Melody Online Art

Artist based in Memphis ◆ Observations on the creative process ◆ She/her

[melodygordon]

My 100 Day Project and 5 Tips To Do Your Own

Last week, I finished my 100 Day Project - one new digital drawing everyday for 100 days straight.

I learned a lot and wrote a bit about that here:

Melody on Instagram: "Workflow is everything - Knowing where to start and how to end just makes everything easier. I fought less with the to

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This post is more about how I did it and if someone else is interested, how they can do it and be successful at it.

So! My 5 best tips if you want to complete a 100 Day art challenge:

Identify Your Goals: Why do you want to draw (or paint or sketch or whatever) for 100 days? For me, I had A LOT of goals. But the main goal was to develop my style and create a large body of work I could use for marketing, my portfolio, and social media. I think having that very specific goal - and being passionate about my goal - helped tremendously.

Know Your Parameters And Stick To Them: I chose to work with a limited color palette, a very specific subject, and only a handful of design elements or "special effects" within Photoshop to make every picture. It forced me to be more creative since I had to work within these borders. Let the challenge of your 'rules' push you to think more creatively.

Find Accountability: I posted each new picture to Instagram every evening before midnight. I told my boyfriend, my parents, and my therapist. The more people know, the more they can encourage you, check in on you, and provide feedback and words of support. It felt like I really had to follow through and keep my word. Also - don't do this in complete isolation. Working in secret makes your artwork feel like a secret. Give others the chance to be proud of you.

Make The Time: In the beginning, I had no idea how much time I would need to commit to this project for it to be successful. I underestimated the amount of energy needed each day to complete a picture. I was surprised by how many hours I would spend on a piece, how difficult it was to do two pictures in one day, and how exhausted I was by the end. Whatever amount of time you think you will need, double it. Maybe even triple it if you're a procrastinator or a perfectionist, like me.

Accept Your Limitations: There were some days I simply couldn't produce the kind of art I wanted to make, no matter how hard I tried. You will have off days, sick days, and low energy days. This is essentially a three month long project. I wasn't always satisfied by what I made. Some days the picture was ugly. Some days I wanted to start over but didn't have the time. Shit happens. You don't have to love every piece. The better you are at accepting things the way they are, the more successful you'll be in the end.

In short, every picture wasn't a masterpiece. Every day wasn't perfect. But I finished it. And a week later I'm still riding the high of accomplishing such a challenging and ambitious goal for a 'new' artist.

I already have the next 2-3 projects planned out in my head. That's the best thing of all when completing a project like this: I have this abundance of energy and confidence. It's like, if I could do 100 drawings in 100 days, then why can't I do _?

This blog will be getting a facelift soon and I'm going to try to post more art quotes this month. I have the time now! Until next time.

[melodygordon]

Over on my Instagram I've been working on a 100 Day Project that is entering its last 15 days. I'll be back to regular posting once this is done. I can't wait to talk about how these 100 drawings came to be!

[melodygordon]

As Twitter gets worse and I think about basically archiving mine, I'm crossposting my last thread

[melodygordon]

5 Things That Happened in March

FIVE

I listened to this great podcast about what it means to be an artist and Rick Rubin's new book about creating art. I haven't read the book yet, but I plan to because I love learning about the creative process from as many different perspectives as possible.

FOUR

I started taking classes at a local yoga studio. I believe there's a strong link between body, mind, and creativity. Movement can be art. I've started incorporating it into my daily routine by doing short morning yoga videos. My favorites right now are Arianna Elizabeth and Yoga With Kassandra.

THREE

I opened and closed an Etsy shop (okay, I put it in vacation mode and launched in February, but it doesn't feel like it, seems like the shop had a much shorter lifespan). I didn't sell anything, but I didn't have a lot of products either.

It also wasn't an art shop. I made digital downloads and I spent many obsessive hours being a perfectionist about every single design. Then I went back to drawing and forgot the shop existed for about two weeks. Whenever I spent a large amount of time reading articles on successful Etsy shops, brainstorming ideas for niches, or watching instructional YouTube videos, I would eventually think, 'I really want to draw. I really want to paint. Why am I not doing that?'

