This is something I tried and it didn’t quite turn out as well as I’d hoped. These are the forum posts of the attempt.
Forum post on October 31, 2011:
A popular activity in November is for writers to participate in NaNoWriMo—National Novel Writing Month. A friend of mine on Facebook offered up a different challenge for artists: if a picture is worth a thousand words, then instead of writing a 50,000 word novel in a month, how about creating 50 pieces of art in a month? Here are the rules:
The challenge begins on November 1st and ends at midnight (local time) on Wednesday, November 30th.
To “win” the challenge the artist must complete 50 brand new pieces of art (i.e. finishing something already started before November 1 doesn’t count) in those 30 days.
There are no limits/requirements as to size, medium, or subject matter.
The artist must post each completed piece on their blog or other publicly-viewable site and be willing to professionally own up to it (this is the quality control bit of the challenge).
Rule 4 is why this forum exists: as a place to own up to the “art” I will be inflicting on an unsuspecting world. I don’t know that I’ll be able to succeed with this challenge, given the number of other very time-consuming projects going on ’round here, but I’ll give it a shot. I can’t say that anything will be much more elevated than a doodle on a napkin, but I can only try.
Forum post on November 2, 2011:
Endeavour Night Launch – © Copyright 2011 CJ Carter
210mm x 297mm (A4) – 8.3″ x 11.7″
Colored Pencil (Polychromos)
Canford Black Paper
This actually scanned a bit brighter than the actual image, which I’m happy about. It was difficult getting the bright parts bright enough using only cp. I’ll likely use gouache or an acrylic underpainting on a similar future subject.
Forum post on November 3, 2011
Apple and Ant – © Copyright 2011 CJ Carter
228mm x 305mm – 9″ x 12″ before matting/cropping
Colored Pencil (Polychromos)
Strathmore Bristol Smooth
Apples are fairly de rigeur in colored pencils so I wanted to twist it a bit. First, by getting really close. Second, inspired by the ants on Dali’s “Persistence of Memory”, I added the ant.
The apple didn’t turn out as well as I’d hoped, but was about as good as you could expect given how quickly I have to do each image. I thought during the prep phase that making a large apple would be a little problematic. Also, having a limited color set required me to add more layers of color than I’d have preferred. At worst, this will make a great study for an airbrushed work.
Forum post on November 17, 2011
Not long after I started my InArCreMo project, I sort of disappeared from my sites and severely decreased my social networking in general. This post is about the why of it.
First, a little history. Back in December 2003/January 2004, I was working on a major software project. I devoted 16-hour days to it, taking a break only for Christmas. I was making good progress. By the end of January, that progress slowed as I started having severe issues with hand and wrist pain. By the time February came around, my hands looked like Mickey Mouse hands (but with five fingers). I couldn’t even hold a toothbrush. I’d come face-to-face with the debilitating condition generally known as Repetitive Stress Injury (RSI), which includes the all-too-common Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS).
It took over two years for me to regain most of my coordination and about 80% of my hand strength. I’ve continued managing this condition to this day. I rest my hands often. I rarely work on art or type for more than 90-minutes at a time without a significant break. Every night I have to sleep with splints on both wrists.
Starting InArCreMo, I thought I could pace myself. Turns out that I couldn’t. Midway through just the third project, I started having RSI issues again. After two weeks of not doing art and minimal typing, the situation has improved but hasn’t returned to normal. I’m hoping it isn’t related to another malady I’m dealing with, but only time will tell about that. In any case, the sudden quiet from me hasn’t been from disinterest but infirmity.
I’ve gotten to the point where I can type a bit (obviously) so I’m going to be increasing my focus on writing projects in the short term. There are definitely art projects in the pipeline, but they will be on hold until my fine motor control returns…hopefully in a week or two.
