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Part One: Packing Art Supplies WITHOUT Taking The Whole Studio
Long years ago, I packed a BOX of Art Supplies to take on a seven day road trip to Tennessee with my husband. (Note the emphasis on box and art supplies.) The image above is NOT from that box, but it will give you an idea of what I took!

A BOX. As in the BOX was 12" W x 18" T x 6" D and I crammed it full of all the Art Supplies I thought I could possible need or want, things I didn't even normally use in my studio at home because you never know, right? I had extra paper and all kinds of markers, pens, watercolor pencils, traditional brushes, rubber stamps, glue, masking fluid, a mask remover, a special brush for applying the masking fluid AND soap for cleaning the special brush.

And do you know what happened?

I did not open the box the entire trip.

Not once.

I maybe sketched twice?

Colossal fail.

Fast forward a few years and we went back. This time, I managed to get it down to a bag of Art Supplies. The bag was bigger than my regular purse and I crammed it full of all kinds of Art Supplies that I could possibly imagine needing.

Mind you, we were going to Tennessee, not a third world country.

I did manage to sketch and paint that trip, but I didn't use anything but my normal kit the entire trip. No glue was needed, no masking fluid was applied or removed, no watercolor pencil applied, no stamps stamped. Nada.

Now go back and re-read these first few paragraphs substituting the word FEAR for Art Supplies.

Because that's what I packed—FEAR in the disguise of Art Supplies.

Entering The Unknown
When we don't know what we're doing (or we don't do an activity often enough to develop any confidence) and we're "expecting" to come home with a visual record of our travels, we tend to want to stack the outcome in our favor as much as possible and that translates to taking every possible Art Supply we could conceivably need because we're afraid of failing.

Because we wouldn't want anyone to know we didn't know what we were doing (gasp!) or that it was the first (or third or eighth) time we tried to sketch on location (gulp!) or the purpose of the entire trip we took just so we could sketch (eek!), would we?!

And if we came home without a sketchbook full of adorable pages of sketch after perfect sketch, then we would have failed, wouldn't we?

And if this happened because we didn't have the one exact art supply we needed because we left it in our studios, then the failure would be our fault, wouldn't it?

Can you see how slippery the slope becomes and how easily things can spiral out of control when fear is woven through our thought process?

I can remember being in my studio and looking at an item while thinking, "well, I haven't used this in six months (or ever) but you never know, I might need it. I want to be prepared!" and then I chucked it into the box.

I lugged approximately 20 pounds worth of art supplies (fear) that never saw the light of day the entire time we were gone.

Not once did I open the box.

Fear's job is to keep you "safe" and fear has become a master at disguising itself in clever ways (extra art supplies, anyone?) so it can do that job. Make no mistake, fear is determined and sneaky. It will hitch a ride any way it can to keep you "safe."

Your job is to recognize the fear before you drag it around the world with you!

To Truly Stack The Outcome In Your Favor...
If you really want to stack the outcome in favor of you coming home with that adorable sketchbook full of sketch after perfect sketch, I suggest the following:


I know, that's not a lot of fun. We all have dreams of creating these phenomenal pages using all these specialty supplies while on location and some artists do...those that draw, sketch, paint and create on location on a very regular basis.

They've honed their process so that they know what they need and they take very few "extras" because they know what they need to create.

There is something to be said for only having what you need as this bring a certain magic into play when we consciously choose to limit our choices. Remember, not only are you going to sketch, you're going to "see" a new location, to experience the culture and to take in as much as you can.

While making art is a top priority list while traveling, it's not the only priority on the list and if we make the art-making process too difficult by overwhelming ourselves with choices, then it is likely the process will suffer, if not break down all together.

