Best Wishes for an Artful New Year

Becoming an artist has certainly made Christmas shopping much easier for my family and friends. Everyone knows what I want most — art supplies. I’m happy to say that I received many thoughtful gifts and gift cards that I’ll enjoy using in the coming year.

Always first on my “wish list” is drawing paper, and I received several new Strathmore Drawing Pads in different sizes. I also used a gift card to grab Oil Painting for the Absolute Beginner at Amazon.

Even though I’m not an absolute beginner now, I am still working on basic techniques, and I’m sure this book will be very helpful for me.

I’m definitely looking forward to getting back to my easel after the holiday break.

The beginning of a new year is always a time for reflection, assessment, and personal evaluation. It’s also a time of promise.

I’m not going to make any difficult artistic resolutions such as painting every day, but I am resolving to learn as much as I can and to spend as much time at my easel as I can while maintaining a healthy balance with other activities in my life.

I’ve resolved, too, to be more consistent with things like cleaning brushes, placing paints on my palette in the same order each time, and keeping my art area more organized. After two years of oil painting, I’ve learned that I can easily slip into bad habits if I’m not careful. I’ve learned, too, that those little habits do make a huge difference in the quality of work. When I become careless about my paints and brushes, my work suffers. When I take time to establish and follow good practices, my paintings improve at once.

So as I return to my easel today and get back once again to my art studies, I want to wish everyone a happy and very artful new year!