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I’d call it ironic or God’s given path that when I was at the age of six, a close family friend came to visit my family in Washington and brought along two presents for me and my older brother. Our friend did the delightful task of bringing us presents. It wasn’t shocking that I received the giant book titled Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, while my brother was given the book called Dinotopia. The Beauty and the Beast book had a story that was entirely familiar to me with vibrant full-page illustrations with recognizable scenes. While I could decently read at the time, I would usually skip the words to look at every inch of the drawings. But when I eventually sat down with my brother’s new book, it became a different experience entirely, as would any first time experience. Again, I’d ignore the words while I studied all of the detailed illustrations. The imagination and new world that Dinotopia had/has to offer was completely captivating to my little mind. I didn’t have a clue that someday I’d be looking up to James Gurney‘s abundance of talent, and drawing on him as my inspiration to start illustrating.

No words can bring Dinotopia justice. For that, I have to show you.

In a post from Mr. Gurney’s blog, he talks about the mentoring relationship he had under the imagination master, Frank Frazetta. It was Mr. Frazetta who opened the doors for Gurney’s journey into fantasy. As quoted from Mr. Gurney:

Working with Frank Frazetta gave me my first real exposure to fantasy as a genre of art and storytelling. As a result of seeing Frazetta’s paperback covers, I started to think about covers as a career option, which had never occurred to me in art school. When the movie work finished, I began illustrating covers for science fiction and fantasy novels.

Sometimes it’s only that one little spark we need to get the fire going, whether it’s a day, month, or even years later. But it’s still interesting to me how even a master of fantasy like Mr. Gurney, still had his moment of time of revelation and inspiration to lead him down the path where he is today (which is basically a highly esteemed illustrator of fantasy of many other books, covers, and character design). It didn’t just necessarily happen to him magicly, but he was given a situation to grow and learn through. Aside from already starting out as an amazing artist, Mr. Gurney turned into a master illustrator as well.

Little did I know when I was a wee little person, that Mr. Gurney’s work would be what some might consider my first “real exposure” to the art of fantasy. That is a memory I’ll always carry with me through my own little art journey.

What kind of spark did it take to get you moving in the direction you are today? I’d love to hear your story!

All images of Dinotopia are © and ™ James Gurney 1992-2011. All rights reserved. Please read the stated Permissions Use at the bottom of the sidebar on James Gurney’s Blog.

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No way, it has not, cannot, should not, be a month since my last blog post. For that I apologize.  What was I doing that whole month? Nothing extremely exciting.  John and I moved into my parents basement; and so the start toward the fifth-wheel lifestyle begins.  Yes, call us crazy, if you will, but it’s only for a year and it’s what will help us save up funds the fastest while we run toward this dream.

One of the biggest issues we’ve run into so far isn’t any kind of expected adjustment toward moving in with my family of nine or living in a different location, but with how much JUNK we have!  As embarrassing as clutter can be, the two of us have a lot of equipment as well as furniture, memorabilia, and household items that add up too fast. We can barely fit in the basement, how are we going to fit all of that stuff into a fifth-wheel? Uh, we can’t.

This leads to a categorizing our stuff into things to keep, things to throwaway, or things to giveaway.  Stuff can hold you back; stuff can bog you down; stuff can keep you from moving forward.  Why should the stuff in your life dictate where you live and how you live.  Easy answer: It shouldn’t.  Having this much stuff, making a cramped and uncomfortable living situation can make you feel suffocated, frazzled, and unfocused.  Having an art space doesn’t matter if your living area and art space can’t function together because of all the clutter.

1. Start with the necessities.

To work in your creating space, what is it that you need? What is it that will help you function in your work area? This is your art spot. If you don’t need or don’t use an item, than get rid of it; give it away. Be strict and have your guidelines. Don’t buckle. “I might use it someday,” in’t an option. Ask yourself these questions:

• Will I use it in the next month?
• Will I use it in the next six months?
• How replaceable is it when I may need it later?
• Is this item going to help me create?
• Is this item cluttering my space or helping it?

Whether you use this list, or your own list, stick to the rules and don’t break them.

2. Setting aside for recycling.

All of those magazines, newspapers, and printed articles that you never read, set it aside for recycling. “But I’m going to find time to read through them…” you say? Well if you let the stack get that high, then you probably don’t have the time or motivation to read them. Unless the documents are apart of your bibliography toward you or your art, it’s probably along the lines of the never ending bathroom book-list. Do yourself a favor, suck up the money loss, and recycle. Same thing with your cardboard, plastic, and glass objects that have collected around your house or space. Might as well do something ”green” while in the process.

3. Weeding through the garbage.

Garbage has an interesting way of finding it’s way into droors, closets, desks, under, on top of, and around furniture. Part of the reason why it is so easily attracted to those spaces is because we can’t always recognize what it is. This probably comes down to several things:

• The items are not in their proper space. Perhaps it’s something useful or needed, but it’s stored or misplaced in a spot where it will be forgotten, get broken, or hidden. It becomes clutter. Move it or throw it out.
• The object is broken and old, something that won’t pass for recycling or giving away,  needs to be disposed of properly at your nearest waste facility. I know that Best Buy’s e-cycle program is a great way to get rid of those old electronics.
• Sometimes old clothes are worn ragged and aren’t worth giving away. You know what I’m talking about (those shoes that your grandma gave you which are falling apart and earth-stained brown because you kept them the past ten years but don’t wear them as often nowadays). Toss it.
• Memorabilia: it isn’t so memorable anymore if you don’t remember where or how you got the nick-nack. If it’s something that is unuseful to anyone else and if it can’t be recycled, than chuck it in the trash.