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Keep It Simple
1. Choose a sketchbook that is appropriate for your chosen medium. In this case, I'm going to use watercolor as an example.
2. Choose a lightweight palette* and fill the wells full. Give the pigments plenty of time to firm up by doing this a couple of weeks ahead of your departure date...nobody likes to open their palette and find their paint ran everywhere! If you already have a palette you use on location, top off the wells and use that. If you are setting up a brand new palette, be sure to set the pigments up in the same order as your usual palette so you are not scrambling to learn the new layout while on location.
*Do not, under any circumstances, take a palette or any art supply that has great sentimental value or cannot be easily replaced. It's not worth the grief if something happens to the item while you're traveling.
3. Two identical**, large-tipped waterbrushes (if you use them) as well as two identical**, small-tipped waterbrushes. I recommend taking them out for a spin BEFORE leaving to make sure they work properly and do not leak.
4. Choose two identical** mechanical pencils, two pens** with permanent ink in whatever colors you normally sketch with and or two most common nib sizes you use. Limit yourself to no more than eight pens in a variety of colors and nib sizes. Make sure the pencil has plenty of lead and a new or nearly full eraser. Make sure all of the pens work well on the paper in your sketchbook and that they are permanent on that paper.
**A plus of having identical waterbrushes is that if you run out of water in one brush, you can switch the tip to the full handle of water in another brush and continue sketching without having to find a water source. Also, if one tool breaks, becomes damaged or stop working, you have an identical item for backup.
5. A kneaded eraser or a white eraser that will not mar the paper.
6. A ruler that is no larger than six inches in length and there is a bonus if it's clear.
7. Two white gel pens with non-water resistant ink and two white "ink" or paint pens with permanent ink.
8. Paper towels or a wrist band to wipe your paint on and a pack of facial tissues.

And that's it. That is all you really need. Because these are the tools you are most familiar with, you will not be struggling to not only learn how to use a new tool but also create in the moment while you're on location. (Now, is that all you're going to take? Not likely, but that's another post!)

Make A Test Run
Before the trip arrives, pack your kit. Set out your "must-haves" (journal, pigments, pens, pencils, etc.) and fit them into the bag or pack you plan on using on your trip. Once everything is in there, including any extras like your phone, camera, keys, lip gloss, glasses, etc., lug it around with you for a day. Even better, take it out and use it a time or two.

If your neck and or shoulders begin to hurt, look for ways to lighten the pack by either carrying less or by finding lighter items.

Likely Culprits

• Leather bags and leather covered journals are beautiful, but they are heavy and they'll triple their weight by the end of the day! Only you can decide if it's worth it to lug those items around. The same could be said for large journals (8 x 10 inches and larger).
• Question every item in your pack and make sure you absolutely need it. Consolidate items where possible rather than taking two or three different organizational containers.
• Metal palettes are great, but they are much heavier than plastic. However, paints do behave differently on each surface. If you're used to and happy with metal, take the metal but see what else you can remove to make the kit lighter. 
• Check to see if there are any items you can take with you, but not haul around daily (like duplicate items—with the exception of waterbrushes, I leave the duplicates in my room). You likely will not need two black pens, two red pens and two blue pens for one day of sketching. Take only one size and color of each pen (the size/color you use most) and add any additional pen work when you get back to your stash. 
• If you're traveling with a partner, see if you can figure out a buddy system for those extra, nice-to-haves-but-not-need-to-have items. This can cut down the amount of weight you're both carrying. 
• If you already know you will have trouble with your neck and shoulders, pare down your kit to the most basic you can make it...one pencil and one pen along with loose pieces of paper cut down to the size of your sketchbook. Leave the palette and sketchbook back in your room. Add paint later. Glue the paper into your final sketchbook when you're done. It's not worth missing out on the trip because of the pain!

Those Special Extras
In the next "Prepping For Paris" post, I'll be discussing those "extra special items" to take with you and I'm going to leave you with a question to ponder...what item or items would you likely use on a trip that would make it worth hauling them (weight-wise and space-wise because they will be taking up space in your luggage!)?

The small sketchbook I am currently working in is about 3.5 x 5.5 inches and was suppose to be a watercolor sketchbook. There are no identifying marks as to who the maker might be or what type of paper is in the sketchbook, but make no mistake...it's a PITA (Pain-In-The-Art!).

To say this sketchbook has been a challenge would be to a vast understatement. Years ago, I would have chunked it back on the shelf and forgotten ignored it. However, I'm attempting to finish up some of the PITA sketchbooks I have so I could move on. It dawned on me others may have made some questionable sketchbook purchases that are currently sitting, languishing on a shelf. I thought I'd share some of the ways I've managed to fill the pages without giving up on this journal.

