The 100 day project. It kept appearing on my social media feed and I would look at it and think...if only I could commit to 100 days! I made excuses for not taking part...mostly..."My life is too chaotic to be able to do a thing for 100 days! Impossible!" I could see a broad range of arts and crafts and all manner of personal journeys going on, but it just wasn't for me. I suppose I have spent a lot of my life believing things about myself ...I'm a flake...I can't finish anything...i'm unreliable....I'm chaotic...I avoid commitment. Maybe some of this sounds familiar to you? Well, these are just stories. I know I can make a choice, every day, every minute. I can choose how I react, how I behave, how I create. Then what?
Well...we all know what. Covid-19 and Lockdown happened. I looked at the 100 day project call out, check my calendar...April 7th to July 16th...yup...that's an optimistic look at when lockdown might finish. So, once again I found myself asking "If not now, WHEN?"
No doubt, if you have found me here, you have also found me on social media. You will have seen for yourself what I have been upto!
Here are some pics to take a breather over before I witter on a bit more!
Taking part in the 100 day project is very simple. You sign up via the website at www.the100dayproject.org and then get access to the projects facebook community. You choose your project....anything...really..anything! Paint, draw, crochet, sing, dance, write a poem, exercise, write an affirmation...anything!
Next you create your own #tag to use for your project on Instagram and announce your project to the community and wider social media. Get yourself organised, so yo have what you need to hand. Start on 7th April!
Each day, on the communities facebook page is a daily post where you add your photo or video of what you've done, with your #tag and personal identifier. Then just browse through the other posts, follow the #tag for the project #100dayproject and #100dayproject2020 to see what everyone else is doing.
Everyone chooses their projects for different reasons. Some love to be part of the community and engage with lots of other participants. Personally, as I have found a new and growing community of artists through life drawing (specifically Adrian Dutton Life Drawing / London Life Drawing group) via zoom, I felt I had sufficient community and a profoundly enjoyable, helpful and focused one at that. So, I committed to 100 days of life drawing. #100daysoflifedrawing if you want to catch up with my progress. At the time of writing, I'm on day 81. I'm nearly there!
Why life drawing, when it is something I am already deeply passionate about? What did I hopt to achieve through my project?
1. I wanted to create a daily habit for myself
2. To improve my technique (as a self-taught artist I am learning basics I never got to learn at school!)
3. To work on specific areas I tend to avoid, through fear, namely hands, feet and faces.
4. To include some self-portrait work to help improve my body consciousness, to help me love my own body.
There...in all vulnerability...the good and the bad....hands, feet, faces, self portraits and in amongst that, progress.
I am no flake. I can commit. I can finish things. And I do! I am a work in progress and I am losing the fear of drawing hands, feet, faces and self portraits. The 100 day project is evidence that practice makes progress. I can see it, feel it, know it.
I'll probably not stop either....a daily habit! Hell Yeah!
My Lockdown Sketches are avail to buy on my website as part of the Artists Support Pledge. The pledge was set up by an artist seeking to spread a sense of generosity and community, through the pandemic, to help to se of us artists who have lost our income streams. We sell artworks for under £200 each. For every £1000 we sell, we commit to spend £200 with another artist. So if you buy from me, not only do you help feed me, but you help feed other artists too.
If you would like to buy any of my 100 day sketches that i've posted on Instagram and Facebook, but are not on my website, do contact me. All is available! I'm hungry!
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