ZS#8: Aries

The Zodiacal New Year

My second zenskin series is based on the zodiac, and Aries was the perfect place to begin. Aries is my own sun sign and, after finishing the 7 chakras, this new series felt full of life, new beginnings, and old promises to myself. I had long wanted to do a zodiac art series, and it’s been underway for the last year.

Aries Keywords

Right away, I decided to only use the positive aspects of each sign. To begin, I wrote some classic Aries attributes:

• candid

• courageous

• adventurous

• confident

• urgent

• dynamic

• fast

Aries Colors

To fill in the pattern, I wanted a color pallet that had more depth than “reds”. Sure, Aries is a fire sign ruled by Mars, but any zodiac sign is a lot more complicated than that. Just like people! I found a website, Now Let’s Get Going, that had a cool take on colors: “Your Perfect Astrology Color Palette (And Colors You Should Avoid)”

This is what an Aries might want to wear on his or her own person, so I thought living with a painting for a time while you’re making it went along those lines spectacularly.

DO’s

• red

• camel

• mustard

• rust

• eggplant

DON’T’s

• black (whoops, I wear black all the time)

• white

• pink

Surprising Discoveries

It turns out, Aries can be a bit difficult and impulsive! On the very first skin, I had laid down material that I ended up hating, so I rubbed it all off. That action, somehow, changed the surface quality of the paper so that it absorbed my watercolor strangely. I could not paint a straight line to save my life, because the watercolor would seep into the fibers over the lines. Ugh! It was very frustrating.

Now, I’ve been told that I can often be the same way. So, I had to allow it in an Aries artwork, too. In true zenskinning fashion, I decided to let it flow as it would and not try to control it. Later, when I painted with gouache on the upper skins, my lines were clean and precise. The perfect contrast to aforementioned messiness. Thank you, fate!