The sketch above was done after wedding vows were exchanged on a dock on a small, private lake. I spotted the tree and knew I had to sketch it. The view below is of the area at the bottom of the page where the sizing(?) is uneven. When I washed over the area with water and pigment, the wash beaded up and was repelled away from the paper. This has happened in random places throughout this journal. And while I like the texture, I would have preferred not to have it.

Luckily, the page turned out okay and it looks intentional even though it was not. Had this lovely spot been somewhere higher up the page, it would have looked bad. Really bad. If you enlarge the image, you can see that the sizing issue goes higher up into the water and into the dead tree.
What do you do if you're a beginner and stuck with this type of paper? It can be frustrating and not a lot of fun to try and get a decent page created only to have something invisible fell your efforts. In the case above, I chose to ignore the "added texture" and just let it stand. Had it been further up the page? I'd have had to pull out the creative license.

Here are some of the ways and things I've done to help get the pages filled:
1) Add pieces of ephemera, receipts, business cards, cut-up brochures and stickers. I cut apart a brochure from my trip to Chocolate Kingdom in Kissimmee and glued it down over a good portion of the page. I also took notes (another idea to fill the page). I doubt if it will show even if you enlarge the page, but the ink bleeds like crazy on this paper and it looks fuzzy.


2) Gesso the paper and paint over it. Using clear gesso* over the paper has several advantages. (*You can use white as well.) Chief among them is being able to paint without fear of uneven sizing showing up midway through the painting process. You can go right over the page or you can use clear gesso as glue to add another piece of paper to the page and then paint over the added paper. I used a deli sheet from Logan's Roadhouse (I dig that quote!), and I let the diluted, white gesso brush strokes show. I then added a little watercolor over the top of that.

3) Paint on another piece of paper and glue it to the sketchbook page. I had some left over Stonehenge "kraft" paper and wanted to use it up. The pumpkin started out a little differently but I messed up the top of the paper with a smear of ink. Rather than tossing the artwork, I cut it out and glued it down. I thought about doing the lettering on the page behind it, but ultimately decided to do the lettering on another piece of the brown paper and glue that in as well. By hitting the edges with a stamp pad, it gives it a more finished look of a border.  You could do the same thing with another piece of white watercolor paper and glue it in the same as a colored paper.

4) Take a break from the challenging sketchbook and work in a different one once in a while. It can slow you down and seriously mess with your mojo if you are working to fill a PITA sketchbook and the pages don't turn out like you want. Rather than wait for that to happen or if you realize you're not sketching as much as you normally would and it's because your resistance to working in that PITA sketchbook, pick up a different sketchbook and "treat" yourself to a couple of nice pages. If you don't have another sketchbook lying around, cut up some paper and sketch on them with the intention of gluing it into the sketchbook later. Never let a hateful sketchbook kill your fun!

5) Try different mediums. Play, experiment and have fun! Maybe the paper is not so good for watercolor...try a different medium. Get out your markers, gouache, colored pencils, graphite and other fun supplies and see what happens. Practice lettering or improve your drawing skills. Play around to see what else might work. Make fun backgrounds and add quotes with markers. Use watercolor pencils and only a little water to see if you can get around a sizing issue.

6) Turn the sketchbook into a "Junk Journal." Every once in a while, the paper in a sketchbook is just...too lame to be saved. Rather than struggle with it, turn the sketchbook into a "Junk Journal." What is a junk journal, you ask? A junk journal is a journal where you draw, practice, try out new ideas, scribble, fail, try again, write notes, brain dump and all manner of crazy things you never intend to share with someone else. And make no mistake, just because it's called junk, it's NOT!

The reason it's called a junk journal is because the idea of a junk journal works best when the paper is cheap so that you don't have any monetary concerns about junking up the paper. And no matter how much you may have spent on that PITA sketchbook that has crummy paper in it, don't be afraid to turn it into a junk journal. You'll still be getting your money's worth, just not in the manner you expected to!

Life is really too short to sketch and paint on crappy, crummy pages on a regular basis, but once in a while, we get caught with a less than desirable paper. If you're just starting out, go ahead and splurge on the nicer sketchbook that's suitable for your preferred medium rather than fight your way through one that fights you every step of the way.

