The Year of Crafting

I saw that today is the 50th day of #the100dayproject and I thought, “Is it enough already? Maybe I should end this one and start another challenge for me that will lead to a satisfying result.” Then I said to myself, “Maybe not quit this time, go on drawing those faces 5 minutes a day, you will lose nothing, maybe gain something.” 

Now I realize, I gained that point of view; “You won’t lose anything from drawing something 5 minutes a day.”, and it’s very valuable for me. I know the sentence looks stupid, why lose anything from drawing; but when I get bored of doing something, my brain tries everything to talk me out of it. As if keeping on doing the 100 faces project 5 minutes a day would hold me painting my masterpiece!

I was in search of creative friends and I found a couple of them faster than I thought. Then I was in search of an accountability partner as everybody is suggesting for moving forward. We’ve passed the first two weeks today and I can’t believe how so much changed!

Last week has been really great, slower than I’ve imagined, but more efficient than I’ve ever been. That counts. 

Everything was going so well. Then I got a really good commission order. Took me a while to finish but it came out well. Then the guy who ordered it; turned out to be a mentally ill pervert. Since that day I was lacking motivation emotionally. Then we moved out, but before I put my stuff in place, my parents got sick; so I had to stay with them for a while. A month later, I was back and ready, found out now I'm sick, had to take a week’s rest.

When all this was over and I did not have any excuses anymore, I was out of motivation so bad. Out and awaay! I found myself where I was for my whole life, in front of TV, binge watching and snacking all the time.

I love the process of course; but I've realized that the product comes out of it; is my main motivation; when it comes to my crafty projects. That's why I've been imagining all that projects for my whole life. I was imagining that I see the product in front of me, using it, giving it, selling it.

I'm gonna put this information into use. As the 30 days challenge didn't suit me as I hoped, now I'm gonna try a different approach knowing that seeing the result is my fuel.

Choose > Produce > Next > Choose > Produce > Next

A whole month has passed. The result is: I am not satisfied with the result. Yes I've touched the projects I haven't touched before, that's certainly good. But aside from that, something wasn't working, now I'm gonna analyze that:

First of all; I was stressed all the time inside, like a freak, "I have to produce, I have to do as much as I can, I'm not doing good enough!"

I've touched everything; but didn't finalize any of the projects. When I couldn't see the results it got me demotivated and I didn't like that feeling.

Looking back at the 30 days challenge, I can see that doing something everyday is not enough for me, I have to see the finalized product to keep motivated. When I chose those projects for the month, I counted on myself to finalize those, but when I was doing the job, I got lost. Because I didn't set time - deadlines - specific goals for the projects, like "I'm going to carve 12 pieces of leaves and 10 pieces of flower heads out of stamps." and even, "Than I'm going to make a flower printed pillow case with those stamps."

I just said that I'm going to carve erasers, and I did that, and I see that I am not satisfied at all.

Another issue was I didn't set timelines for the assignments, there were 4 projects flying freely in the big 30 days space. So this made me working in a relaxed, "Well of course I'll be done in 30 days!" mode, and it didn't work, cause I've never worked that way in my whole life. I have been always working in the last day even if I had 2 years for it, and thinking "Oh I would have done so much better if I had started 2 years before!" kind of person.

So here's what I'm gonna try next:

Set specific timelines for specific assignments. Not all four projects in one timeline, a result oriented assignment on one chosen project. Not a whole month but a tight -get it done and get over it, then move onto the next thing- timeline.

Yesterday felt restless. This morning I was feeling overwhelmed.

I painted this yesterday and thought it was awful. I don’t see myself creating what I want to see I create. It’s hard to handle. I dream of doing so much but see myself accomplishing so less. This feeling makes me more tired.

Day 20! 

One of my biggest problem is my sleeping hours. I always knew I have to change that. So this week my aim is waking up at 7 everyday. I even woke up at 6, while I was working as a chef. When you are your own boss, and as a sweet boss as me, work can start whenever you like. 

When I got back on my desk, I felt a little far from the mindset I needed, so I just started carving stamps to warm up.

As I started, I found out about the Unstoppable Artist event so I started to listen while I'm working. Learning so many things, and I'm so happy that I'm this lucky, because it was just what I needed right now.

