Tag Archive | art

It’s good to be a beginner

 

I am continuing the slow process of learning to express myself in 2d…..through pencil, ink, paint. I want to combine it with journaling (in the ‘art journal’ journaling sense) but right now I’m just smack dab stuck in a ‘face’ obsession.

I can’t seem to stop…I started with the girl and cat a month or so ago and since then this is what followed (in part…)

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The last one is on a post it note at work!!  That is how much I can’t stop – even on less than a 5 minute break at work — I’m sketching a face, or a part of a face. Playing with proportions and shading and style.  I sketch at night if I’m watching tv…. it’s really interesting to be learning something new again. Being a beginner is SO GOOD for creative growth!

SO far I’ve just been making it up as I go along, but I did try one sketch from a photo…not as much fun. I did just find some youtubers who share their processes of sketching faces so I’ll be tuning into those for a while and then hopefully bringing it back around to painting/mixed media.

I’ve also gotten some time at the bench recently which is nice – especially since I have a show coming up on the 5th of December – come out to the Creative Alliance in Baltimore for Merry Mart if you’re in the area!

I may have some big (and I mean BIG) life changes coming up…can’t really share just yet as nothing is set in stone yet —  but my ability to be creative and blog etc may be cut to almost nothing so I’m going to try to do as much as I can while I can!

 

Pursuing creativity

Living a more creative life

Part of my ‘tagline’ or motto recently has been about living a more creative life. Now that’s a very broad statement really – it means more than just the ‘arts’ – it includes things like problem solving and organization and household stuff. It’s really all encompassing and I’ll share more of that in another post but right now I wanted to share a rather literal outcome of this creative life philosophy.

I treated myself to an online class.

I’ve never taken an online class or purchased an online tutorial so this was totally new for me! AND, it’s not metals related! It’s painting with a little mixed media thrown in there. And its WATERCOLOR. (!!)  I’ve dabbled in acrylics and I like to do a lot of abstract work. This is so far from that. This is literal. And it’s WATERCOLOR. Yikes!  Watercolors have always seemed very mysterious to me. And they don’t exactly mix on the paper like other paints do. But I was intrigued and I felt the NEED to do something a little different. To stretch a part of my creative side that I wasn’t tapping into.

And here’s how unaware I am.

I signed up without ever giving a thought to WHAT we would be painting. I mean, yes, I saw the class samples but it didn’t dawn on me that I was going to have to DRAW. Say whaaaaaaaat?  Silly me, I hadn’t even thought of that part!!  There are 6 lessons (I think) with each lesson having several hours of teaching divided into several videos. And they ALL have an animal or person or both.

And you have to draw/sketch the layout first.

And did I mention that it’s WATERCOLOR! ?

Oh my stinking heck what did I sign up for??

Deep breath.

Everyone does the same subject – first up, a cat and a girl.

GULP.

here we go.
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  I have to say, following along with the video this was relatively easy and I am really pretty surprised with how well this turned out!!

The cat looks like a cat and the girl looks human – I’m impressed!!!

Of course we were all allowed creative license so there are some differences in style of hair or shirt and whatnot AND, not all of us have the same supplies as the instructor – so that really comes into play when you start adding color.

I have VERY limited watercolors. Only a few colors and not at all the same palette as the instructor so I was really intimidated to move forward from the sketch. In my head I knew I didn’t care if the colors weren’t the same, but I got really psyched out thinking about how it would affect the shading and depth etc. and even though the sketch isn’t anything spectacular – I liked it.

I didn’t want to ruin it.

and I was afraid I would.

There, I said it.

Afraid.

Fear.

I was letting FEAR get in my way.

I had to remind myself of something I posted quite a while back on Instagram:

fear

So I put on my big girl panties and I painted.

I tried hard to follow along, to wait for the instructions, but I did find I was moving ahead, anticipating…wanting to fill in here and there. I learned I need to wait. There is an order to things, espeically with my supplies – for instance my black ink pen is not waterproof. OOPS.

So first there is color added. And I was kind of disappointed, because it looked so FLAT.

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But then the next stage was adding details and shading with an ink pen and  some fluff here and there and more background texture.

and wow, ok, I’m officially impressed. Not with myself, but with the instruction that led me to THIS.

This was meant to be a little more fantastical then mine came out. . . I am struggling with my inner voice that leans towards realism even though I love abstract. This was just a little confusing to my brain. And I know it may look like a 5 year old did it – but I’m happy.

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I may never be skilled in this area but it uses a different part of my brain and even just being a rank beginner in a virtual room full of more experienced artists – it’s really good for me!!  I have taken a huge step back in so many areas of my life over the past year and a half and this fits right in with that, I get to sit back and be taught. I get to learn with no pressure, no expectations. I don’t have to lead or moderate or worry about anything other than my own little self.

And I’m SO looking forward to starting lesson 2 !

What about you? Have you ever tried your hand at painting?

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Bringing Metal and Zentangles together

I sometimes doodle.

I am sure you do too.

Who doesn’t – right??

When I was a teen I starting doodling on HUGE poster size pieces of paper – using a black fine tip marker and repetition. Building an entire page full of tiny parts into something kinda cool.

Some years ago ‘zentangles’ became the rage and I just looked at is and smiled – I recognized it. It’s what I had been doing all those years ago!

It rekindled the doodle desire in me.

I began fiddling with it in my small sketchbook

 

It is really just repetition of lines and simple shapes.

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Sometimes the shapes are recognizable or combined turn into something recognizable

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and sometimes I will start with a ‘thing’ and then work out from there.

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and sometimes they turn into something very weird…..

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don’t ask — I have no idea.

here you can see that it’s nothing fancy – it’s just repetition and filling the space ‘tightly’

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Some time ago someone mentioned that it would be great to transfer to metal.

I agree.

It’s been in the back of my mind ever since.

Should I stamp, etch, engrave..? And I just never did decide.

 

Well, yesterday I decided to play a little.  I decided to stamp….freehand. I don’t have many stamps – it’s not something I do a lot, so I was limited in what I could do. If I continue to explore this I will make some custom stamps for myself (or etch a design)

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If you want to learn more about zentangles – There are books and classes and more.

I have to say that I haven’t read any of them so I can’t really comment but it would be interesting to SEE the drawings and to hear their connection with doodling as a meditative exercise. I know it calms my mind. And I don’t think you have to know how to draw, or that you have to do it like I do, or like anyone else does – just DO it!

So. give it to me straight – do you doodle? Will you try?