Once you've put in your time, try one of these less than desirable, PITA sketchbooks...it's amazing what you'll learn and what you just might create!

They say experience is the best teacher, but I think mistakes are a top contender for the best teacher spot, and maybe, when you get down to it, they're the same thing.

Still, it can help to know, to be warned, ahead of time about some of the things you're going to come up against when you start on this artistic journey known as Art Journaling.

The following items are the things that immediately bubbled up when I started thinking about what I've learned on my journey.

13 Things I Wish I'd Known When I Started Art Journaling

1. Begin. Today. Now.
All you really need to begin is a pen or pencil and a piece of paper. An open mind is very helpful as well as an eagerness to learn. Do not over think. Do not make this complicated. It's not.

What are you waiting for? Go! Get busy!

2. The more you sketch the more you'll learn, the faster you'll sketch, the less fearful you'll become and the result of this continued practice will be a much more enjoyable experience.
Bottom line—you have to learn the skills first and the only way to do that is to begin and to keep pushing through every so-called failure. Perhaps you're the rare individual who enjoys the learning process. Most of us don't. We want to be an expert the first time we make a mark on the page.

3. A blank page isn't something to fear.
Chances are good you have at least 25 more chances. These chances are known as pages. If you don't get it right on the first one, you still have 24 more chances.

Bengal tiger on the loose, a rabid raccoon, now those are something to fear!

4. Accept that you will make mistakes.
It's how we learn and usually, it's the lessons we make from mistakes that stick with us far longer than the lessons we learn from succeeding.

And the good news? Journaling mistakes are seldom fatal!

5. Don't let the fear of making mistakes paralyze you.
Everybody makes mistakes, even so called experts or pros. No matter how long you sketch, no matter how many journals you fill, no matter how good you get, there will be mistakes. Rather than fear them, embrace mistakes for the learning opportunities they are.

Don't sulk about making them either. It's not pretty.

6. It's okay to turn the page and holler out, "Next!" when the page has gone south.
It happens to all of us. There are gonna be days when every line goes wonky, every pigment turns to mud, perspective leaves the building and proportions just don't work. Finish the page anyway (you might just surprise yourself!) and then begin again. See number 4.

7. Make art journaling fun. 
If it's not fun, why would we continue doing it? Art journaling is suppose to be fun and if it's not, evaluate why it's not. Chances are good it will have something to do with unrealistic expectations. Hmmm, what could those be? See Number 11. Remember, we learn quicker when it's fun.

As my brother says, "If it ain't fun, we ain't doing it!"

8. Never, ever, Ever, EVER, NEVER compare your work to someone else's work!
This is a biggie. There are few things more demotivating than comparing your work to someone else's and to think your work coming up lacking. And no matter how long you sketch, if you look around long enough you will always be able to find someone else with work you like better than your own.

9. If you must compare, compare the sketch you created today with the one you did yesterday, last week or last month. 
Use comparison to see how much you've grown, how your skills have strengthened, and what still needs strengthening.

10. Everyone started at the same place—the beginning. 
No one got a free pass from learning the skills and techniques of how to sketch. No one came out of the womb with a pencil in one hand and paper in the other. So every time you're tempted to use the excuse, "I'll never be as good as so-and-so," sit yourself back down and start sketching again.

11. Sketching is an evolution of skills but seldom a revolution.
Yes, I know, you want to know how to do it TODAY and you want to do it PERFECTLY. Ain't gonna happen. This is another biggie—give yourself permission to make mistakes, learn, fail, and to not like every page. We create so-so sketches. Sometimes, they're down right awful (to us). It's okay, that's what the next page is for. And the one after that.

12. Not every page is gonna be "all that." They can't all be masterpieces.
Is every endeavor you undertake marvelously, brilliantly done? No? Mine either. Don't put this kind of pressure on yourself, it will kill the fun. See number 7. And if your inner critic opens his or her mouth, kindly tell them it's not their day to complain and next month's not looking good either.

It's okay to have an off day...or month. See number 6 and 11.

13. Challenge yourself…to sketch something you think is beyond your current skills.
Even if you think you can't, you may just surprise yourself. And it's how we learn, how we get better. And if you fail (gasp!), count it as a success anyway—because you had the courage to try.