Listened to Bree Noble's session and she tells to prioritize things that you chose to do in the order of difficulty, time and skill requirements, impact that it's gonna make for your art.

Today is the 17th day of my first productivity challenge. The first half is over.

I'm back working for the past three days. When I look at the past two weeks, I feel that I should have written what I've done everyday, so I can evaluate how productive I have been later.

In these to weeks:

Drew the #flpinktober prompts for #inktober, but then I've skipped them, so I got away with it by drawing everything all at once.

Painted, cut and sealed some figures for paper jewelry.

Carved flower stem stamps using erasers.

Made a form of cardboard flower piece.

Gone to two #urbansketchersistanbul meetings.

Inktober

I didn’t have any ink, so I started drawing with my Artline ink pen, but couldn’t resist coloring them. Feels like it should be only ink, monochrome; but I saw everybody participating with other mediums so why shouldn’t I? 

I bought ink and tried it; but I liked the series, so I kept on with watercolor.

When I started my own challenge I couldn’t manage to draw inktober everyday, opened the ink bottle and drew them all.

Watercolor Paper Jewelry

This project was on my mind for ages. I was so happy to start. Drawing / painting part is the most fun of course. Then I started cutting them. Tried both knife and scissors. Cutting takes more time than I assumed and hurts my finger. Then comes the sealing part. That takes a lot of time as well. Maybe it’s not worth it but I’m not deciding till I complete the project.

Flower Stem Stamps

I tried eraser carving before. That time I chose the word “Awesome” to carve, then discovering that if you carve it straight, it prints the opposite may have made me less enthusiastic about carving stamps. Did not feel so awesome.

This time I had it all planned. Sketched my stems beforehand and chose to carve when I needed a break or a warm up.

Turns out stamp carving is relaxing. I value that discovery a lot.

The next project was cardboard wall pieces. You see my first try below. It doesn’t look as amazing as I imagined. But it’s an early stage. Patience and resistance please.

Meetings for drawing with Urban Sketcher Istanbul makes me really happy. I’m learning to push my boundaries, it takes good patience to sit for hours just to go home with a cute little sketch, makes me miss my comfortable room with lovely reference photos, but I know if I keep going, I’m gonna have cooler results within a year.

Plus meeting with fabulous people and wandering around my beautiful city is better than so many other activities.

Once more it took me more time than I expected to make another “What I’ve done” post, but worth it, cause I’m feeling really pumped that I’ve accomplished this much in so little time.

The first week has been good. I’ve spent so many hours working in my studio. Worked with eraser-stamps, watercolor jewelry, inktober and the cardboard wall pieces. That’s 4/5 of the projects I’ve been meaning to touch.

Though I haven’t finalized anything yet. But then I had to take a break because of a family affair, I couldn’t manage to create anything due to the conditiones for 5 whole days. It had to be like that, but I sure felt restless.

Watercolor Jewelry

I've had some portraits I've drawn on the back of the tea bag packages. 

Redrawn some of them to watercolor paper. Painted and left to dry.

Cut around them with utility knife. That's the hardest part, finger gets hurt, when I realized that, I've put some folded napkin over the knife to hold it.

Have ordered Mod Podge to seal the paper, just as I finished cutting, the door bell rang and it arrived, so I've began sealing right away.

17.10.2018 / 15.11.2018

For the next 30 days, I'm gonna produce as much as I can, in the context of the projects I assigned for myself in specific timelines.

The projects that I will work on:

*Watercolor paper jewelry

*Cardboard wall piece

*Eraser stamps

*Illustrated DIY clay pieces

*Finish inktober

I wrote two resolutions for not a year but the next 8 months, that was the plan. That still is the plan. I'm gonna push myself to "Do as much as I can" in the next 8 months and evaluate the results on June 2019. Then we'll see what next.

The two resolutions I wrote were these: 1-I'm gonna create as much as I can and do my best. 2-Learn how to sell my art worldwide and start selling. (I wrote this one after I heard Youngman telling to choose something tangible. And I gave myself 2 and a half months for this one, it should be done till the end of this year.)

But that was before I heard Youngman's twist. He said "You can do it as a 30 days challenge and make it real." and even begged at the end! I respect him so much that I can't refuse the offer. So that's that.

