My art desk, plus one cubby under the TV, for drawing and watercolor painting supplies.My acrylic painting station, and the “overflow cabinet” in the hallway.
After I was done decluttering my supplies, I took the opportunity to give each item a new and more productive home.
I wanted to keep supplies closer to where I’d actually use them, so I grouped my drawing and watercolor stuff together as I generally do both of those at the desk. I also moved my purse from the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet to make room for my acrylic supplies so they could be close to the easel!
I counted and I have a total of 14(!) sketchbooks, not counting the 4 I have fully filled. Out of those, 9 have been drawn in already. I’m only keeping the ones I’ve been most active in lately in the bedroom, I’m hoping that focusing on a few specific ones will help me fill them up faster.
With everything nicely organized, and plenty of supplies that I know I like just waiting to be used up, I think 2022 will be off to a good start 🙂
May the coming year be full of creation! Happy New Year everyone!
So I decided not to make a written catalog of all of my art supplies because the idea was extremely daunting, especially after seeing the pile.
I included both my and my partner’s art supplies because we share with each other, even though some things are more mine and some things are more hers.
I ended up doing most of the decluttering as I removed things from the cabinet in the hallway. So what you see in that photo is pretty much just what was left as my “keep” pile. There were a few things though, like the Zebra Zensations mechanical colored pencils, and the 6 sheets of Canson XL watercolor paper, that went bye bye after this photo.
I decluttered all of my tempura paints (because I’m now using acrylics instead!), a Winsor and Newton Cotman travel watercolor set (I have every color in that set and more in my custom palette), several sets of Crayola crayons, and quite a few other miscellaneous little things. And that’s just the art supplies! I also donated a bunch of baby stuff that our daughter has already outgrown, some clothes that don’t suit me, and other random household items we no longer need.
This has been the biggest declutter since my first big purge back in January of 2019. Hard to believe I’ve been pursuing the minimalist lifestyle for so long now! I’m hoping the No Buy can help me do better now and in the future.
Although I’ve been fighting my hoarding tendencies over the last 3 years, I hadn’t really combatted the real root of the problem: my shopping addiction. I’ve learned to let things go when they stop serving me, but I haven’t learned to stop acquiring things in the first place. This lead me to buy things only to declutter them a week or two later!
I’m really happy with how I ended up reorganizing everything, made the whole process worth it. I’ll be back shortly with a separate post about that!
Recently I was gifted a pack of 60 acrylic paint markers from my partner, and a box easel from her dad! I’ve always wanted an easel, and I really love paint markers, so obviously this made me very happy.
I also bought myself the 320 pack of Ohuhu bullet/chisel duel tip markers (HUGE splurge, wow that was expensive!), 2 sets of 16 count 2oz Craft Smart acrylic paints, and a pad of Canson Oil & Acrylic paper.
I have a LOT of art supplies. I have decluttered them a few times, but I always end up buying more because my brain wants a shiny new thing. I have more unfinished sketchbooks on hand than I want to admit, and a whole cabinet of art supplies just collecting dust. In a lot of aspects I’m a minimalist, but art supplies are my weakness!
Quite simply, I am an art supply hoarder. No surprise there, I used to hoard everything, not just art supplies! It’s just a lot easier to talk myself into thinking I need a new art supply rather than the other random junk I used to accumulate.
So I’ve decided to take on a new challenge to hopefully make far more use of the things I already own… a No Buy year. Can I truly commit to not buying any new art supplies for a whole year? Only time will tell. I’m sure it can be done, but I have to be responsible and disciplined.
I’m not sure if I will allow myself to buy replacements for things I run out of. Maybe if it feels genuinely urgent for some reason. My Molotow liquid chrome marker is something I might consider getting another refill for if I were to somehow go through the entire refill I already have, as it’s my absolute favorite art supply. But maybe I shouldn’t!
I have so many things I need to use (or realize I’ll never use and thus donate) so it might be a good thing to run out of my favorite things! I do have a drawing tablet (an older Wacom, none of those fancy ones with the screens haha) so technically even if I ran out of ALL my traditional supplies I could still make art.