This is in no way an exhaustive list so I'd like to know what you would tell yourself if you could travel back in time…please leave your thoughts in the comments and I'll add them to the list!

...seldom works well for me.

In a very recent (as in yesterday) conversation with an art friend, we were discussing our lack of motivation to create art at this insanely busy time of year.

I'm not even sure I would call it a lack of motivation. I think it's more of a redirection of time, talent and interest and it's deadline driven.

You see, it's not that I haven't been creating. I have, I have! Just not in my journal.

Very quick sketch of my new door tree on hot press watercolor paper

I recently purchased two new "trees" to go on either side of our front doors. I had a ball decorating them with all kinds of red and bright, acid green trims. I have also redone the wreaths that go on the doors as well.

However, when I tried to paint them....well, let's just say it became "forced fun" and it didn't go so well. It was damp outside and I had a running litany of all the things on my gotta-get'er-done list as I attempted to sketch the trees. I rushed the painting and it was taking forever for the paint to dry because of the dampness.

The result...not my finest piece of work. Do I wish it were better? Of course.

Do I wish it enough to s...l.....o.......w down enough to do a better job? Not at the moment.

Does that mean I'm slacking? Hmmm, maybe. Maybe not.

Let's take a look at the definition of creativity. Does it apply to just creating art or does it also apply to decorating the mantel, making (and decorating) adorable, delicious cookies, sewing cute stockings to be hung by the chimney with care, and wrapping each present with extra attention?

For me, it is all of the above. Well, except for the cookies. I do cakes rather than cookies.

I also find that I have ideas hitting me rapid fire—so rapid that it's hard to keep up with all those really fabulous ideas that I want to act on if I just had the time.

This is where my journal really starts coming in handy. Instead of just creating art, I capture ideas. 

When I want to remember that cool snowman I saw, but instead of a red top hat, I have the idea of adding a long scarf with a blue sky cap so it would look like my cousin when he arrives for the holiday gathering, I put it in my journal!

How about that really cute holiday display I saw down in the town square that made me think about the small village I have packed away that I could use to recreate the scene on your mantel? I can sketch out a quick idea in my journal!

Sometimes, it's just words that inspire, like an idea for a greeting card or a gift tag, maybe even a gift. I write it down!

Maybe it a gorgeous play of reds and oranges with a mix of acid green that looks so stunning that I want to remember it for next year's decorating. I. Write. It. Down!

Using our journals creatively to help us capture thoughts and ideas rather than stressing over whether we're filling enough pages or the art is good enough is the true beauty of keeping a journal.

The Finished Page with a little bit of ink to help add definition

If you don't want to use your regular journal, create an idea journal and carry everywhere so that you can capture those wisps of inspiration when then happen to float by!

The idea here is to make our journals and sketchbooks work for us so that we can recognize all the fun ways we're using our creativity as well as to capture all the ideas that we have when we don't have the time to act on them.

Try keeping a creativity list and write down all the ways you've been using your talent and creative/artistic skills. You'll be amazed at how quickly the pages start to fill up when you start thinking about the various activities that require creative thought!

How are you using your journal this holiday season—are you creating art or capturing ideas?

Art Time. Precious words, aren't they? Especially this time of year when we're all so busy.

Surprisingly, I found myself with some art time on my hands and made my way to the studio.

I managed to step away from the computer a good part of the Thanksgiving weekend and I started on a couple of pieces of art that are going in a new direction for me.

Which I can't show to you just yet.

However, that's not going to stop me from talking about a very profound experience I had while painting...I made a mistake (and no, that's not the profound experience I'm talking about.)

It's been a while since I've done any work outside of my journal and I should have been expecting a slip, but I wasn't.

I was giving myself a really good tongue lashing, talking about how stupid I was to make such a mistake and that I should know better. I'm telling you, I was really giving myself a good thrashing. I was furious.

Here's the odd part—the mistake wasn't fatal to the piece of work. Mistakes are seldom fatal. Annoying, aggravating, and irritating, yes, but they are seldom fatal. It simply meant I would have to work in a different way to "fix" the piece.

In the middle of my tirade, I realized what I was doing and stopped. After all, if you've been on an Imaginary Trip with me, you know that I encourage making mistakes because that's how we learn.

