Two Looks on Post 100

I'm happy and surprised to say that this is my 100th post. I'm celebrating with:

A Look Back

1. Goals I Set in January that I've Met by July
   - Get in the practice of drawing everyday - measured by filling a moleskine (which is close to filled)
   - Read through Colored Pencil for Serious Beginners (Bet Borgeson)
   - Read through Colored Pencil Portraits Step by Step (Ann Kullberg)
   - Copy several Sargent portraits
   - Copy several Ingres portraits
   
2. Themes I've Kept To
   - Portraits: spent all of January doing only portraits
   - Landscapes: worked on this in February
   - Nature in color: did this in June
   - Everyday objects
   
3. Artists I've Studied
   - January: John Singer Sargent
   - February: Vincent van Gogh
   - March: John William Waterhouse
   - April: Jean-Auguste Dominique Ingres
   - May: James McNeill Whistler
   - June: Georgia O'Keeffe
   
4. Things I Didn't Plan to Do, but have done
   - Start and continue a blog
   - Successfully complete a paid commission
   - Begin looking at the art market
   
5. Goals That are "In Progress"
   - Working on Perspective
   - Get started in acrylics
   - Get started in colored pencils
   - Drawing more from life
   - Drawing from memory, eventually as a daily goal

A Look Ahead

1. Goals I Set in January, Still to be Met
   - Finish a work large enough to go over my couch
   - Finish 12 works that would fit nicely into a calendar
   - Continue on the "In Progress" goals listed above
   - Work on some architecture in pen and ink
   
2. Artists To Study
   - July: Maxfield Parrish (with Maggie Stiefvater)
   - Aug-Dec: Winslow Homer, Degas, Turner, Rembrandt, Caravaggio, Da Vinci (I will adapt this to enable myself to join in on any groups that are studying a master)
   - Also in July: I plan to buoy myself against discouragement with "Parrish blues" by also working through (again) Hale's Drawing Lessons From the Masters - any tidbits I plan to pass along on this blog.
   
3. New Goals To Add
   - Continue with the blog
   - Tweaking the blog as time permits
   - Look at building a portrait commission business
   - Learn more color theory and application

Finally, a special thanks to all those who have commented and emailed their encouragement and advice! I have learned a tremendous amount in just a short time, largely because of the kindness of others. I never expected this to be such a rewarding experience!

Onward and upward...