Art Goals for 2016

At the beginning of every new year, I like to set myself a few goals, as opposed to New Year’s Resolutions which always seem to fall to the wayside for me.  I usually have a thousand ideas going in on my brain, so doing this activity also helps me wrangle them into a format that helps me remember what I want to be focusing on.

First off, let’s see how I did with my 2015 art goals!

2015 Art Goals

1.  FINISH PD1! And my other online courses (Figure Drawing Fundamentals and Fundamentals of Color and Light).

Alas, I still didn’t finish Proko’s Figure Drawing Fundamentals or Painting Drama, though I made a lot of headway starting Painting Drama over from the beginning. It was making much more sense a 2nd time around, despite the fact I got waylaid by horrible life events and never finished…again.

2.  Finish my Rapunzel comic after all these years! It’s very nearly done.

YES! I finished this project that I’ve been working on since senior year in college!  You can read the whole thing here.

3.  Finish my cover portfolio and submit it to my target publishers.

I turned my portfolio in to a couple of my target companies, but never heard a word back.  Here’s hoping that more no’s (or never hearing back) will equal a single ‘yes’ some day, but I’m going to keep myself busy with my own IP’s in the meantime!

4.  Fully launch my art book review and resources site, The Muse’s Library.

I managed to get The Muse’s Library up as a blog and Patreon, as well as sync my current stock gallery to the new brand name! It’s all set and ready to expand.

5.  Teach myself how to make a music video just because it looks fun!

I DID IT!  I created my first anime music video for Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust!  It’s a little rough around the edges, but I learned a lot and hope to have fun with more videos in the future!  Video editing is becoming another hobby of mine.

6.  Spend more time writing for my novel-verse. I miss writing!

I managed to create a mock up book trailer during my IP Development Mentorship, write a fully detailed 3 act synopsis for Book 1 and finish all of the basic character bios.  I’ve taken some giant steps forward in preparation for my first novel this year!  I still have such a long way to go, but as they say, every journey begins with a step!

7.  Draw/write enough to publish a yearly sketchbook.

I think I’ve done enough Monster Girls for a little booklet, though it’ll probably be a coloring book instead of a sketchbook.

8.  SmartSchool/IMC???

Alas, I didn’t have enough funds to do either this year.  I’m still saving and hoping.  I’m considering a GoFundMe if it seems like we can’t get enough funds on our own within the next couple of years.  I’m also considering doing a writer’s retreat instead, if my focus is going to be writing this year moreso than art.

9.  Get out of the house more!

I did okay at this.  I occasionally made it to geek trivia with friends and did art meet up with other friends.  My motivation died off pretty early on though thanks to extreme stress and illness, however.

10.  Exercise and eat better!

My SO’s illness this year which requires low sodium has inspired the both of us to eat much better now.  A bad reason, but a good result!

 

2016’s Art Goals…starting NOW!

  1. I finished Rapunzel so now it’s time to create a special ebook edition with unpublished sketches and try to publish it on ComiXology or elsewhere.
  2. Continue (and hopefully finish) the Ladies of the Months series! I have big plans to expand this IP into a lot of different things once they’re done (calendars, a sketchbook, coloring book, etc.).
  3. Wrap up the Monster Girls and produce prints, stickers, and coloring pages of them.
  4. Finish world-building prep and get my first draft for Song of Exile finished! (Or I’ll settle for at least 3 chapters, instead)
  5. Create basic character concept sheets for all main characters in Song of Exile for concept art practice.
  6. Start publishing video reviews of art books for The Muse’s Library!
  7. Finish up Painting Drama, Proko’s Figure Drawing Fundamentals, CtrlPaint’s Concept Art Portfolio Builder, and Color and Light with Schoolism.
  8. If I can get the Monster Girls and Ladies of the Months wrapped up, start back on my Kushiel’s Legacy cover redesign and illustration project over at Kushiel Concepts!
  9. If I can get enough new work produced, start hitting up conventions again! I’m not rushing this one, however.
  10. Go to a park or museum I’ve never been to before and sketch!

That’s a lot for me to try to do in a single year, but I’d rather aim high and see how it goes!  What are you all hoping to achieve this year?  Give me your top 10 art goals!

3 comments

  1. Mat Kaminski says:

    My goals might be a little on the lofty side at times, but… here’s my list for the year:

    1 – Submit to at least (3) annuals.
    2 – Start working heavily on concepts and world building for Honor:Decoded (graphic novel)
    3 – In the vein of the previous one, start to collaborate consecutively with my writer fiancee.
    4 – By the end of the year, have at least one full-color, large format oil painting that is of acceptable quality.
    5 – Meet more artists in person (I’m kind of a tad on the anti-social side, so I’d like to at least get more face time with PEOPLE).
    6 – In the same vein, go to gallery events and life drawing events locally.
    7 – Compile sketchbooks and mini-artbooks to attempt to sell at shows.
    8 – Create quality blog posts that are more than just an image roll.
    9 – Get a Patreon actually in working order.
    10 – Get a tangible website up and running.

    If possible –
    A – Convention every month (this is dependent on both funding as well as acceptance into the convention itself).
    B – Get at least two commissions each month (again, dependent on the public to be willing to take me on).

    Let’s see how many we can achieve! I’ll spur you on Angela! 🙂

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