A Make 100 Oil Pastel Paintings Challenge!

Back at the end of February I decided to embark on a journey of using oil pastels to hone my landscape painting skills, and took upon myself to create 100 5″ x 7″ pieces! There is a huge benefit to creating 100 of something, and there are many 100 day art challenges out there that folks do regularly on instagram. 100 is enough to really sink your teeth into something, and yet not too much that it becomes overwhelming. I have to say, that making 100 was a much greater task than I had imagined even though the pieces are small, and it has been so helpful to have the support of my followers on instagram @sara.rivka.dahan and to be accountable somewhat to the task I took upon myself! As I write this I have 9 to go, and starting to plan my next steps to develop my art.

What else can I say? Most of the pieces I created ended up being shared on instagram, while a small portion, maybe five or so, went into the garbage, as should be expected. Truthfully some of the pieces were a good three paintings in themselves and would have gone in the garbage if not for my dedication to just keeping at it, even when it seemed hopeless! Additionally, most of the pieces were intuitive, or started off with inspiration of some kind but then veered to something else altogether, which makes the process much more time consuming and at times frustrating, but in the end rewarding when the end result comes to life.

What is the lesson here? If you dream of honing your art skills, of being able to call yourself an artist, of really creating something you could be proud of, you have to invest in it, and for most of us that means investing in it big time! Make art, make art, make art! Make art that you don’t show anyone, make art that gets painted over, make art that gets torn up, make art that is made for the sake of the making, not the result, and THEN you might just be ready to start making art that you can give as gifts, hang on your walls, and who knows? In case you are wondering, I certainly have done all of the things I’ve listed before starting this oil pastel challenge, so do keep that in mind.

Okay, want to have a closer look, come along with me……..

The number 1 most liked painting…….a little on the naive side for me, well the foreground really, but what do I know?
I love stalk flowers, they are not difficult to paint!
Ah, the Mediterranean….
Poppies in a rocky meadow.
Anemones and tiny irises in our meadow this past spring.

A vase of flowers for Mom’s birthday, and she loved it!
A blooming red bush tree in the ancient cemetery.
Sand dunes with blooming succulents.
A field of spring wild flowers.
More anemones in bloom!
A wood block style floral, one of a kind style wise!

A colorful sunset over the Mediterranean!

And now, go make some art!