1 month of Daily Insects

Day 25, Blue Carpenter Bee, daily insect painting, watercolor on paper, Stephanie KilgastHello there!We are the 1st February, which means the first month of my daily insect art challenge is over.I posted daily insect paintings during the whole month, including on days where I was traveling.It was quite a challenge and I ended up making most paintings last minute in the evening.Some of the paintings were rather good so I put some in my society6 and redbubble shop, if you'd like some prints, you can get them there.

The Struggles

I think I started 2018 with a few too many projects and ideas, so the daily insect challenge was truly... challenging.I ended up making most of these painting somewhen between 10 and 12 pm, just before yoga and going to bed.The plan was to start the day with the challenge, to kick start my own creativity, but I don't need to be kickstarted into my working schedule. I have been sculpting on an almost daily basis for years, so it's become a habit since long.It was annoying almost daily to start, but, granted, fun once started.I also don't quite understand was this is all about, just studies? Insect portraits? A collection of some sort?

The Benefits

Painting daily in a conscious way with reference pictures and real effort to get a realistic outcome proves to be effective practice and I do see improvement in my rapidity but also in how I manage watercolor as a whole.AND It looks pretty on my wall.

The Future

For February I decided to add some intention to the challenge and so I am going to paint an insect every day, however this time they will all be on the same paper in one big composition.I made a quick sketch of what I wanted and today I added the first insect.There will be other things to add next to the insects, but I can work on those on a daily basis.This is more or less how I approach sculpting, so I have no clue yet if this is going to function.

The Links

In case you'd like to follow the challenge on a daily basis, I have put up a tumblr blog, conveniently titled DailyInsectArt.tumblr.comAnd if you want some prints of the watercolors, you can visit both my society6 and redbubble shop. Below a selection of the month.What's your favorite of all the paintings?xxStéphanie
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