Since the passion isn't there and I wasn't as devoted as I thought I would be, I decided to stop. When you try new things, sometimes you learn that you don't like the new thing. It feels like time wasted, but I keep reminding myself that eliminating the wrong option leaves me available for the right ones.

TWO

In the six weeks that I haven't been on Tumblr, I've been more active on Instagram. My follower count is tiny, 50-something. I'm trying to figure out how to approach social media as an artist when it's such a tumultuous time to be an artist on social media. What do you do when it's not the helping hand it used to be and when cultivating community and finding an audience is harder than ever? But simultaneously knowing you need to be on it to share your work with the world? I'm still figuring it out, like many others are right now.

ONE

I completed my first ever series of digital paintings(!!!). 🧡🧡🧡🧡 I'm proud and happy with how they turned out. I can honestly say that my skills are improving with every new piece.

Looking forward to April 😊

[melodygordon]

February photo dump (so far)

[melodygordon]

My first digital painting of the year is done 💜

We Already Won - 2023

[melodygordon]

The point is that you learn how to make your work by making your work.

Art and Fear: Observations On The Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking by David Bayles & Ted Orland

[melodygordon]

First lesson of the new year: It's okay to start over.

I had a very specific picture in my mind that I wanted to be the first drawing for 2023. I've spent 3 days trying to make it work. Today I finally said fuck it and decided to draw something else. No reference, no idea, just sketching on the fly.

And I ended up with that. Something that looks promising.

I have to promise to move on if it's not working.

I have to release myself from the need to get everything right the first time.

I open myself up to the stream of consciousness style of drawing, that 'I don't know what this is yet' picture.

I have to accept the rogue element of art.

[melodygordon]

New Year's Resolutions

My significant other doesn’t believe in New Year’s Resolutions, but I do. I’m hopelessly devoted to goal-setting and self-improvement. I love the feeling of progress. It’s confirmation that pursuing my dreams wasn’t a waste of time. But even more important than that, progress is just another way to grow and become the best version of yourself. It’s distressing to me when I don’t see growth. However, when I do see it, I love it.

The picture on the left was done in January and is one of the first colored digital drawings I’ve done. The picture on the right is a redraw I completed yesterday. That is growth.

Coming back to art after such a long time away from it has been humbling. I wasn’t a child prodigy or anything like that back when I was drawing every day. I’ve seen my art from when I was a teen, it wasn't good.

No grasp of anatomy, still learning fundamentals, more doodles really than anything else, unsure of every artistic choice all the way down to the brushstroke. And yet I had big dreams. Tapping back into those art dreams has been an enlightening experience.

I have had to get used to calling myself a ‘beginner’ again. In the new year, I want to build upon this new commitment. If 2022 was about returning to my first true love, then 2023 is when we restore our relationship. It feels good to be back and that’s how I know it’s the right thing for me, the most fulfilling, and exciting thing for me.

I deal with a lot of regret and guilt around leaving art. Coming back hasn’t been easy emotionally. But when you’re in your element, you just know. When you’re doing something that makes you happy, you know. Doing the original and the redraw was a joy. This is where I’m supposed to be.

My art goals for next year are varied. Focusing my efforts on more than just rediscovery is the new challenge. In 2023, I want to develop my style, find my niche, and make meaningful art that I can share with the world.

[melodygordon]

I thought about where I started at the beginning of the year. I didn't have a drawing tablet, laptop was on its last legs, and didn't have enough RAM to open Photoshop, I was scared to share my work, and I didn't have a community or any art group to join.

I certainly didn't have 'start an art blog' on my to do list either.

Thinking of all those things, I decided to do a Then VS Now piece with a little portrait I drew earlier in the year. The growth I can see here in this screenshot is actually kind of amazing, so I'm hoping the growth is much more visible to others.

[joytri]

Life begins when we stop trying to please the audience...