For the next 30 days: -I'm gonna create as much as I can, everyday, according to a plan and timeline.

After I get through the first month, for the next 30 days: -I'm gonna study the things that are necessary for selling art worldwide. And start along the way.

I was away from home for a long time this summer. Been looking forward to come back for good and officially start "The Year of Crafting" and begin to share the journey from here.

My first goal is to: -Gather all the materials I'm willing to try/use, the subjects that I already want to follow, and the ideas I'm so eager to produce andmake a list of them. -Make a visual list of my art materials so that I can see what majority I used at the end of the season. -Plan the projects and make a timeline.

So the first days of returning are always hard to get back to work. But as I was so eager to start, things have turned out o.k. for me this time.

One thing I'm not so comfortable about: I assumed that I would get this goal chart ready while I'm away. But things didn't turned out that way and I returned home with a blank page.

As I was getting ready to sit and get this work done, I was warming up by listening my beloved YCP episodes from where I left.

When I heard Youngman saying, "Write your new year's resolution down. I'm gonna talk to you about that in the next episode." I was in love with the synchronicity he is always talking about. Here I am, following the episodes at my pace, listening to an episode recorded on December 2017 now on October 2018, trying to set a resolution for my super important "Year of Crafting" because I don't wanna waste this time, hearing him talking about resolutions. I love this magic of life.

So he made a twist in the end and insisted on 30 day challenges are more effective than a years long resolution. "Whatever you wrote down, do it in 30 days, you can." he said.

Last year I was trying. I had the motivation but lacked the discipline and the knowledge to get it.

This year I’m gonna try better. Did I ever mention I love trying things?

So, from now on I’m gonna:

Do things according to a plan, still play, but in a more structured way.

List my projects in orders. Which I’m planning to get my hands on next, which are gonna take how much time, on difficulty levels, on categories. Then I’m gonna try to handle them according to that order. (Last year I wasted so much time on thinking what to do, then ending up doing nothing.)

Write about my struggles when I have them and how I get over or deal with them.

Have myself morning ritual projects to start the day with a creative exercise.

Use my sketchbooks more efficiently.

Take the desire of creating more, before the desire to kill time. Will not let my laziness win over my productivity.

Create and share on a daily basis.

Try to interact with other creative people.

(Last Year)

Around September, I was so excited that I will have the luxury to make my crafting dreams come true. But I realized that I’ve forgot to even how to use the brush, so I decided to remind myself how to paint inside the lines, easy as that. I started to draw folk art flowers, so the exercises would not be boring for me. I have drawn as many flowers as I can, then I’ve painted them.

Then I’ve painted more.

I’ve made some repeated patterns of the flowers.

I always wanted to make illustrated calendars, but I never managed to before. This time I decided to make it happen. I created 12 flower characters, designed the pages, and there, I had my calendar. It was just the beginning of 2018, so I decided to take it as a trial and to release it for 2019.

I’ve bought a cheap sketchbook although I’ve got so many at home, so I decided to make a 100 days 100 drawings challenge for myself, but it lasted 6 days. The paper was not suitable for watercolor, so I didn’t like the result.

The page with lemons is not crumbled cause I used colored pencils there, but I’m a girl for watercolor. This has been a short attempt, but it has opened new doors for me.

One of my friends have seen my stories and asked me if I can paint big vegetables for their restaurant. I’ve always painted small sized watercolors, so this was definitely a challenge for me.

As I started working, I didn’t want to waste my precious watercolor papers for the sketches, so I found myself sketching in random papers, which I never thought I could paint on before.

I’ve worked for that project a long time and put all the other self-projects aside. I’m gonna share the details of it in another post. In summary, it was just the motivation I needed to gain the self-discipline I was trying so hard to get.

Meanwhile I was looking for other projects - other than my looong list of projects waiting aside. I’ve heard of Sketchbook Skool in an episode of Your Creative Push (Which is my best friend, and that’s another story.) I’ve read the free book “Start Making Art” there and I got inspired to make a sketchbook of ordinary objects as a daily challenge. That went better, I’ve tried different mediums and different styles. The main point was gaining the habit of drawing every day, even if it’s a little ordinary object. 

