This past year has been great! So much better than last year for me...I was making better art, feeling better about it, and managing my time better (for the most part) all in all, I was a much happier person. I wasn't completely happy with all my art, in fact I rarely feel like I absolutely accomplished what I set out to, but final results were more successful than not, and there were the rare times I was fully satisfied in what I had done.
I know artistically I was much better this year. I don't think I've necessarily gotten better, but I do think I've put together prior knowledge and compositions and everything together now, and my pieces look better. Also: at least in my case, doing things from life/pictures tend to look better than things purely from my head, especially people. I would really suggest to others that they do something like "skin", something concrete that varying elements can be explored rather than a broader topic. Then you can really get to know that specific thing-y and know the details of it. that was a really sucky way of putting it.
My favorite favorite favorite piece I did this year, perhaps ever, was my last concentration piece, of alex puckering up. I whipped it out, and did it with a palate knife on what was a fairly large canvas (for me, I guess it was a pretty average sized piece though). I zoomed in more than I usually do, and got more specific details. My favorite part of it is how from up close-ish, like when I was working on it, it looked pretty good, but when small and far away it comes alive because of all the variations and coloring and dimension. It was a nice end to the year/concentration. I know it could be better, I think the lips could use a bit of work, but part of it's appeal is how the colors mixed and the feeling that I had when I made the piece, so I don't think it would be worth risking making it worse.
Favorite, right there.
