December

 

Painting completed at the open studio event.

       Last month, I wrote about a recent open studio event in which I participated. It was a good showing, and I ended up creating two and a half images. Above, is one example of what I worked on. This image is finished. However, after reviewing the images I realized that one of them just wasn't where I wanted it to be. I got it home and while looking it over, I realized that the proportions were off. I had already sealed this image believing I had it completed, so now I had a problem on my hands.

      Indeed, hands were in fact the problem. I made a very common mistake in rendering the hands of my figure too small. This is common to amateur artists, and something that I was often called out on in art school. Honestly, I couldn't believe I had made the same old mistake, and that I hadn't really noticed it until I got home and thought it was "done."

      Fortunately for me, I have been working with "parts." My current way of working includes the use of several individual pages to compose the whole. By using individual pieces of paper, I could simply patch the problem area with a new piece of paper. I was not sure how the new paper would adhere to the already-sealed image, but it seems to have been working just fine. The picture below demonstrates the progress.

A problem with the proportions of the hand necessitated reworking a portion of this image.

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      In addition to writing this blog, and making art, I review a lot of material about art and art making. Sometimes there are really interesting articles and ideas worth sharing. One blog that I follow comes from the Artwork Archive. This comes from a commercial site that is ultimately trying to sell you their software product, but sometimes there is some good information included. Not every blog is 100% spot on perfect with useful information, one only need look at my blog to see that (hehehe).

Screenshot from the Artwork Archive blog.

      Anyway, in a recent posting the author discussed why it is never too late to start working as an artist. There are several ideas included in the article, but a couple of them stuck out to me. One was that life experiences give you a creative edge. The blog says that there are more memories, feelings, and emotions from which to draw inspiration when you begin your art career late. I have found this to be true for me. I didn't start late, I went to art school when I was 18, but one thing I struggled with while in art school was where to get ideas. What was my artistic voice, and what was I doing with my art, were questions that constantly nagged me. I was at an age where I was trying to find myself and learn about being an adult too! So, there was a lot going on. Now that I am older, I realize I don't necessarily have to have all the answers, but I do have more ideas, and better experiences to include in my work. I have more emotions to energize my work, and as one who uses color to emphasize emotion and expression this has greatly helped my work develop.

      Another thing that I gravitated towards was  the idea that creativity can add meaning to your life. The blog talked about how focusing on the process allows one to enjoy the time working on the project and being present in the moment. The way that I am currently working certainly speaks to that.Sometimes, I get lost in adding a scrap of paper here, or another sheet there. By focusing on creating parts, I have limited what I am working on in any given moment and can be involved more in the process. I believe the resulting images are stronger, and carry the color and emotion that I am look for in a better way.

    It was a good read. I have it linked here, if you would like to read it  yourself. There is lots of good information here, and I'm sure you can find something that you might find insightful. So, I think that's in for this year. The next post will begin 2019. Thanks, for reading!