[melodygordon]

Brief art thought: Sometimes trying to please an audience simply means you want to share your work and you want to feel good about sharing it. The idea that you don't work to please an audience is a good way to get work done.

If during my creation process, I focus primarily on what I want to create, I'm more likely to finish and maybe even be proud to share it with an audience because I wasn't in my head the whole time while I was creating.

When I only think of pleasing myself, I'm bolder, I'm faster, and I'm not paralyzed by anxiety. I am the only audience that matters.

Therefore, I don't think that trying to please an audience is inherently bad. My best work beings when I stop trying to please an audience sounds better to me. I think you have to keep in mind that the audience doesn't matter unless you want them to.

[melodygordon]

A crop of my first full digital painting, a Secret Santa gift in an art exchange

[melodygordon]

I was surprised to see this page and the photo with an accurate caption describing this scene. The Artist's Manual is an inch-deep, mile-wide introduction to art forms. It's an art reference book that is truly for the beginner. Someone who doesn't know what mediums they want to use, is unfamiliar with the various types of art a person can make, and is still learning about the artmaking process. It's a little technical, a little historical, and a little too broad. This hardcover book is also pretty thick (I should've taken a picture of it from the side before taking it back to the library yesterday). The sections and pages are beautifully designed and so are all the examples of real artist's work. At the very least you can tell real artists made this book.

[melodygordon]

Artists don't get down to work until the pain of working is exceeded by the pain of not working.

Stephen De Staebler, sculptor

[melodygordon]

Last December, I made a goal to create enough art in 2022 that I could do #artvsartist at the end of the year. Putting this together was so affirming. I had more pieces to choose from than I thought I would. I'm proud that I hit my goal. With so much uncertainty in the art community right now and just the general uncertainty of life, I'm going to be even more intentional in my goal-setting for 2023. I hope you like this little collection of my favorite pictures that I made in the last 12 months.

[melodygordon]

On creating by hand

When was the last time you made something by hand?

These Christmas cards were made with watercolors, gel pens, and metallic marker. I was so anxious in the beginning. I didn’t feel like I knew what I was doing. I couldn’t decide on a design and spent countless hours wading through Pinterest looking for ‘inspiration’.

I didn’t need inspiration. I was already inspired simply because I wanted to make something. I had that itch to hold a paintbrush in my hands.

Inspiration is a vision. Having a vision means inspiration is already there, like a seed in the ground. All it needs is water to eventually bloom. For me, the water is always belief. Belief in myself, belief in my abilities, and belief in the process.

So in the beginning, I couldn’t create because I was sure the recipients would hate the cards no matter what I drew. I ruined two cards because of low self-confidence and a third card because of overcompensation.

When you’re nervous or trying too hard, it shows so prominently when you are creating with real pencils and real brushes. My hands weren’t shaking, but my confidence was. Your work is affected by how you approach it. I’ve seen some people talk in the art community about how they struggle with traditional art because of how ‘unforgiving’ mediums like ink or oil paints are.

But is the ink unforgiving or is it the artist who is unforgiving? Is the artist allowing themselves to make mistakes? Or is the artist looking at the ink or oils and, knowing there is no undo button, demands no errors?

Messing up the original cards was actually what I needed to figure everything out. I had to throw those cards away and yes, in a sense, they were a loss. I only had so many blank cards. But the mistakes were not ‘unforgivable’. I couldn’t have figured out what I wanted to create if I hadn’t created the bad art first.

The cards came together so easy after that. Some of the snowflakes are lopsided and the blue paint could be darker on others. But the point was not to create the most perfect hand-drawn Christmas cards ever. I accepted that every line doesn’t need to be perfect. It came from my hands therefore it is already a perfectly human and original creation. I forgave myself for even wanting perfection.

[melodygordon]

Mind-Altering Love - 2022

With a hand-drawn sketch as the base, I used Marc Brunet's brushes liberally. I love warm colors and symbolism and concept art, and I love pieces that mean something to me emotionally and this one does it all.