Since my problem is specifically hoarding and not just finances, I will also not allow myself to aquire new supplies for free unless I have a genuine need. If I completely run out of paper I may use scraps from the recycling bin for example, but otherwise, no free supplies from the charity, and I’ll have to tell people not to get me art supplies as gifts either.
Maybe in the future I can make a post where I catalog ALL of my art supplies. Maybe seeing it all in one place, KonMari style, will help me realize how bad the problem really is! And maybe I’d be able to declutter some things right away, things I know I truly do not need.
I’ll try to keep y’all updated with this challenge, as a way to hold myself accountable. Wish me luck!
I’m happy to report that I was able to get a few doodles in during the hospital stay before our daughter was born!
Birdie was born very healthy via a semi-emergency cesarean. I was induced but failed to progress for 24 hours after my water broke, and then she was having some heart rate dips. Turns out she had the cord triple wrapped around her neck! We are very lucky that things turned out as they did, even though the whole situation was very stressful… Not to mention uncomfortable. My spinal failed so I had to go under for the surgery but luckily I was still able to meet her not long after. C-section recovery is no joke, I have never been in so much pain in my life. Luckily now I am more or less all healed up, though I do have nerve damage on my lower tummy.
She’s almost 2 months old now and doing very well so far. She is getting progressively wigglier as she trains to start walking and crawling! I can’t wait until the day she can grasp a crayon…
I actually came here to write a different post, but I realized I hadn’t updated you all on the baby situation! So here’s that. Stay tuned for another post hopefully quite soon!
Armed with my new monogrammed lidded mug and fresh home-made poppyseed bread, I made a feeble attempt at filling 9 pieces of marker paper in 24 hours or less.
I only accomplished one piece in 5 hours, most of that time spent researching references or procrastinating, and now I’m mentally exhausted!
I’ve had this idea floating around in my head lately- “wouldn’t it be fun to try to fill an entire sketchbook in a day?” And since I haven’t touched this Strathmore marker paper pad in over a year, I asked my partner if she’d like to partake in a silly challenge with me.
There were 18 sheets left in the paper pad, which I divided into 9 sheets for each of us. I thought that if we really gave it our all we could definitely get this done in 9 hours or less… Oh how naive I was! Sure, it’s only been 5 hours since we started, but I can tell for certain there is no way we will successfully fill all 18 sheets in the next 19 hours.
For starters my partner and I are both perfectionists. Part of the point of this challenge was to overcome our perfectionism, but to the surprise of absolutely no one: that’s easier said than done. Second of all, we both have ADHD! That part speaks for itself. It’s probably hard for anyone to dedicate a whole day to one activity, but it’s especially so with ADHD in the mix. And lastly… Making art takes so much mental energy!! I was hoping we would really let loose and just do some really bad doodles… and my partner was attempting to do just that… She still ended up calling it a day after two sheets full of thumbnail sketches. I got totally sucked into wanting to make something that looked good, so in the same amount of time I only accomplished one piece. At the very least my partner got down several different ideas!
Despite all of that, I’m so happy we decided to take on this silly challenge! It got us to draw, it got us to start using up materials that have just been collecting dust, and it got our creativity flowing. We probably won’t fill up all 18 sheets in 24 hours, but even then the challenge still accomplished exactly what I hoped it would!! A very successful “failure” from my perspective.
I went into this challenge with very low expectations, knowing full well that this exact scenario might occur. I accepted the possibility of failure in advance and gave it my all anyway, and in doing so I was able to do more thanI probably would have today otherwise.
It’s better to quit 15 minutes into the race than to never pass the starting line in the first place! Trophies for participation might be unnecessary, but I find that participation and the experience that comes with it is it’s own reward.
We will still try to fill up this paper pad as quickly as we can, perhaps modifying it to another “fill one page or more a day” challenge like we’ve done in the past. Definitely more manageable and a lot less pressure!!! Maybe one of these days I’ll be able to succeed at a sketchbook-in-a-day challenge, but I’m content with today not being that day.
Since I’m nearing the end of my pregnancy, I’ve been having loads of doctor’s appointments. At this point it’s a weekly occurrence, so that means lots of time spent waiting in the waiting room, and then waiting in the office between being triaged and actually seeing the doctor. The best way to pass the time is to whip out my tiny sketcher and just doodle the minutes away!
