2014 Art Recap and Xmas Art Gifts

Happy new year all and Welcome to 2015!! Hope last year was good to you. Before I start posting artwork from the new year and all things related, I wanted to do a quick recap of last year on what art direction I went, did I achieve what I set out to do and was it productive in terms of creative Output. I also want to share four traditional paintings I completed as gifts/commissions over the festive holiday period.

2014 was definitely the year I returned to my more traditional roots, using watercolour, acrylic, charcoal, pencil and pastel to paint portraits, studies or other things just for fun but I was also fortunate enough to have some commissioned worked last year that further raised my confidence in my own ability to grow and improve my rusty skills. Although there was some digital and graphic design work I had completed there was also a string of irreparable faults with my technology hardware but somehow I managed or looked beyond this. It was a big set back for my digital ambitions with unmanageable costs at the time but it gave me time to step back, look at what I was doing, where I wanted to go and why, it also gave me a glimpse into what made art, painting and just creating for the sake of it so enjoyable and meaningful to me. To be critical of myself, I didn't produce enough, to be optimistic, I did produce some unique pieces of real value to those who received them as gifts or as commissioned pieces of art, this was especially felt during the holidays with the following four paintings.

I don't really have resolutions for 2015, I would rather carry the lessons I've Learnt from 2014 and grow past that, taking with me what I've done right and what I need to do. So here's a summary:

1. Return to Digital, Get the Tech Logistics Sorted, take what you've learnt and use it.
2. Produce Way more Art, paintings,drawings, design, sketches, stay accountable to quantity.
3. Keep Producing Art of value and content meaningful to yourself and others.
4. Monetise more efficiently, Think in business terms of how you will fund and fuel your creativity.

I've already given myself a list for this month so I'll be busy, currently working on some traditional portraits, a children's book and drafting a web comic, here's to 2015!! its time I got on with it.