NOW and then

refined henna skills of 2017 (compared to 2011)

Let's play a little NOW and then. As a professional artist I am always looking to grow in my skills, to refine layouts, fairly compare my work with that of the more accomplished artists (see who I crush on here). 

Comparison may be the thief of pleasure, but if we can't do some kind of critique, how can we grow? (Maybe envy is the thief). 

The next photo down is something I did 5 years ago, and at the time, I felt pretty good about it. But it took me even longer before I would scroll down a feed and have one of my OWN pieces catch my eye and thing a fleeting 'oh, that's nice', before realizing the art was mine.

I think it's important to reflect on where we came from and acknowledge the growth in whatever we are trying to accomplish. We have to set goals that are far enough away to keep us inspired, they have to be goals we can attain... sometimes the looking back helps us see how far we have come. 

The paste is too dry.
It cracked before the henna was dry. 
The placement is too high to be pleasing to the eye.
The paisley is out of proportion to the flower.
The lines lack elegance, continuity and are shaky.

see what I mean?

If you want, you can compare those thoughts with the design in the photo above where the placement is pleasing, the paste is smooth and the design proportioned to the length of the fingers and the slenderness of the wrist.

see what i mean?

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I'm excited to see what I might accomplish in the next 5 years... check out those crushes and you'll see how inspiring the work is... Always striving to be better at my craft.