The first ever Full Moon Art Challenge has come to a close, and what a great experience it was for me. I managed to complete all 12 artworks – one for every full moon of the year.
Looking Ahead…
Before I go into too much detail about the challenge from 2022, many of you are probably wondering about the next Full Moon Art Challenge for 2023 and how you can participate. Just go to the event page for the rules and new prompts.
2022: The Challenge and Its Phases
Before 2022, I had never launched my art own challenge before, but the concept for this one suddenly came to me at the end of 2021 and the idea seemed too good to waste. Only a handful of brave artists took the challenge, but, in the end, I would have still enjoyed the event even if I were the only participant. It was just too much fun to watch my collection grow.
A challenge that requires only one piece a month seems simple and easy, but it’s a bit diabolical like that. Instead of making you scramble to make a new piece each day for a short time, the difficulty in this one is keeping track of the moon phases and not procrastinating. Many participants started out very strong, then dropped out around the summer. It will be interesting to see who comes back next year and how far they will go if they do.
I tired to track as many of the Full Moon Art Challenge participants as I could so I could see their work and follow their progress. Participants all seemed to take their own path. Some people tried to do all twelve moons on schedule, other painted only the prompts that interested them. A few people I know made art they did not even share – more interested in the idea of the art than participating as a social event. No matter how anyone joined in or how long they stayed with it, it was wonderful to see what people made.
If you did take part in the challenge in 2022, make sure you drop by the event page and find your ranking.
My Own Moon Journey
For my own art, I picked ink-and-watercolor as my medium because it’s one of my favorites and I felt like I hadn’t been doing enough of it lately. Next year, I’ll probably simple animations – another neglected favorite.
Speaking of animation, I liked having a complete set of moon pictures so much, I assembled an animated slideshow of my year of moon paintings, which I posted to YouTube earlier this week. My talented sister, Liz Rishel, composed original music for the video – and may I just say that the music alone is more than worth you time.
I also gave myself an extra challenge: I decided to put all my art on one big sheet of paper. This was supposed to produce a complete dazzling sheet of artwork at the end of the year, while guaranteeing that I kept working in the same style. The small sections I would have to work in would keep me from getting too involved and spending too much time on any one moon.
However, around September, I realized the flaw in my plan: art from the earlier months were beginning to fade while the later ones remained vibrant. I had kept the painting on display by my drawing desk, and, since I can’t use color treatments on a work-in-progress, the sun took it’s toll on the moons. So, I decided that after all twelve moon were finished, I would retouch only the faded colors with identical watercolor (restoration only – no new additions). Once the restoration was finished, I sprayed the whole sheet with UV protectant and mounted it onto a stronger backing paper to minimize wrinkles and curling.
At long last, here is my final moon sheet for 2022, in all it’s glory!
A New Moon Rises
I hope you will consider taking part in next year’s Full Moon Art Challenge. Get some rest for these next couple of phases. 2023 will be a wild ride.
