“This Sweet Simple Existence”…Daily Art Project 2026- March
As part of my daily art project 2026, “This Sweet Simple Existence”, I am painting one painting a day and at the end of every month I will be reflecting on my experience of that month’s daily painting experience.
After a much needed rest in February where I painted primarily in my sketchbook, I felt more refreshed and ready to tackle another month of daily painting. I wasn’t quite ready to go back to painting on canvas with oils or acrylics, so I decided to stick with paper. For March, I painted on detachable sketchbook watercolor paper (so the originals are available for sale in my shop), using a variety of mediums such as watercolors, wax pastels, and gouache. As I mentioned in my previous February blog post, I had put so much pressure on myself at the start of the year to produce whole complete compositions on canvas with mostly oils (a medium that I’m still getting familiar with), that I eventually wore myself out. February was more relaxed with sketchbook painting.
For March, I decided to paint one object a day instead of whole compositions or table scapes, whether that object is my coffee cup or a pineapple I bought at the fruit and vegetable market or my collection of eye glasses (this original has been sold but prints are available for purchase). I was still fasting for Ramadan, so focusing on one object was a lot less stressful and low stakes for me. I found that I was able to concentrate more on the form and value of that one object rather than the placement of several elements in the composition. Also, if I missed a day, it was not difficult or too time consuming for me to catch up and do 2 or sometimes 3 paintings the next day as it would have been if they were canvas paintings.
I also particularly enjoyed playing with the shadows and highlights of the subject matter but also the shadows that it would cast onto the surface. This forced me to think about the background color and the direction from which the light was coming. Also, because the paintings were on paper, the setup required much less preparation than oils or acrylics, because I could just simply sit at my dining table or coffee table rather at my easel. However, I was experimenting with a different style of painting than the one I’m used to. Rather than the big, loose brushstrokes that I’m accustomed to I was more detail-oriented this time around. Also, when using wax pastels, I found I was more heavy handed with the color application, specifically the darker colors, often forgetting to leave white space for the highlights, which them I would have to add with gouache.
Most of the items painted were objects from my daily life, but sometimes I would paint random things like a lightning sky, a repeat pattern of four-leaf clover for St. Patrick’s Day, or my daughter’s henna tattoo that she got for Eid.
All the paintings (with a background painted in) were painted on thick, textured watercolor paper (300gsm), 9×12”, and have a 1cm crisp white border around them. The originals are available as 9×12”, but I’m also offering prints of different size at different price points in my print shop.
