#100daysofwatercolorcrystals Halfway* Report
Starting my #100DayProject Journey
In February I embarked on a journey to paint 100 watercolor crystals over 100 days, inspired to participate in the current round of the #100daysproject. I've known about the project for many years now. I've tried in the past and failed to complete a project. Even though I am behind (Today is technically day 78), I am determined to paint 100 watercolor paintings. My revised goal is to finish by June 1st
"#The100DayProject is a free art project that takes place online. The idea is simple: choose a project, do it every day for 100 days, and share your process on Instagram with the hashtag #The100DayProject."
Why Watercolor Crystals?
I landed on painting watercolor crystals for a couple reasons. First, it felt contained and manageable. A crystal a day seemed attainable. Each painting could stay relatively small, and theoretically wouldn't take too long to paint. Second, I had taken a course on watercolor crystals in December and now I am addicted.
I wanted an excuse to continue practicing the new skill. Third, I have had dreams of turning the wisdom from my zine projects 52 Feathers and 52 Facets into oracle decks. Since I learned how to paint crystals first I started where I was, working through the crystals featured in 52 Facets.
I began painting the crystals in the order I published with Selenite, although I quickly fell off of this pattern accommodate other inspirations. *To date I have painted 48 Crystals. It has been really fun so far!
A few highlights of the project:
My three favorite paintings so far are Fluorite, Rubellite, and Black Tourmaline. I fell behind fairly quickly and dropped the painting a day format because I simply couldn't make my schedule work. In an attempt to catch up I decided to paint the crystals on my Twitch Stream. I'm so glad I did. The feedback has been awesome. I asked viewers what to paint a few times which is how I ended up painting Fluorite so early in the process.
I have learned that some crystals take WAY longer than others. I painted Ruby in an hour and twenty five minutes. I think Black Tourmaline took even longer. Despite the time taken on each little crystal painting the challenge is so satisfying. I feel like I am improving at painting what I see in the reference images.
People love the Watercolor crystals. I've posted timelapse videos on Tiktok and Instagram, spreads from the project on Social Media, and people keep coming to watch me paint live. The response is so encouraging, and being part of something larger through the hashtag is fun. I've been following a few other artists on their journey, which encourages me to stay engaged.
Bonuses of the Practice
When I began I had a few vague of ideas of where the project could go, but it was more about the process and practice than making a product. However, many people asked for stickers in the first few weeks so I thought why not and sent some of my best paintings to the sticker shop. People love stickers! I chose Rubellite and Aquamarine to get the ball rolling. You can find the stickers on Etsy.
Another bonus has been having my own art to feature in blog posts about crystals and astrology. I've been posting infographics featuring crystals for different zodiac signs and the various retrogrades. I'm accompanying those graphics with blog posts and its been great to revisit all I absorbed from writing 52 Facets last year. The last post I wrote was for Aries Season featuring Sunstone, Jasper, and Diamond, all of which I painted for the #100daysofwatercolorcrystals. The next blog post will be for the Pluto Rx, which I also happen to be giving a talk on at the next SWARM in the Wholistic Hive. The ripples keep expanding!
What's Next
I still have 52 Crystals left to paint before June 1st.
Who knows what else is going to evolve out of this simple practice. I want to be sure to include at least one painting of each crystal featured in the 52 Facets Zine. I am especially excited to try painting Petrified Wood, which was featured for the transformation issue, the last issue before transitioning to this years zine theme, 52 Petals.
I promise to post a second update about the project when I complete and if you have ideas of what you would like to see this project evolve into I'm all ears! Thanks for reading and have a beautiful day ~Khiri
hashtags: #artwitch #crystalwitch #watercolorpainting #watercolorcrystals #watercolor #watercolourpainting #watercolorsketchbook #watercolorpractice #watercolorcrystals #crystalart
