February 16, 2012 - Donkey

Second painting.  A bit bigger than the last one- this is 16" x 20".  Still using
a mixed media approach- combining paint and pencil.  I'm not really a purist and
have always preferred this method.  I actually did a drawing of this one during my
daily drawing project, but liked it so much I knew I'd translate it into a painting.
This is a picture of a donkey that belongs to 2 of my good friends in Northern Cal.

It's been really weird for me doing a painting every two weeks instead of a drawing
every day.  Though I have to say the timing is exceptional- my life has been really
busy in other ways so doing a daily drawing would be tough right now.  I still
miss it and all, but for now- less is better.  It allows me to explore other areas in my
life.  I still walk around with a vague but persistent feeling of slothfulness though and
have to remind myself that it's ok to not produce something every day and that this
actually allows me to have more of a life balance.  Which is good thing.  Right?  Yes.
Absolutely.

Painting #2

February 2, 2012 - Groundhog Day

First Painting.  Admittedly, it's more of a mixed media drawing painting combo.  As I started working on this piece I realized that I'm much better at drawing than painting.  But really, I knew that before I started this one.  When you do something every single day you inevitably get better at it.  And painting is a bit awkward for me after working so tiny with pencils and ballpoint pens.  So it's a transitional piece really- it combines both mediums and it's not very big- 11" x 14".

I'm really happy that I decided to start this project on Groundhog Day.  I was talking about this with a friend and we started talking about the movie Groundhog Day.  She told me something I never knew about this movie which is that the film is a favorite of the Budddhists.  The film is considered to be one which addresses the idea of self-improvement with an emphasis on the importance of looking inside oneself.   The theory is that true satisfaction in life then comes from turning outward and focusing on others instead of solely on one's own wants and desires.   Also, some Catholics see the movie as a representation of Purgatory.  The movie has even been referred to by some religious leaders as one of the most spiritual films of our time.   If you haven't seen it, it's a movie about a bitter, cynical, egocentric newscaster named Phil Connors who during a hated assignment covering the annual Groundhog Day event in Punxsutawney finds himself doomed to repeat the same crappy day over and over again.  It's a hilarious movie.   After indulging in hedonistic, destructive behavior and numerous suicide attempts, he begins to re-examine his life and priorities and realizes that he needs to do things differently.  It's a classic.  If you've never seen it, I can't recommend it enough.

I've written about this kind of thing in my daily drawing project that I just finished, and that is the idea of self-improvement.  I don't mean self-improvement in the kind of way where nothing is ever good enough, but more so as an understanding that there is never an end point to trying to better oneself.  It's kind of like this rich life flow- there's never a point where we cease to evolve.  And I really like that.

Painting #1