#OneWeek100People2019 : Flight Check?

I was sitting there cleaning some pens and packing a sketch kit – trying to remember the last time I went out drawing people? 

I know I grabbed a few sketches of sketchers last summer at the USK Mini Symposium in Chicago – but other than that – I haven’t gone out people sketching since 2018’s OneWeek100.

For a person who used to go life drawing three times a week, that’s a weird situation.

Frankly, I wasn’t even sure if I could do it anymore! You leave something for so long, you wonder if the skills magically vanish?

I headed out for lunch at the mall, with just a ballpoint and some typing paper, going back to the very basics. Just checking – is it still there?

I’m happy to say, it’s like riding a bike. The fingers remember how to lay down lines.

But still – I’ve gone approximately a year without figure drawing – and not missed it that much – so what changed?

Besides everything: eldercare madness, job changes, retiring from teaching, retiring from freelance work, and taking up studio painting.

What does the new me, the artist I am today, want out of #OneWeek100People2019? 

(That’s the point of this post – all of us should take a moment to think on that, before the April 8-12th week is upon us!)

After this dry run, I’m confident I could hit the streets, find some events, and get back into the groove. I could just have fun! Use sketching to get out to some stuff I’ve been passing up. Go to life drawing, check out the art gallery. Or just wander and see what the street has to offer. It could be like the good old days!

But this year, I want to push myself a little further. After all, that’s what this blog is right? A place where you guys motivate me to keep learning in public :)

I’m going to try to make some of the figurative painting I’ve been thinking about for a few years. < Yes, that’s a little cryptic :) But let’s say I’m going to be pushing my figures in a Direct Watercolor approach – and I won’t be sticking to documentary / reportage. This year I want to be working without the pressure of live-sketching.

But I’m going into this cold. I don’t exactly have a solid plan for these imaginary awesome artworks. So you’re going to see me making it up as we go along.  

But that’s the beauty of these challenges. We’re all in it together, so we know what it’s like. Everybody is too busy doing it to be judging you for not meeting some imaginary goal. When we’re in the trenches together, everyone supports each other :)

Maybe some of you are thinking about your own week? Drop me a comment! What are you going to take on this year? What’s your plan for #OneWeek100People2019?

The floor is yours in the comments section!