Thirty paintings in thirty days. Sounds like a lot. A whole lot. Probably more than any sane person should attempt while working multiple jobs. And as confirmation of my diminished sanity, I’m going to try it. The 30 in 30 challenge is something I’ve considered (and thought better of) doing for several months now. In order to alleviate excuses not to participate, I thought I would try to give myself a purpose. Find a reason. Maybe try to do some good. It would be much harder to back out or quit halfway through if I knew someone was counting on me.
Finding a cause was the easy part because, as many of you know, the Tunica Humane Society is an organization I support and feel strongly about. So when I was brainstorming ways to make this challenge meaningful to someone other than myself, it only seemed natural to build it around these special animals and the people who work tirelessly to care for them.
But I was still worried. Outside of the time and cost (paint, canvas, and brushes aren’t cheap) I had (and still have) other concerns. What if I can’t do it? What if the paintings are terrible? Not just a little terrible but really awful? Or a day isn’t long enough to finish? What if they don’t sell? What if they’re just bad? I mean, embarrassingly bad? What if I get bored, lose steam, or life happens and I miss a day (or more)? What if the whole thing is an epic failure? I could go on… Yes, all these things might happen but what did I really have to lose? Pride? Sleep? I think I can live with that. So there it is, I won’t let myself be scared, selfish, or lazy. I have a purpose. I’m committed. But seriously, what if the paintings suck?
Worry be damned, beginning January first, I will paint 30 Dogs in 30 Days and donate half of all the sales to shelter. (Yes, I know there are 31 days in January but just play along for now.) I will feature a new dog each day and post the painting on my blog, website, Facebook page and the challenge host’s blog (Artist Helping Artists.) All sales will be handled via my website using Paypal.
My goal is not only to improve my painting and drawing skills but more importantly to raise money and awareness for a worthy cause. I hope you will join me on this journey and invite others. Please share my post, blog and website with everyone you think might be interested in buying a painting, adopting a dog, volunteering, donating or just following along.
Happy New Year everyone!
See you in few days.