Studio Notes: 100 Days Project 2025
+ recent sketchbook experiments
If you have been here for some time, you know that last year I struggled creating daily for the 100 days project, although in the end I managed to create 100 mini watercolour landscapes:
I think one of the reasons is that I was out of a really bad creative block at that moment and I chose the “wrong” project for me. Working with watercolour requires setting up all supplies every day and then putting everything away after the session (my space is limited), then the process also includes mixing colours, waiting for layers to dry etc., etc. - some of the days I wasn’t feeling like it, skipped and it became sort of a burden.
I am happy with how the landscapes turned out eventually, but I really wanted to try a daily practice, not just creating 100 pieces, that’s why I took my time to figure out the theme for this year and also prep the materials in advance.
For the 100 days project 2025 I am creating 100 mini abstract landscapes using hand painted collage papers in a handmade sketchbook that has exactly 100 pages. I chose a square format for my landscapes and want to focus on simplifying shapes and creating stronger value structures. I prepared a big pile of collage papers in advance - I used different paper types and painted them with acrylics, making sure that I have a variety of values, textures, colours to choose from.
This approach made a huge difference for me! It’s much more manageable and doable and I am really into this project so far. Usually it takes only 10-15 minutes to finish one, so often I manage to create a piece in the morning before going to work. Also this approach helps me to loosen up and let go of perfectionism. So far I’m glad with the decision I made for this year’s project!
Other things I’m working on
Apart from the 100 days project I’m working on some of my yearly art goals, including working on larger substrates. As anticipated it’s not that easy! After focusing on sketchbooks for quite a bit it’s difficult to adjust to a different scale and to transfer marks, shapes and compositions with success.
Each time I work on a larger piece I stumble upon a new problem, but that’s so exciting!
I prefer to keep the larger pieces to myself for now, but I wanted to share some of the things I have been exploring back in one of my handmade books.
Gallery of recent sketchbook pages
Thank you for reading and being here! You’re all very welcome in this space. Feel free to share this post with an art friend and I’ll be happy to hear from you in the comments!
Until next time!
Lisa
Lovely!
I love all your sketchbook explorations and your collage abstract landscapes are so pleasing to see everyday Lisa!