Creative Challenge 7 Results

I kicked off the year by sharing some goals and dreams for 2015. One of the most important of these was to get back in touch with my artistic roots, which I quickly decided would be much more fun to do with friends. And so began the Creative Challenge— a way for creatives from around the world, to come together online and tackle one artistic project per month.

Challenge #7: Oil and Acrylic Painting
Oil paint was one of the first mediums I worked in as a young (ish) artist. When I was in 7th grade, I started taking art classes outside of school and continued all the way through high school. I even assisted in teaching classes as a part time job for a couple years. So when my hubby, my sister-in-law Beth and I walked into an art gallery at Disney World on a family vacation, I made this ridiculously stupid comment: “I could paint that.” A few months later, for Christmas, James presented me with a set of oil paints and a canvas and said, “Okay, let’s see it.”  Six years later, I finally cracked open that box of paints. What you are about to see is a lesson in humility. In case you don’t want to read through this entire post, I’ll sum it up for you: I cannot “paint that.”

I decided it would be fitting to paint the very place where I had made my claim of being a highly talented painter. I found this photo of the Boardwalk at Walt Disney World, a favorite spot for me and James, and home of a Wyland Gallery, which you should definitely check out if you are ever visiting. I started my process by sketching out the buildings and placing a few elements on my canvas.

I filled in the sky, which was easy and gratifying. I patted myself on the back and was enjoying a smug moment until I realized that I didn’t know what to do next. Everything I had ever learned in taking art classes and teaching art classes were no longer in my brain. Was it working dark to light, or light to dark? Since the dark water appeared under the bright lights shining on it, I went in that direction. After I had put the paint down, it didn’t seem right, and I had a feeling that when I laid the bright orange and yellow on top of it, that it would end up looking really muddled. So, I procrastinated crossing that bridge and started filling in the buildings. And then I really started to notice all of the details in the photo I was referencing, and I started to sweat. Literally. I had set up my painting area outside on our porch, so I (or our kitties) wouldn’t make a mess, and by this point the Florida humidity was really starting to get to me.

I left everything out there on the porch, telling myself that I’d get back to it early in the morning when it was cooler. And then it sat out there, like this for two weeks.

Fast forward to the night before this painting was supposed to be completed, and I’m standing in my bathroom (the only indoor location I felt made a suitable makeshift painting studio) trying to figure out how I was going to pull off finishing this up in just a few hours.

I got back to work, filling in some of the details on the buildings and I was becoming more discouraged with every stroke. Thoughts running through my head included:
– painting over the entire canvas with some really bold, broad strokes and calling it “abstract”
– presenting the acrylic two paintings I had done earlier in the year at a “Paint and Sip” night and passing those off as my projects instead.
– declaring painting bankruptcy and telling the Creative Challenge Community that I was going to skip this one
– shutting down the Creative Challenge for the remainder of the year

I walked out of my bathroom/painting studio and started venting to James, asking for some sort of direction. When it’s midnight and you’ve been inhaling paint fumes, you’re not really of sound mind to make rash decisions. His answer was simple and hit the nail on the head: “Isn’t this supposed to be a challenge?”

That’s all it took to get me back on track. I had a brain-shift and set my thoughts on finishing this project and embracing all of my imperfections. I also knew that it wasn’t realistic that I could finish up that evening and then write a blog post, so I reached out to the Community and let them know that our recap post would be going up a few days late.

The next evening, I picked up got back at it, this time, with a better attitude. I was still slightly annoyed that I wasn’t able to create a precise replica of the photo, but once I surrendered, it allowed me to loosen up a little bit and I stopped referencing the photo all together.

Wobbly lines and misshapen buildings and all, I actually felt a sense of accomplishment when I stepped back and snapped a photo. It is so ridiculously far from perfect, but when you squint your eyes, it doesn’t look so bad.

In the spirit of being transparent and celebrating imperfection, here’s a close up look.

I’d be lying if I said that I plan on doing more painting anytime soon, but I’m glad that I finally tackled this project that I’ve been talking about for so long. While I may not have a future as an oil painter, this exercise in perseverance will definitely not be wasted.

If it wasn’t for the Creative Challenge Community, this painting may have never happened. I am equally thankful for their support and inspired by their talents. Here’s a look at the projects that everyone else tackled this month:

 

In our community we encourage one another to work at a pace that works best for each individual. Here are the latest submissions from some of our other challenges!

Our group is full of not only artists, but also writers! Here are blog posts shared by community members about this challenge:

Lovilee // Planq Studio
Emm from Planq Studio also documented her journey with calligraphy in this post.

My love for this amazing, creative community grows every month.

Our eighth challenge (pottery and sculpture) is already underway! If you’d like to join in on this challenge, or any of the other challenges planned for the year, we would LOVE to have you on board. Until next month…#gocreatives