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haiku series

These are small 6×6 studies on watercolor block. I originally began this as part of The 100 Day Project. I frequently write haiku based on dictionary.com’s Word of the Day, and for this project I wrote a haiku based on the day’s word, then illustrated it. My initial constraints were watercolor focused mixed media and only 1 hour per piece. My inability to restrict myself to that single hour was my undoing. I made it 21 days, 21 pieces. It was a great learning experience, and I highly recommend it.

Because I spend so much time on my (larger) art, I try to make time for smaller freestyle pieces that can be completed in one sitting. This haiku series eventually morphed into the word series, where I’ll occasionally do a piece like this based on the Word of the Day alone (without writing the haiku).

Haiku is a Japanese form of poetry roughly described as consisting of 5/7/5 syllables in three lines. This is actually an oversimplification, and authentic haiku should really have fewer syllables (as authentic as you can get for using a Japanese technique to write in English, anyway). There are several other characteristics that are usually present as well. I try to adhere a little more closely to the traditional, shorter syllable writings. If you’re interested in learning more about this, I’d recommend reading The Haiku Handbook.