I thought I would start February off with a challenge a way to make some small changes on a daily basis and one that you are welcome to join in with. Valentines day is a couple of weeks away, and traditionally this is the month to show those that you love how much you love them.
As we grow and share I thought we could also do with a reminder to care for ourselves and to treat ourselves with kindness remembering that before you can love someone else you need to be able to love yourself. For me I will be just making simple statements that can sit and encourage me in those tough times as a reminder that I am still a work in progress.
It is very easy to take ourselves for granted, and we have to have a back pack full of encouraging words and statements that you can draw upon every now and then. What words of encouragement can you give yourself as a reminder?
Another thing that I will be doing during the week is a daily sketch using marker pens, I wanted to experiment a bit more with the following style, and do some self portraits - I have only ever done 2 self portraits in all my time as an artist.
Image done in Gwenn Seemel Style - Soul Food
Doing quick self portraits allows us the time to really see ourselves, looking at the imperfections that we all have and being alright with them. While doing Soul Food course we had a session from Gwenn Seemel, and I really like the style of using marker pens, to make the marks and not worry about rubbing out and being committed to the marks you make.Each day I will be spending between 15 - 20 minutes doing a sketch and will post it later during the day, it will be an exercise in observation, each one might not be complete, but I want to be consistent and show up and spend the time. You can see the images that I did as part of the Soul Food class on my Mixed Media Art site.
So if you are up for it join me Monday through to Friday during the month of February and remind yourself why 'you love you' today and every other day, and maybe even try creating a few self portraits as well! Stay Blessed!