By the time you're reading this, it may already be or soon will be 2018. So first of all, I hope that you have or had a great New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. I hope that creatively, its been a great year for everyone out there and I hope that 2018 has only the best in store for us. This is a fun time of year that offers us a chance to relax a bit and reflect on the year that has past. We create, we grow, we change, and we get better. This is the time to look back over our work and simply enjoy what we've done in the year 2017.
When it comes to looking back at ourselves, there are a couple ways we can go about this. We can be critical and pore over our work scouring the details looking for improvements from January to December. Often I find that I am my own harshest critic (as I'm sure many of you are too), constantly being critical of myself and my work. Sometimes this serves me well as I am constantly demanding improvements, while other times I know that I should allow myself some celebration or appreciation rather than critique. If you're in the mood for self critique, this is the time of the year to do it. Sit down, relax, and examine your work with a critical (but constructive) eye.
Another option is to simply look back over our work and see how we have changed, how we've grown. I know that this year has been a huge year for my work when it comes to personal growth. I can look at my work over the course of the year and see how I have changed and evolved. I see that I am deliberately incorporating much more specific scenery, that my color palette continues to evolve with my style and taste, and that I am enjoying a much higher degree of contrast in my own work. I remember where I was in January and can say that here at the end of December I have grown a great deal this year.
Whatever you have planned for the coming year, I wish you the best. Feel free to share some personal goals or resolutions in the comments. I'm a huge believer in setting goals and what better time of year to do it. Give voice to your aspirations and dreams, motivate yourself to get where you want to be. I hope that we all continue to grow and find new successes in 2018. Happy New Year folks, cheers from me to you.
