and here we go.. day17

a new challenge? sure why not :)

YES still alive : ) and still trying!

Inspired by a PhotoDiary I decided to do a sketch diary =D

It starts today so I'm expecting a drawing to be added today. Enough with talking =P

and its thursday! Thank God~

Douka

much better

I'm actually happily happy haha.. I feel the taste of winning, ah it feels so good.. Speaking of which, it's interesting how feelings can left us up or takes us to the bottom o_o what is a feeling anyway? and what's the difference between feelings and emotions? I'm not gonna write a long article, but *i know, there's always a buttttt* I will share a bit..

Based on excessive readings *ahem* people are saying that emotions are what come with the human package, it's in our DNA, emotions like: sadness, happiness,f ear, surprise, anger, etc... These basic emotions are cross-culture so doesn't matter what color you are, how tall you grew up to be, or where you come from. Feelings, on the other hand, are our emotional reactions to people, things or situations, and yes, your culture, personality, and experiences play a role here. And I also read that with a positive attitude, we can alter the way we feel. I conclude with this quote:

"Choose each day to feel the way you wish to feel, no matter what is going on around you. And let your feelings pull you toward the fulfillment of your destiny."

I want to go back to 365.. I did a sketch but to sit and actually paint.. I need a kick haha ^^'

I don't understand how this is going.. I'm moody.. very!! but who's not?

So when I suddenly want to paint.. I can't, my time is already booked. And when I dedicate some artistic time, I actually spend the time with a pencil in my hand and a sketchbook  in the other, but nothing comes out. As per a recent discovery.. I admit that I can't force art..

Okay I think I'm done here ^^ until next time, I wish you have a good time *always*

douka

round and round

There's something missing.. I have a life,, a good one el7mdellah.. I have a loving family and supporting friends.. I've had dreams,,, I've had hopes.. but things somehow changed and I don't feel the same anymore.. It's like time has stopped and I'm stuck in this point of my life where I don't know where I am, or where I'm going.. 

Well, on the bright side *haha since I'm happily sad, there must be a bright side* I did something today.. second day of the experiment went well ;) and I painted.. or maybe I should say.. I ruined the painting :P but you see, it's abstract art, so it's not ruined really.

Hoping that tomorrow will be a better day.. maybe I just need my 8 hours of sleep ^^.

gnite <3

what happened

WOW! a whole month passed since I last wrote here..

Now let me update you millions of invisible people following me :P and the 2 lovely visible persons who already know all about me.

As for using the wacom.. it lasted..... 10 days i think.. then I stopped.. you ask why?

I blame my windows OS and my non-mac laptop ^^' and I'm not kidding..I do big paintings with corel painter and it's slow like a snail *no offense* so ... the solution is? well you know.. this

now you see.. if I do get a mac I will have to commit to my artistic part and utilize the mac daily and to be honest I'm not up for it.. Digital paintings are great but I still prefer using my pencil and brushes ^^

so you think I should sell my wacom? *hahaha* however you see.. if I had to produce a big painting to be printed.. say for a gallery for example *ahem* or for a T-shirt *ahem again* or for a children's book, then it's different ^^.. well now I'm more interested in digital painting..

So until the next update, I wish you have a great time! 

douka

and life goes on,

Just few upates.. I'm still using the wacom, I didn't use it for the past 2 days however, I worked on a drawing today for almost 3hrs so I think i can put a star for the three days ;)

Now I have a wooden box that I want to paint.. maybe I'll start tomorrow? I will see..

I stil have some traditional paintings pending.... maybe 2 or 3.. I lost count hehe ^^

I have to go to bed now..  good night :)

Douka

so far so good

Fast update before bed time :)

I'm so happy I'm using the wacom .. and this is the third day I use it as planned and I'm actually getting good results :) so WOUHOUU ^^

i have 2 incomplete paintings *traditional ones* and I have 2 digital that I'm working on .. well actually I finished an art request for my lovely sister <3 and it was the beginning of my relationship with the wacom *Thank God*

I'm excited for this summer vacation, I'm now in the planning phase..I hope I can finalize things by this Friday :)


and it's time for bed now.. Gute Nacht..

Douka

SLOW DOWN

I think I was riding a horse while I was writing the earlier blog ^^

There were 10 committments that I had to stick to.. It's ALOT! for a first time ^^

so I will start slower this time.. Now based on this Rule Of One I have to focus on one thing at a time.. and this is not the first time I read about this ^^

So again, I will play the role of lab rat ^^ and try this again. one thing at a time..

We start with: painting with my WACOM for at least one hour a day o_o


Start date: 10th of April 2010


End date: 10th of May 2010

and let's see how I willl do : )

oh and I finished two more pieces ^^ so total is 14

DouKa

Fuel For Life

Time is the most precious thing we have. When we run out of it, game is over.

