I am not so productive at the moment, I have so many balls in the air, it’s hard to focus on just one thing and do it well. So I don’t produce many watercolours at the moment, it will soon change, but right now it’s a little frustrating. What are these balls that I have in the air then?
Well, I am creating a business plan and a 5 year budget to work out how I am going to make it as an artist. One thing is for sure, I cannot make enough money just selling my watercolours. I can dream that I will one fine day but until then I need a more realistic plan. It’s very interesting really, I won’t go into detail here but one has to really think about how one will succeed in the coming years. I hope that this is all dealt with this week and I can forget about it very soon.
Another ball in the air is my recent vlogging career on YouTube, I have produced 2 episodes which you can view here. I am working on the third, It’s taking forever because I have so much I want to achieve but most of all I want it to be professional. This is aiming way too high, I only started learning to film and edit in the beginning of this year. I soon will have it published, I need to find a balance between my travels and my watercolours which I film when painting. A full length painting demo can take 90 minutes which no YouTuber no matter how bloody bored they are are going to watch. My goal is to produce a vlog every second week but right now it is taking me a month to produce. This is too slow, hopefully the process will become more streamlined with time.
Ball number 3. Well, that would be learning stuff. I am studying film editing using Adobe Premiere, it’s really enjoyable but it’s a pity there is so much to master. I bought a drone while I was in Singapore last month, I’m learning to fly it when I have the time. Stockholm is basically buildings, rocks, trees and water. There are not many open spaces to practice on, I’ve been flying it over water, a bit nerve racking to say the least. I’m getting the hang of it slowly, I hope I don’t ditch it in the sea. I want some sexy aerial shots for my YouTube films, it should be pretty cool. Just imagine following me with a birds-eye perspective as I sail out into the Stockholm archipelago or walk along the coast of Northern France.
Ball number 4. I travel a lot! I don’t want anyone to feel sorry for me but honestly flying all over the place is distracting. Tonight I’m off to Ireland to spend a week with my mother, it’s her birthday so we are going to live it up for a couple of days. In June I travel to France to visit Denise, my mother-in-law. I look forward to all the trips and to be honest it is an opportunity to create more vlogs on YouTube. I love my life right now, I just need to produce more art and more videos.
Ball number 5. My brand new laptop is in for repair, it’s a HP. They’ve had it for 3 weeks and it’s going to take a few more weeks before I get it home. I asked for a new one but they said no. This is a real pain, I have a stationary computer that copes with video editing but while I am on the road I have nothing to edit with. HP are in the dog house as far as I am concerned.
I don’t like to moan and bitch so I am going to end on a more positive note. Go out and paint plein air, it’s so much fun! The weather was unusually hot here in Stockholm yesterday so I met a fellow watercolourist, Daniel Luther and we painted all morning. It was really enjoyable.
David and Daniel’s sketches
David Meldrum painting
Daniel Luther