(Momentum is a browser extension I use to make the new tab page prettier, lol)
Such an empowering message, and much more eloquently written than #MAKEBADART! or #ArtIsForEveryone
I aspire to inspire as many people as possible to pursue creative endeavors.
I hate that so many people feel like they’re “not allowed” to draw/paint/write/sculpt/play an instrument/sing/dance/etc. just because they feel like they weren’t “born talented”. The thing is, “talent” doesn’t matter very much. Talent is just a natural inclination toward certain skills, it’s not truly a natural proficiency toward a specific hobby/craft/art. Drawing and painting are SKILLS that practically ANYONE can learn, given enough time and determination. People without arms have learned how to draw and paint, so I don’t like to hear silly excuses! Practice is what allows artists to become good at their crafts, whether they have “natural” talent or not. Frankly, calling people “talented” when they show you their work is a little insulting, because they worked really hard to get to where they are and you shouldn’t discount that. It’s something most people say though, because most people don’t know any better, so don’t worry too much. We know you just meant to be flattering!
Another thing is that art doesn’t have to be “good” to be worth creating. I love “easy” art, such as paint pouring and throwing, even though many classically trained artists stick their nose up at these mediums. Art should be accessible to people from all walks of life. This is part of why I create coloring pages, I consider coloring to be an artform in and of itself, and I like that providing the line art makes the act of picking up a crayon or marker a lot less intimidating for a lot of people. Every time someone colors one of my coloring pages, it’s a collaboration between myself and them, and I think that’s beautiful. An extra bonus is that I get to be lazy and not color it myself, while still considering the artwork finished! Win-win!
That all being said, you don’t HAVE to pursue anything artistic that you don’t want to. I’m not trying to pressure anyone into picking up a pencil if that’s not a way they genuinely want to spend their time. I just want to empower anyone who’s been longing to do so but is held back by fear. You don’t have to show anyone your work if you feel embarrassed about it, you can keep it all to yourself like a private journal. (I do encourage you to share your work though, in communities of artists around the same skill level as yourself!) Don’t spend so much time worrying about how old you are and how long you could have been at this craft, because until you die it’s NEVER too late to start. I promise!
I’ll leave this off with another quote…
Thanks to My Modern Met for providing the image… see the full article I swiped this from HERE! It’s full of all sorts of inspiring quotes like this one, I really enjoyed reading it.
(Literally nothing in this post was sponsored, I just like to give proper credit to things, sorry if anything came off as advertisement-y lol!)
This last week I made some art, as my mom specifically requested art she could hang in her house as her birthday present.
I decided to use the opportunity to try something new, I wanted to try using my Molotow chrome marker on black canvas.
Luckily for me, Michael’s was having a huge sale on all of their Artist Loft brand canvases! On top of that, I had a $5 coupon with them to use up, so I got 4 canvases for pocket change. Awesome purchase!
I also used my circle template and ruler to make guidelines this time. I wanted it to be as symmetrical as possible, especially since I was working with a perfectly square canvas. As much as I love to freehand my mandalas, I think that technique is best for sketchbook pieces rather than these finished pieces intended to be viewed often by many.
I’m quite happy with the results. So happy in fact, I jokingly told my mom that I wanted to keep it for myself! I’m obsessed with that contrast and that shine!!
On the day of her birthday we had quite a while between waking up and leaving for her house, so I decided to also make her a birthday card to pass the time. I wasn’t sure if I’d have the energy and I knew she would understand if I didn’t, but I felt good that day and had a fun idea for the cover art.
I used the wet on wet watercolor technique to make the balloons have a tie dye effect. I started with just the middle balloon, and let that dry fully before moving onto the background balloons, so that they could all be different and not bleed into each other.
Once all of the water had dried, I added the chrome details. I knew I could have left the balloons with just the tie dye effect, but I enjoyed doodling on them. I’m really happy about how it turned out, it’s very much a birthday card! Simple but effective.
Both of these pieces were very satisfying to make. Very sensory pleasing experiences.
I’m glad that when I’m presented with a reason to make art, I’m generally able to make myself do it. A lot of the time I can’t get myself to create on a daily basis like I would like to in theory, but when I have some outside motivation I muster up the courage and creativity necessary to get the job done.