I’m doing some reading about it. And today’s article is about 15 Ways to Create an Hour a Day of Extra Time … for Solitude..

Solitude is: time you spend with yourself and “Now, more than ever, we need our solitude. Being alone gives us the power to regulate and adjust our lives. It can teach us fortitude and the ability to satisfy our own needs. A restorer of energy, the stillness of alone experiences provides us with much-needed rest. It brings forth our longing to explore, our curiosity about the unknown, our will to be an individual, our hopes for freedom. Alone time is fuel for life.”

The topic is very interesting  and I believe I do spend some solitude time unconsciously..

However, with these 15 ways, we can free up time to do more important things like working toward a goal, realizing a dream, spending time with family/friends, paint, read,…etc.

So I list them and highlight the ones I’m gonna stick to for 30 days of April:

   1. Television max 60 minutes.
   2. Internet max 60 minutes.
   3. Wake earlier 1 hour earlier, or stay up an hour later. Either way works.
   4. Email do email once a day, for 30 minutes.
   5. Stop shopping except essential grocery shopping. Everything else goes on a 30-day list.
   6. Leave work early.
   7. Go to work late.
   8. Take a longer lunch. If you can take 90 minutes for lunch, use the first 30 for eating and the other 60 for solitude.
   9. Stop digesting news.
  10. Don’t do anything after work.
  11. Skip civic commitments.
  12. Minimalize laundry.
  13. Minimalize housework/yardwork.
  14. Cut out non-essential reading.
  15. Minimalize recreation.

Internet is going to be the most challenging I believe, so I have to start using a timer *which I luckily have on my phone*.

And to be more organized, I will allocate a fixed time for TV, Internet, and Email and

I shall have 30-60 minutes for solitude time in these coming 30 days.  And perhaps I will allocate some time for painting? Hmm let’s see how I can develop a daily/weekly routine for the month of April : ) and how I can stick to it O_O!

To be continued...

douka

CHaNGe of PLaNs

 wish me luck

douka

PnP stands for Planning in Progress

Salaaaam und Guten Tag ^^
MITs for today are:
- New sketch considering the "Divine Proportion" and "Rule of Third" if possible *Done*
- Prepare my German books, file, paper and everything for Thursday's lesson insha'Allah *soon*
- 3 6 5 Planning & Updating the Blog *in Progress*

So far, I have this plan *no I didn't cheat from you*
based on major calculations of remaining days *using a great excel application done by a math loving frea.. nd* I came up with an initial plan.. But first lets see where I stand:
I have 10 in hand, 1 somewhere around the world = total 11
remaining = 354 *WoW*

Actual remaining days, counting from today = 279
But if you remember well, I set a start date to start working on 3 6 5 to be 1st of April..
so remaining days = 279 - 17= 262
and July I'm officially OFF *well.. almost* so.. remaining = 262 - 30 = 232
And December is my Backup time so this leaves us with 232 - 18 = 214 DAYS

So to cut the long story short.. I have
214 DAYS to finish 354 ART PIECES *Good Luck with that dear*

So The initial plan is that I have to do 50 *YES 50* pieces a month..

So it goes like this:
March = 04 pieces in 16 days

April = 50 pieces in 30 days

May = 50 pieces in 31 days

June = 50 pieces in 30 days

August = 50 pieces in 31 days

September = 50 pieces in 30 days

October = 50 pieces in 31 days

November = 50 pieces in 30 days

We start with March and there's no stress so... I sincerely HOPE from the BOTTOM of my HEART that I commit to this plan.. 

oh and btw.. 3rd MIT is done NOW

douka douka

Produc+ive Day

Hallo all :)

Today is going to be a productive day insha'Allah :0)

Finally I finished the sleeping beauty painting and started coloring another sketch..

I trieeeeed to stay posi+tive.. well if you ask how's it going... it's going ^^

The cheatsheet.. I read it but still have to study it well..

I attended the painting class and I am still working on the planning part.. I'm planning for the 3 6 5 project ^^..

My MITs for the day are:

-Finish Sleeping beauty *done*

-Watch corel painter videos *done* 

-Go to German Class *postponded*

-Make a little sketch

-Make a count down calender

I hope the produc+ivity continues :0)

DouKa DouKa

Updates & Cheatsheet

Salaam all,
Yesterday: I tried my best to stay posi+ive and for a start I believe I did well.
Today, I woke up with purpose:

1. Finishing the sleeping beauty painting
2. Going to Painting class
3. Put a plan for a major goal of mine.. I will only put a plan and put a start date for execution which will be in a month or so.. will tell you when I finish planning..