Taking a breath to calm down, I asked myself, "Okay, what did I learn?"

As the question settled over me, I felt the tension ease and the feeling of defeat began to dissolve. I didn't feel quite so bad about messing up. And I was no longer tempted to quit and walk storm out of the studio.

As I started to evaluate what I had done and what I would do differently if I started over, I could easily see where I had gotten into trouble. By asking what I learned, I minimized the situation rather than make it gargantuan when I was busy insisting it a mistake.

You may be thinking semantics. But I disagree this time.

Take out a piece of your own art that you've made a mistake on and ask yourself, "what did I learn?"

Take note of your breathing, how tense you are, and how you feel about yourself when you focus in on the mistake. Are you still mad at yourself? Angry that you messed up the sketch? Now, think about what you learned. If you truly focused on figuring out what you learned, did you feel the tension and anger drain away?

Are you feeling tempted to pick up your pen again rather than being so annoyed with yourself that you had no desire to create another page?

That feeling right there, my friends, that feeling of wanting to try again rather than quitting is what I'm talking about! That feeling is the key to not only creating more art, but also to feeling good about it! For me, it's priceless. It means less downtime, less de-motivation, and more confidence!

Cool, huh?!

Now, if you're like me, you'll see a lot more application of "What did I learn?" than just art. It applies to just about any part of our lives where we're less than perfect.

So for the holidays, I am going to ask you to give yourself a gift. Remove the words mistake, mistakes, screw up, messed up and any other similar words from your vocabulary until the end of the year.

If things go in a different direction than you planned, ask yourself what you learned rather than beating yourself up. Take note of feelings, thoughts and your energy level. Take note of whether you finish the page and start another or if you still hang your brushes up until the feeling of defeat fades.

Give yourself the gift of no more "mistakes" by focusing on what you've learned. 

And please let me know what you've learned here on the blog!

Gather Your Tools

Click to enlarge

Gather all your tools before beginning: washed and (bone-dry) empty palette, a black fine tip marker or pencil, scissors (not your best pair) glue (I use Scotch Quick Dry Adhesive*); tweezers, ruler, and white plastic lid** of a Cool Whip® tub. I would add to this list (not in the photo) a couple of toothpicks, a wet paper towel and a dry paper towel. Be sure to protect your work surface. 

Carefully place new "wall" in palette. Click to enlarge

Modified palette with pigments Click to enlarge

Go no further and do not watch this video if your favorite reason for not taking your sketch kit with you every where you go is something like "It weights too much," "It won't fit in my purse/pocket/bag" or "I don't want to be weighed down with too much stuff!"

Here are a few suggestions for creating sketch kits that are slim, trim and as easy to carry as a piece of paper!

Let me know what you think!

I was quite shocked to see January 15th on the calendar already!!! Geez, Louise, could we slow down just a tiny bit, please?! As I sat pondering how we've already whizzed through 15 days of this scrumptious new year, it dawned on me that I have not painted, sketched or drawn since before Christmas, waaaaaaaay before Christmas! I know it's been 5 weeks and it may even be six! (No wonder I was getting cranky!!)

So it's time to "knock the rust off" and reteach myself which is the proper end of a paint brush, how much water to use, how to feather an edge and just in general, get moving in the art department. Again. I occasionally hear an artist talk about how much difficulty they've had getting back into art after a long period away. Almost without fail, if they're asked if they did any warming up BEFORE jumping back in, they'll shake their heads no.

Hello!! Would any professional athlete, chef, singer, or any other performer begin a game, new recipe, or performance without some practice and warm ups? Not likely! Why then, do we as artists expect to sit down to draw or paint without practice and warm ups?? That's crazymaking!! And yes, I'm guilty of doing this very thing so I'm qualified to speak. ;•)  I did this up until I started painting full time and was able to observe the effects of not warming up–can you say "ruined paintings?" I've finally learned.

You may remember from the Eiffel Tower sketch that I was not too happy with the pen that I used because of how much it bled when I washed over the lines with clean water. Since then, I've been gathering up any gel ink pen I could find in the house and testing* it. There have been some surprising results!

