2023 – your year. Is it really though?

Everyone is saying this year is going to be the best yet – why should it be any different than the last few years. I say that in all honesty and without malice.

Hope for the new year. Gratitude is the key.

If you want this year to be better than last year, what are you doing to make it so?

This new year could still throw you some rubbish you have no control over. Will that make everything else pointless? Does that mean you should right the whole year off?

Or, are you going to acknowledge that yep rubbish is gonna happen but let’s make the rest count anyways. 

2022 saw the arrival of baby J. For me the second I saw his squishy little face I knew it was perfect, everything I never knew I needed and wanted. Prior to that though, I was was scared as hell. My mental health had already taken a beating, how and why did I put myself in this position? I was petrified. 

I learnt so much over this last year and I would not have been able to appreciate the good that has happened and the bad. All events of this last year shaped me. Changed me.

I used to think those people that write a daily “what am I grateful for” were a little froo froo. After all, who actually writes anything of substance down everyday. I’ve come to realise that it’s not that we need to be grateful for profound things every single day of the year for it to matter. Being grateful is about acknowledging there is beauty, no matter how small in every day. Being able to work towards your goals, even if there is a mountain of work in front of you. Having goals, having things to work towards is a wonderful thing.

So this year, Instead of wishing on a star that this year is your year. Take those small steps towards your goals even if it takes a while to get to your destination. Make it your year.

Abstract Portraits

We all know I’m rubbish at faces, but I’m trying to get better. We all know I’m good at painting flowers, there is always room for improvement.

Abstract Floral Portrait

So to make things easier and break the face down into pieces to practice, I’ve used flowers to help me out. What do you all think? I love the oil effect.

Rosehip Sketch

Here’s a couple of pictures of my rosehip sketch I completed in about an hour. It’s very simple but I really love it. I have started an acrylic painting, but it’s still a work in progress. The reference photo is curtesy of The Mad Potter.

The first layer of graphite…….

The second and third layers of graphite are so much easier to apply. Once you have the basic shading it’s really just about light and shade. It’s important you don’t put too much dark on all at once. You need to build it up slowly, it’s very difficult to take it off once it’s on there.

To keep up to date and get some great tips to improve your art please pop over to my social media accounts. Www.facebook.com/chrissyturleyartist and www.instagram.com/chrissyturley30

xx