 I drove with purpose: I listened to German audio to refresh my memory.. *I miss my classes* 

And I tried to interact and reflect with purpose.

Yesterday I watched Time Management Lecture by Randy Pausch. It was interesting and now I'm trying some of his advices: keeping communications short, keeping a time log and limiting business conversations to the point. I will also start putting my to-do list based on priorities.
Now there is this Cheatsheet that I intend to study and follow as I can. So again we will see how this goes.


"First say to yourself what you would be;
and then do what you have to do."
Epictetus



I wish you a guten tag.


DouKa

Posi+ive Thinking

Guten Tag people =)

News: I decided to use blogging for more than updating the 3 6 5 project. I'm a beginner so bear with me.

Fact: I love challenging myself *and others* :) so let's create a little challenge for everyday's fun.

Today's challenge: is to think posi+ive. I am a big believer of the power of thoughts.Once in winter, I was walking outside with a friend at around 4am *in a students' hostel if you wonder where* I had a tshirt on, she had a jacket and it was freezing.. I remember the though in my head: "It's not cold, the weather is fine". She asked my if I was cold and checked my hand, and her hands were colder than mine! My scientific explanation is: power of thought.

Gift: I found 4 very simple ingredients to posi+ive thinking:

1- Wake With Purpose: *takes a deeeeeep breath*. I am still trying to figure out the secret of getting up after waking up *difference is: When your alarm rings in the morning you 'wake up' as you are no longer sleeping, 'Get up' means that you get out of bed.*  so when you open your eyes in the morning, think of all the great things you are going to accomplish and write them down as your Purpose Your Day: Most Important Task (MIT) and get up and do them. *I will tell you how it goes with me tomorrow*

2- Drive With Purpose: Keep a cool attitude and use your time in the car to learn and do something useful.

3- Interact With Purpose: Let others feel your posi+ivity while interacting with you.

4- Reflect With Purpose: At the end of *or during* the day, think of your blessing, look at people who are less fortunate than you are and thank God for what you have.

Closing statement: Be Posi+ive in everything, response in a posi+ive way, smile at people, hope for the best, basically you gotta fake it until you make it!

HaPpY DouKa wisHeS You a HaPpY DaY

BettermooD.. maybe not..

I am in better mood... *Artistically at least :)*

I was reading an article yesterday *very inspiring :)* it talks about finding one's passion... only thinking about what I'm good at, what I enjoy doing, and what I want to be.. It gave me enough energy yesterday to work on 3 pieces of which 2 are finished :) *It's amazing how happy thoughts can change your day*

So while reading this article, I knew for sure that drawing/painting is a passion of mine.. but to make a career out of it YES is a scary idea for me.. but now I'm willing to consider it. An illustrator for children's book would be a niiiiice title for me ^^..

But how can I start? *oh man I already have enough projects keeping me busy for the rest of the year o_o'... *

OKAY back to 3 6 5..

so since the last update.. let me think..

1 painting finished (this)

2 in progress (ideas are fine, execution is not)

3 drawings finished

I honestly don't want to count the sketches.. so this makes it 10 completed pieces out of (13+31+28+1=73) hmmm... maybe I should count the sketches? ^^..

I have to come up with a recovery plan.. but I hate to do things based on obligation... !! I need to find a way to motivate me everyday -__- I never thought I would ever be stressed over art ^^ I am.. and I should learn how to get over it :) and get it DONE.

sneak peeks:

*Thought of the day: Never regret a bad decision if you still have the time to make a good one..*

ENJOY YOUR DAY

douk

pissed off

7 pieces not done yet WOHOOO!! 

and 1000limit is to be broken VERY SOON..

1 sketch in corel painter crashed my pc and i wasted my night trying to download the IMPOSSIBLE-to-downlaod videos about corel painter:)

how interesting..

night

doukadouka

a limited budget it is..

So I'm grounded.. from today untill the rest of this month I will have to watch my spendings and limit them to1000uad.

To look forward for next Friday... i would say: if I finish 7 pieces, my reward will be a nice BB plus breaking this limit.. otherwise... it stays the same... and the sooner i finish these 7 pieces,, the sooner i break the limit ^^

hmm well It's not like i've done nothing :P i have 1 more sketch... so i just have to start "painting"

DoukaDouka

bon weekend!

Welcome back

Salaam :)

It has been a long time since I last updated the blog.. so it's about time to do so..

Almost 1 month back I had 8? art pieces.. so how many do I have now? *any guesses?*

OKAY I have the same number.. BUT this is about to change..

So what kept me busy? a life changing experience in india <3 and a life changing event in Abu Dhabi ^^

plus two weeks of laziness! and some time in the middle I got my WACOM, got 2 books about the color theory and registered for PAINTING class...

so now WHAT?

