Looking forward to the year ahead

A Work in Progress

Graphite pencil on paper

Happy New Year

It’s a new year and I’m hoping it’s a better and more productive one than the last. 2008 was not a good year for me in many ways and all my plans and visions of where I wanted to be in the art world didn’t really take off – not helped of course by suffering artists block for months at the beginning of the year. That really got me down and put a stop to many of my plans. I usually like to sit about this time and review the past year and what I accomplished but not this time as it would probably depress me. Instead I’m going to look forward and view the New Year as a fresh start and new beginnings.

Before I jump into listing my goals for 2009 I should point out that not all was doom and gloom on the art front last year – that was reserved solely for my own personal work. Much of the work I currently do, actually the majority, is to commission and last year was no exception. I had the privilege of drawing many beautiful dogs and working with some lovely people and for that I am very grateful. Working on commissioned portraits is something I love to do, and for as long as I’m asked I’ll continue doing so.

I have been giving a lot of thought to my goals for 2009 and where I want to be as an artist. There are so many things I want to do but I’m conscious of keeping my list do-able so it was a case of what to include and what to leave out - for the time being at least. I wasn’t too sure about putting them on my blog for all to see after failing miserably last year but I do believe the more people that see my goals, the more real they are and it makes me accountable to them. I’ve decided to list them briefly rather than going into detail on each one – so, in no particular order, my goals for 2009……

• Update my marketing materials such as business cards, postcards etc.
• Print, market and sell prints of my work.
• Start a newsletter.
• Experiment more with my pencils, try new supports, techniques and mixing them with other media.
• Work more with paint – aim to complete one painting a month.
• Put together a portfolio of work with the aim of approaching galleries next year.
• Submit work into at least two exhibitions.
• Keep my blog up to date – aim to post twice a week.
• Learn more about my camera and improve my photography skills – start photography course.
• Improve what little knowledge I have of Photoshop.

And of course if I hope to achieve any of this I have to improve my time management skills and stop procastinating all the time. Very important if I want to be more productive.