PAINTING (AGAIN!)

This blog has been many things, over the years. It's weird to look back at old posts (my first post was TEN YEARS AGO!) and see a snapshot of baby Juliet, and try to equate that with where I am today. I'm definitely less comfortable about sharing all my woes (I keep my over-sharing in person, these days) and I've (obviously) grown up pretty considerably in the last decade, but otherwise I feel pretty similar. I'm just making my way through the world, trying to have a nice time! 

One thing that has stayed pretty consistent over the years is my enthusiasm for making art... although my ability has been pretty inconsistent! It has been the real light of my lockdown though, and as I have nothing else to chat about, I thought I'd start sharing my drawings here too (but you can also follow me on instagram if you'd like!).

I've been painting pretty much every week of the pandemic, and I've worked really hard to learn new skills and get better. One of the ways I've measured how I'm improving is to return to old pieces and re-paint them, so I thought it would be fun to show off two of the portraits I had previously blogged about here: 2018 Creative Goals

One of the biggest differences I've made is learning how to actually draw a human skull - I am finally getting a better grasp of anatomy and it is really, really helping. Before I used to try and sketch based on the picture in front of me, now I sketch out shapes to map out what the skull and jaw look like, and how the features fall into position. 

I've also started painting on a bigger scale (one of the joys in having a hobby I talk about a lot, means my Birthday and Christmas presents were filled with incredible art things!), so now I have a proper table easel to use and lovely watercolour paper, so I have more space to fit in details, and a much better canvas to work from.

2020 vs 2016

And here's how I'm improving! I painted the left portrait last summer, so I already feel like I've grown since then. I've still not exactly cracked how to paint hair (although I am SO much better than past Juliet who avoided it completely), but it's been so rewarding - especially during the pandemic - to feel like I've got a creative outlet and I'm achieving something. I think I would have seriously struggled over the last 12 months if I hadn't found art again.