It sure helped, but the “every day” part faded fast.

Just around that time, I’ve seen a post about Sketchbook Revival. I needed something fun after working on the same painting for hours, so I followed all the workshop and played along.

I’m so happy that I caught it at the time, cause it was a temporarily free online workshop and just what I was looking for. It helped me revive my childish creativity. I have a lot to tell about it, maybe I will write a detailed post later.

I’ve learned how to bind the sketchbooks I’ll use during the event.

These are the pages from the sketchbook dedicated to the workshop.

Also, while I’m listening the introduction parts, I wanted to start sketching right away so I drew the tutors in an accordion sketchbook that I’ve made.

After it was over, I kept the spirit and went on filling the blank pages of the sketchbook.

I painted some random pages, and some other time I was drawing over them. One day I’ve drawn flowers with white pen on a dark background, and I loved it. So it became a thing.

When Sketchbook Revival was finished, someone in the group posted about 30x30 Direct watercolor challenge. I decided to give it a go. It was suggesting to do all the opposites of what I’m used to do. Don’t mix the colors in the palette, do not draw lines. It was really hard for me and I didn’t fall in love with the results. Whatever, I always liked to expand my comfort zone. I’m pleased that I’m reminded about this style.

I was wondering if there was a drawing group in Istanbul, just in that time I came across Urban Sketchers Istanbul and I joined some of the gatherings. Meeting with people for drawing together is a good idea.

Meanwhile I tried different mediums.

There were many bottles of old fabric paint in our home, left by the puppet artist lived there before, so I tried them on a tank-top, that I love to wear now.

One day I got sick and I didn’t have the energy to sit at my desk, so I laid on the sofa and painted this wood panel while watching movies from my laptop.

I like the feeling of painting on wood. Found this one on the street; for a while I’ve become looking for things to paint everywhere.

Like these plates I painted the same day.

I found out about the porcelain pens by coincidence. There was a workshop while I was looking around my favorite art supply store, they gave me a porcelain cup and I started drawing right away. 

I bought all three pen sets and told everyone that I’m looking for their old ceramic stuff.

I was gonna visit my family for the new year and was in search of a present for everyone. Then I thought something handmade could be nice. Here are some of the presents.

I loved the idea of recycling, so I painted on packages. Empty jars, used shampoo bottles, wine bottles.

Branded cups, stones.

I’m a fan of anything fabric related so I had to get my hands on some embroidery.

Played with air-dry clay.

I love playing with clay, so I tried a DIY recipe I found on Pinterest.

I painted on the dried dough with watercolor or acrylic.

Made a ring holder, photo stand, magnets for my mum, a little ship, and I’m so proud of my little brush rests.

Another DIY material I wanted to try for a long time was papier-mâché, and I couldn’t wait any longer, so I tried it in between my holiday. I’m sure gonna use more of this technique this year.

This summer I noticed the tile pieces tumbled in the waves, hiding beneath the sand and stones on the beach. I couldn’t do it every day because I killed my brand new Artline pen for drawing these, but still it’s a good memory.

Ceramics have always been my secret love. I can’t even get near it because I know I’ll want to give up everything and fall right deep into it. But I came across a chance to try and it was as beautiful as I assumed. These are my first ceramics.

I formed the cups, the plates were gifted by my tutor, then I painted my favorite flowers and my life motto “Create Beauty” on them.

Tried Tilt Brush, painting in 3D with virtual reality. It was an amazing experience, I was happy like a child when I tried it, but then I couldn’t think of anything I can draw properly, cause it’s hard when you are not used to. I should try it again with more persistence.

I tried shrink paper but not satisfied yet. This year I’m gonna work on it.

And of course there are other random drawings and paintings in a habit I already had, if you want to see them you can take a look at ozlemoz.tumblr.com or instagram.com/ozlemoz.art

Sure I’ve done many paintings but I think I could have done better. So this year is gonna be all about it.

Last year I’ve had the same decision in my mind. I would let all my creations hiding in myself free. But I haven’t got an idea on how hard it would be for me to make it happen. So I’ve spent the time by struggling for creating. 

Soon I will show here the creations of last year. It will be a fun list.

Then I will try to make a list of what I’m planning to get my hands on this year. And that sure will be a fun list.