.
I have even done a few pages in my bullet journal like the one above. "I am ready for positive change - you can choose what you love". Good words to remember when I am struggling and it's easy to turn back to the colorful page. I feel alive and confident when I am able to make art every day and it helps my whole life feel more complete. My next goal will be to get back to my acrylic paints because I feel like I can do more with layering and texture.
Tonight I was working on day 44/100 and I was frustrated because I knew where I would go with it if I were working in acrylic but it just wasn't working with the gouache since it has such different properties. The gouache is lovely and part of my 100 day exploration is to learn more and find my way with it but I still gets annoyed when I can't get the effects I want. But the silly thing is that these are just tiny studies and one of my goals is to not get caught up trying to finish them into a complete painting. They are just studies but sometimes I hyperfocus and it's easy to forget to just let go and let it be.
So tomorrow is another day and I will try to remember to keep it simple and fun. I think I will set a timer. I would love to hear any thoughts you have on your own #the100dayproject or on burnout or on gouache. I hope you have a great week and do some art experiments of your own.
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