Whoa Nellie!

That's the sound of me reining myself in a little! Do you ever get the feeling you're becoming obsessed with something? I know myself well enough to know that when I find something I love to do I can go overboard on it. When my little ones were small and in diapers I had to give up needlework and designing cross-stitch pieces. It began to take over my time and I would occasionally surface and realize that the babies hadn't been changed for a while and it was way past lunchtime and I hadn't fed them! That was a wakeup call and I knew I couldn't handle just doing a little. I was like an alcoholic; I had to give it up entirely until the kids were bigger. I did that and actually don't have a hankering for that particular vice right now, but artwork has been threatening to become just as obsessive.

We all know that the art opportunities on the internet are endless. There are millions of folks out there doing art of one type or another, tutorials to no end, wonderful bloggers to visit. I don't plan to quit entirely this time. My kids are grown, but I still need to help with my granddaughter, keep my hubby company and clean the house. I have responsibilities, just not the same type I had as a young mom. So I can afford to indulge now and then in this wonderful hobby. Like anything good in this world, Satan would like to pervert what God has put in our hearts. Discipline is required to order our days. The internet provides many good opportunities, especially for those of us who live in remote areas where art classes and other goodies are hard to come by. But as Alisa Burke was pointing out in her free online class called Finding Your Muse, we need to turn off all of our electronics now and then and find inspiration in our REAL world.

So my resolution, for now, is to return to my first love of pen and ink drawing with the occasional foray into colored pencil or watercolor. I have a wonderful book by Arthur Guptill called "Rendering in Pen and Ink". It's an old book,they actually used pens with nibs, but it has lots of good exercises for practice. I would still enjoy posting some of my drawings on Twenty Minute Challenge and I may even do some other challenges, but instead of trying oils or watercolor, I might try a pen and ink rendition of the subject. Much more doable and less time consuming for me!

I also found that I was a little too envious of folks who have endless boxes of watercolors of every imaginable hue. I was using some leftover watercolors from my kids' homeschooling days (YEARS ago!) and wondering how I could afford new ones! But then I realized that some of the art I enjoy looking at most is very simple. So I'm sticking with a simple style and setting myself the goal of becoming good at that before thinking about doing other mediums. I can't afford expensive colored pencils, but I could get a new set of Crayola pencils that would have more color choices, and pens are not that expensive. So, for now, I'm going to be content with what I have and spend less time online.

Oh, I'll still be here, probably every day. I'm just going to try to control my urge to participate in every challenge I see and I'm going to concentrate on pen and ink and colored pencil. Maybe I'll have to change the name of my blog!! :D

Vaya con Dios!
Shalom!