1000 days project

"We are what we repeatedly do"

Will Durant, The Story of Philosophy: The Lives and Opinions of the World's Greatest Philosophers (1926)

The 1000 day project is my attempt to steer myself consciously towards the things that are most important to me.

Every day for 1000 days I will work towards my goals in a structured way. I will be posting daily updates on this website.

The 1000 day project runs from 26th December 2015 to the 21st September 2018, which is my 30th birthday.

In the past I have successfully completed two 100 day projects (100 portraits in 2010 and 100 blogs in 2011). In 2012 I spent 1000 hours drawing and painting.

Day 0196


Reflecting on the funeral and the need to use other's words to tell ourselves what we are feeling. Poets, readings, bible circumscribe and direct our response. Limited corpus of funeral-friendly texts to choose from, none of which were read in the person's lifetime. Practically the only time poetry is still relevant.

Day 0195


Grandma's funeral. Smell of the coffin, awkwardness of relations, natural ease of friends. Attempt to codify and socualize and contain the true horror of death. No other way though.

Day 0194


Wake at my grandma's. Reason overpowered by ritual.

Day 0193


London for a business lunch, Hampshire for family.

Day 0192


Walk in the Stour Valley. Frustrations of work and trying to get the order of service to print correctly.

Today's drawing didn't work because I primed the paper too dark for the silverpoint to show. The white conte crayon doesn't adhere to the surface.

Day 0191


Putting together the order of service for grandma's funeral has made her death very real. I'm sad that people who enter my life from now on will never meet her. I'm sad that if I ever have children she will never hold them. I'm sad that for the vicar, the undertakers, the florist, the death is one of innumerable others, to be endured and forgotten.

Managed to do very little today other than prepare some pages of a sketchbook with silverpoint ground and gouache.

Cut sweet peas perfume night air whilst drawing.

Day 0190


Ten year reunion of starting at university. Many triggers for my low self confidence. Everyone has houses, wives and husbands, careers. Feeling left behind.

Day 0189


A joy to try painting fine strokes. Gouache and silverpoint on prepared paper.

Day 0188


More efforts to get more work. Introduction to Nietzsche. Only achieving an hour of drawing a day, yet averaged three when I was working in London. Spread thin and undisciplined.

Day 0187


Been focusing on trying to grow my business. Need to earn more and keep up with my friends and their normal, enviable lives.

Much to learn about line quality from Raphael.
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