I have some ideas of what I want to paint, so the TARGET for this week is to finish 7 painting by Friday 12th of Jan, 2010 just to train myself to paint again.. MOTIVATION?

If by Friday I had 7 pieces, I will treat myself with a nice relaxing BB *not a BlackBerry*

If not O_O then, a good punishment would be tooooo..................................limit my budget for the rest of the month to 1000 dirhams only o_O (doesn't include fuel)

AND WE WILL SEE... next expected update is Friday 12th of Jan, 2010, but if there's something sooner, WHY NOT ^^

Tough Douka Douka

*have a nice day*

ahem...

Marhaba :)

Quick math:

4- are done in 2009

2- are just finished

1- half colored

2- sketches

sneak peeks

5- fairytales series

 6-

7-

the white space is to be completed

 byebye

doukadouka

Updates?

Hello :)

I finished two more pieces and 2 are in progress..

Until today I should have 22 pieces.. so 6 out of 22 is not the progress i want.. anyways I'm glad I'm moving *even if it's so slow*

Other news is that I'm traveling next week insha'Allah to India for 1 week.. and It will be busy there however I will take my sketch book and maybe my little watercolors box..

snapshots? I will take shots now to be posted in next post insha'Allah..

"I was always looking outside myself for strength and confidence, but it comes from within. It is there all the time."

 doukadouka

what happened yesterday (07.01.2010) ?

Helloo...

I simply slept for the rest of yesterday (after work) .. So there is no updates on the "in progress paintings" and of course I couldn't update the blog while dreaming.. or shall I say nightmaring..

So this is past now and today is another day.. other than completing the paintings, I have so many things to think about and many other things to work on...

a whisper to myself *“A good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow”*

doukadouka

Relaxing Wednesday..

Hioo :)

Today started earlier but ended later than expected. A bad day at work *what else is new* and a relaxing trip to the sea with a dear friend <3 and she gave me great useful gifts today *yaaay* MERCIII

Don't you just love it when you find a good person with whom you can share your concerns, a funny one  who can easily make you laugh, an intelectual with whom you can exchange thoughts and ideas, and brave soul which is willing to try anything and everything... I'm happy I've met these qualities in one person called.... *oh you know yourself hehe and thanks for the VERY interesting book* ..

Back to 3 5 6 ... I started coloring 2 sketches from yesterday, and tried to complete the third.. sneak peeks below *please excuse the quality it's phone photos*..

Target to finish these 3 and 2 more before Friday morning because if I did.. and she did... we will PARTYYYYY hehehe...

Good night

doukadouka

back to work..

Salaam everyone :)

I have yesterday's sketch in front of me and I will start coloring now. I will have the color wheel on the screen. So lets see how it goes.

oh and the assessment? Although I had an appointment, someone had other plans *not me* so it will happen tomorrow insha'Allah. So we will see...!!

doukadouka

Ouf...

Finally I'm back to 3 6 5.

I started with another piece for the *fairytales* series and here's a sneak peek:

More to come..

doukadouka

As promised..

Hallo menchen :)

I said I would update the blog twice coz I forgot to update it yesterday *yes it happens* so here are the updates:

- I have finished the "out of 3 6 5 project" paintings which were 12 simple paintings in a calender and it was handed to the intended person *who liked it btw hehe*

- We had such an honest session of discussion at work to the point that made my boss wonder if we are as bad as we seem, and my answer was YES, it's the ugly truth and then he joked that I'll get in trouble, and I think I am already in enough trouble ^^

- Out of the blue plan for today was to watch 3D Avatar which was really a good choice. It's really creative and it was emotional, and sad sometimes. It was also kind of "real" in sense of miracle does happen but not like indian movies *kekeke* however their was a wacky side, you will know what I mean when you watch it.

Okay, so this is it. I want to sketch something today, but I prefer if I can have some rest today. I have a big day at work tomorrow. My boss is going to "assess me" so after today's honesty session, "honestly" I don't know what to expect.

If you're there and reading this, pweeez pray for me :)

*sneak peeks, please bare with me, they will come soooon*

Good night

foukadouka <<-- *just to tease someone*

I forgot, so what?

Hallo : )

So I forgot to update the blog for 02.01.2010 but there were no real progress to share *lame excuse isn't it?* and I was sick *another excuse*

well anyways, I am writing now to tell you that finally I finished the "out of 3 6 5 project" paintins. I will post some sneak peeks soon.

and since there was no update yesterday, I decided I should have 2 posts today.. It's 02:06AM now so whatever happens on 03.01.2010 you should know about it by the end of this day.

Until then,

doukadouka

Still ...

Hello : )

A crazy day today.. but I still have 1 last "out of the project" painting to be finished. Then I'm back to 3 6 5 :)

foukadouka