I’m proud of myself, and my mom loved her present. Nothing makes me happier than giving my art as a gift to a loved one and having them be over the moon about it. I’m so glad to have had this opportunity!
Quick side note: Our daughter’s due date quickly approaches. Most likely she will arrive in 3 to 4 weeks, but it could be any day now. So do expect a long period of silence on this blog while I adjust to our new life, though I’m sure by now you all are used to that haha. I hope to return sooner than even I expect though, hopefully with new art to show off to you all! So until then, I wish you all the best!
I bought a brand-new watercolor sketchbook (a Strathmore visual journal) a week or two ago, but I hadn’t gotten it “dirty” until today. I did some swatching and testing in the back of it, but until I actually create art in a new sketchbook I don’t consider it to have been started.
It’s been a long time since I’ve really tried to paint something that looks like anything, so I decided to take it easy and start with something simple. I recently watched some YouTube watercolor videos for inspiration, and decided to take the abstract florals route. I ended up painting the pink flowers in a patterned spacing by accident so I went with it.
Had a lot of fun making this piece. My partner is impressed by it too, and her reaction made me very happy.
Just a simple floral doodle pattern!Detail shot to show the shimmery-ness! I just can’t resist adding a bit of sparkle.
Sorry to all who follow this blog with genuine interest- I’m so bad at remembering to do things! Even things I like doing!
Although a lot of the time it’s not just a matter of forgetting, it’s also a matter of a mental wall that makes me not want to do things even though I actually enjoy doing them. I think this is what a lot of people call art block. For me it is also a product of my neurodiversity, from the executive dysfunction. My combo of ADHD and autism makes it to where I don’t want to do anything that isn’t the easiest thing a lot of the time. Art can be hard, so my brain likes to prevent me from doing it, even though I usually very much enjoy myself when I actually get around to doing it. Blogging is never really that hard per say, but it does require me to actually take time to use the computer and write, and a lot of the time I just can’t be bothered.
So anyway, here’s an update. In the past several months I’ve been playing around with different mediums.
For example, here is a Molotow acrylic marker painting I did on a wood cutout from The Dollar Tree that I did for my partner’s dad. We have a very limited number of colors in Molotows, and he’s a veteran, so I figured it was a good excuse to use a color pallet I don’t use very often: red, white, and blue. He likes to garden too, so the flower shape is also fitting.
Despite the simple design, this mandala took me about two weeks to complete due to perfectionism and procrastination. Most of the work was just trying to decide what pattern to do next!
Another medium I’ve taken up lately is a collaboration with my mom! She likes to do “coloring page stained glass” crafts. She’s not much into drawing herself, so she generally just traces free-to-use coloring pages. I create free-to-use coloring pages, so I offered to do the tracing part of the project for her of some of my pieces! I love to do elaborate designs on my mandala which were a little intimidating to her, so doing it myself allowed me to have a piece of the action and let her just color the piece stress-free! I consider any instance of someone coloring one of my coloring pages as a collaboration between myself and the person coloring, so it was especially meaningful to me to have my mom be one of those people. The first one I did for her was April’s Mandala, which she colored, backed, and framed for me as a gift. It now hangs on the bedroom wall in memory of our lost daughter.
April’s Mandala coloring page stained glass craft: A collaboration between myself and my mother.
I have done several more of these for her since then, and I always find it very enjoyable. Retracing my line art is very soothing and nostalgic for me, and I have the opportunity to correct tiny mistakes I made in the original line art which is so satisfying!
I am now getting back into watercolor and I’m in the process of creating my own palette using a nice little tin I picked up off amazon with empty half pans and tube watercolors mixed with glycerin. I don’t have much of anything to show for it yet, as this is quite a recent development. It is getting closer to September so my anticipation for autumn is building, I think I will be doing some seasonal pieces soon.
Our rainbow daughter is due in October (yes I know, how perfect!) so I think I may create some autumnal birth announcement cards to send to the extended family members. I want to get on that sooner than later so that I don’t have to think about it postpartum! I am sure I will not have the energy for any sort of creative endeavor for quite a while following her birth.
That’s all for now folks, I’ll try to update you again at least once more before Birdie gets here! No promises though unfortunately, hahaha.
Ari October Art 