Henna Muse

Tag: practice

  • 2018 Henna Practice Challenge -Day 1

    Happy New Year!

    Practice is important in every field. I think its especially important for me in winter when I don’t get nearly as much paid work. I really don’t take special time out for daily henna practice nearly enough, and I find that when I do, I practice the same sort of designs and elements that I already use a lot. I’ve decided to challenge myself to practice something new and useful every business day at least until spring. My challenges will be posted here every day for anyone who wants to follow along. I’d love to see your work if you do!

    January 2, Day 1

    Practice isn’t all drills and repetition. Sometimes practice is about tackling a problem from a new angle. Brainstorm some simple strips that do NOT contain paisleys or flowers.

    Here are my strips. They are not perfectly executed. They are not groundbreaking. They are not really special at all. But doodling them did stretch my brain a bit!

  • Practice Makes Perfect!

    I try to be as involved as possible in helping with the Windy City Mehndi Meet. I feel its one of the best ways to ACTUALLY, rather than VIRTUALLY, participate in the regional henna community. I sponsor the event by donating paste, and I generally teach two or more classes. I work with Kendra Williams of Crescent Moon Henna, our capable hostess, to manage a lot of the promotional chores, to try and catch any over flow in her work load. We make a great team!

    This year we had a teacher withdraw at the last minute due to doctor’s orders that she not travel. One of the classes she meant to teach was starter drills on basic shapes. I saw this as a great opportunity to create a worksheet free for all aspiring henna artists to use a baseline to start their own practice. I had a very limited time to put this together. I plan to add to it and clean it up over the course of the next few weeks, but I wanted to get it up and available right away.

    Again, this is just a base line. Using the most basic shapes that will be the most helpful to beginners, it demonstrates what a drill sheet might look like in self lead, regular practice. My drill sheets now look like this:

    Practice doodles
    Here is an example of how I practice. STILL working on those darn roses!

    Many people do their practice on a sheet of acrylic, or an acrylic hand template. Many people do them on sheet protectors which also gives the option of tracing over your favorite designs to build muscle memory. How every YOU practice, just make sure you do it! Maybe my practice sheets will help.

    Download your practice worksheet! For best results set your printer to “landscape” mode.