Or, at least that's what himself said when he saw this sketch! I popped into a little out-of-the-way cafe in Paris* for a few minutes today. They weren't very busy and this gentlemen was taking advantage of the lull. He was actually leaning up against a table with his other arm, but I didn't get that far. I'll put it in a little later though. I wanted to see how much I could get down and get color on in 15 minutes or so and this is the result.

It seems a lot of us are suffering from being "out of sync", "out of balance" and just plain old "can't get it all done." This post is about some of what I've learned about time management, procrastination, the evil of perfectionism and the woes of not knowing where to start, what to do, or when to do what.

Here is Part I:

Act! Now. Today. This very moment. Now, wait a minute, I hear in chorus from those of you reading this post. Are you crazy? On what?! When?!! How?!! Read on!

Let's start with what. The "what" or "where" doesn't really matter - just begin! Instead of beginning, we waste time trying to figuring out the perfect place to start, the best method, which step first, whether we'll have enough time, how far can we get, what we'll do if we do it wrong, or get started in the wrong spot. Whoa, enough already! Just begin!

Be willing to begin imperfectly! When you think about it, what do we begin perfectly? Very little, it's just that we have more faith in other beginnings and so we do not mire them in guilt, worry, perfectionism and procrastination. Need a plan? Okay, make one, but don't mistake it for a start. Plans are good, even desirable, but they are worthless if we do not begin! Nor do they guarantee against misadventures, mistakes, detours, or interruptions. If we are willing to accept that a beginning, no matter how imperfect, is better than no beginning, we take a huge step forward.

If not now, when? There's always going to be obstacles to the flow, interruptions to the process, detours that will come up, unforeseen. Accept that, and begin anyway! Why wait for that perfect, uninterrupted block of time we all wish for, dream of and pine for when you know it's not likely to happen?! Consider that if we worked on our drawing skills for just 5 minutes a day, at the end of one year we would have worked on them over 30 hours! Unrealistic, you say? 5 minutes a day for 5 days a week and you'll still have over 21 hours!

How many opportunities do we let go by that we could be accomplishing something because they're imperfect - not enough time, there are other people around, it's too late, too early, too hot, too cold, it's raining, it's dark, it's light, too tired, too stressed, too [fill in the blank]. We procrastinate by confusing needs with wants. Do we need to do this thing OR do we want to do this thing? It comes down to acting on the imperfect choice.

To be continued tomorrow!

Okay, bloggie buds and budettes, I need some input from all of you! I've been working on some more material on backgrounds and most of it is quite lengthy as backgrounds are not simple nor quickly explained. Perhaps some of it could be boring. So I'm going to let you decide whether you would like for me to continue to post the background series. Or not. Either way, it won't hurt my feelings. I have no wish to bore you to death with something you simply have no interest in.

Warning: Practice first! Please do not try these techniques on a "good" painting without first practicing on a failed painting, a practice sketch or a scrap of paper! It takes a few tries (sometimes more) to get the hang of doing backgrounds.

In the last few weeks, I've had a number of comments and questions on painting backgrounds and on using masking, so I thought I would try something new - a series of posts around these specific subjects. I had intended to start tonight, but had some unexpected computer issues today that took most of the day to resolve and I haven't had an opportunity yet to put anything together. (All has ended well with the computer, yay!)

Sometimes thinking outside of the box, or in this case, the closet, can be a very good thing! I want to share an inexpensive marketing idea that my husband, Chris, came up with - I have an opportunity to display my work at a local business, The Compounding Shop of Riverview, but space is a bit limited. They have one of my paintings on display, but I wanted to make more of an impact than just the one painting.

My experiences with Ampersand's® Aquabord are limited to two pieces so far so any or all of these observations could change in a few weeks. For what it's worth:

I'm busy painting mistakes as fast as I can and I'm getting better with every one! At the moment I don't really have anything to share art wise. Perhaps tomorrow. What prompted this post was a recent (yesterday) conversation with someone who asked, "Does it bother you to post your mistakes on your blog?" To which my immediate response was "Nope! Means I'm learning!"

Can a mistake be corrected in watercolor? Well, like most things, it depends on the paper used, the pigments used, the size of the area to be corrected and at what stage you decide something needs to be corrected.