An important part of the continual improvement cycle is the review stage – taking a look back at what you’d planned to achieve and determining how well you went to help guide what your new future goals should entail.
And with that in mind and the end of the year here it’s time to review what my goals for 2016 were and how successful (or unsuccessful) I was in achieving them.
Finish Building a Studio Space
My first order of business for the year was to compete the building and fitout of the studio space I’d created in my back shed. It was a joyous day when this was completed (mainly because it had taken MUCH longer than I’d anticipated) but I’m happy to say that it is everything I ever wanted it to be and more. I get a very positive vibe from it and get inspired just by standing in the room. It is a space that demands things happen.
10/10
Regular Life Drawing Practice
I got better and more discipline with this the longer the year went on, by which time I was making a concerted effort to get to life drawing every second week, and only missing if the night clashed with some other family related engagement.
6/10
Shift Some Focus from Learning Basic Fundamentals to Developing Personal / Experimental Work
This one was a little harder to get my head around and to feel like I was making any progress. I understand the need to have a solid foundation in fundamental skills (and I know I still need a LOT of work in this area) but I felt like it was time to start seeing a bit more ‘me’ in what I was doing. There is a certain comfort zone with course work and structured learning as what you need to work on is generally plotted out for you, and my attempts to develop more experimental work had me lingering in an uncomfortable state of ‘I don’t know what the hell I am doing !!!’
I realised late in the piece that I was putting far to much pressure on myself to knock it out of the park with each attempt, rather than letting things develop naturally (that is from rubbish, to much less rubbish… or who knows, even good?)
4/10
Broaden My Profile
This one I think at the end of the day is always going to be a slow burn. At the moment I’m posting things I’ve created through social channels, plugging away at the blog (if for no other reason than to rationalise my thoughts) and slowly chipping away with my work. Things grow slowly and as long as there is sustained growth (which there has been – slow but sustained), I’m happy with that.
7/10
Theme for the Year: Forming Strong Practice Habits and Experimentation
All in all, 2016 was a learning year – not just in terms of learning new skills, but learning more about myself – what I want to do and where I want to go – and what I can realistically hope to achieve.
I’ve tweaked my outlook on how I will approach work and the time I can commit to it. By the end of the year I think I nailed a process that works for me and leaves me feeling inspired, less frustrated and satisfied.
I finally managed to complete some pieces in oil paint and are slowly becoming more comfortable with the medium.
Some aspects I’d struggled with in figure and portrait drawing are now beginning to click.
What at times felt like a frustrating and confusing year has ended with renewed enthusiasm and positivity.
Now on to dreaming up the all important goals for the year ahead…