4. The “art of giving”.

Ok, so you’re going through your stuff, and you find things that you won’t use but they have the following characteristics:

• Good condition
• Helpful product
• Unopened, not even out of the box or container it came in
• Used items of the past but not of the present
• Books
• Clothing
• Furniture

These are all perfect descriptions of things you can giveaway to Goodwill or Salvation Army. Have another charity in mind? Call them and see how you can donate your items. It’s not hard. When you can help someone out or give something that a person can buy at a much lower cost, it helps the people around us. Have a friend in need? Ask around and offer to bring your items by their place. Post an add on Craigslist that you’re giving your couch away for free to anyone who wants to pick it up. Think of ways to be creative in your giving and how you can bless others.

5. Setting up your art space.

I’ve seen many different setups that artists have adapted to. Some seemed more functional than others, but as long as they can work in that space, that’s all that matters. However, if you’re working in a tight and cluttered area and you can’t stand it anymore, follow the steps above, and focus on organizing your art materials.

Ok, you have your stuff categorized. With the things you are holding onto, start planning out your system on how you’re going to group your household items away from your working materials. Think of how much happier you’re going to be when you don’t have to spend thirty, forty, sixty minutes looking for your set of art pencils or that adhesive spray. And even after going through the first four steps you still feel like you’re digging through things to find those missing art materials, than you definitely need to spend time figuring out, mapping, planning on how you’re going to make your art space streamlined.

Some people have a habit of buying replacements for things they can’t find. “My burnt umber oil paint tube is somewhere, I just can’t find it. Oh, well, time to go buy one.” That’s a waste of time, which is time you could be spending on your artwork, and it’s a waste of money. Focus on getting your space organized where you can function and have a focused workflow.

I will talk more about this in an upcoming post. There is so much that can go into setting up a proper work area. And I use “proper” loosely because it will be different for everyone. What matters is what works for you.

“But I don’t have space for an art setup…”

I lived in a 700 square foot apartment. We had too much stuff piled in it, but despite the obnoxious clutter, we made room for my art space. To not have one was not an option. I’m sure there’s people with even smaller living conditions who manage to make room for their artwork. Be creative and find out what you can get rid of to create a little art corner for yourself. (You can view a photo of my workspace here.)

If you’re a mom or dad, college student, lawyer, doctor, farmer, inventor, artist, etc. who has had a calling toward the arts, than there is no excuse not to figure a place for you to start or continue your art endeavors. Find a window with good lighting and setup your workspace in that general area. Even if it is a corner, make a space where you know you can consistently leave your materials and artwork. Again, who has time to always spend thirty minutes setting up an easel, getting the mediums together, and then doing it all over again the next day and the next day? You can make space. How much are you willing to sacrifice your living space to make room for your art creating? If you’re not willing, than maybe you’re not as motivated as you think.

As a self-taught artist, you have to cultivate your creativity. Part of that is giving you an area to digress and be creative. This area is where you’re going to put on your creative thinking cap. Keep it consistent and stress free. I feel like this is another subject that can be talked about in it’s own post. Nothing is impossible. You can find and create the art space that will work for you and your living environment.

What art systems have you found that work well? How do you like to organize your art station in your home or studio?

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The mistakes that I list in this post are “rules” adopted and taught by many artists through books, classes, and workshops. These “rules” of drawing the human face might be applicable one at a time depending on the persons you are drawing, but will more likely not be used all at the same time. Another thing to keep in mind is when these “rules” are taught, they’re mainly taught from a front on, or face on, point of view. Because of this, these “rules” become even bigger mistakes as you learn to draw the human face from different views and angles. Even though the “rules” claim to be applicable to the perspective or point of view from which you’re drawing the human face, that’s not always going to be the case.

As you use these “rules” to draw a person’s portrait, it is usually a disservice to capturing the unique organic frame of a person and turning it into a mechanical recipe.

Rule 1: The human face is symmetric. This is a common assumption that one half of the face is same as the other. Popular faces such as celebrities and models are known for their symmetric qualities in a face, but this is not a standard for every face. When you sit down to draw a portrait, there are nuances and imperfections that make the person a unique and special individual. One ear might be slightly larger than the other; a nose might be a tad off center, or the eyes might not be the exact same shape. Whatever the detail maybe, take the time to notice the differences as you draw the face. Don’t over focus on making the facial features mirror each other. Think natural, not mechanical. For learning more about symmetry of the human face, I recommend you watch this documentary, hosted by John Cleese, called The Human Face.

Rule 2: The iris of the eye is a perfect circle. How many times have you seen someone use a stencil to carve out the circle for the iris? If the eye isn’t a perfect circle, then even the iris won’t have a perfect circumference. In the drawing (left), the profile of the eye shows the cornea, which is a clear covering that protects the eye. The cornea’s shape can be seen at certain angles as it pulls the iris when it acts like a lens.

I stenciled the lower eye’s iris, while the middle eye shows a freehand formation. The most tempting time to make the iris a perfect circle will be face on, but it isn’t nearly as possible to pull off when the eye is at any other angle. To learn more about the anatomy of the eye visit this post from Eyes and Eyesights blog.

Mistake 3: The corners of the mouth lines up with the pupils of the eye. This might be true for some people, but might not be for the little child or family friend you’re drawing. And some mouths might be even larger than the “pupil-to-pupil” distance. Look out for these details and don’t get caught up in the “facial recipe.”

Mistake 4: The nose is the width of the eye, or the edge of the nostrils are in line with the inner corners. This rule isn’t an impossible one. For many children, babies, and soft faces, this rule can more easily apply. But if you use this rule automatically for everyone it will more likely make certain noses to large or too thin. Perhaps the person has a wider nose or thinner nose that doesn’t line up with the eyes. It’s nothing to sweat, but watch out for over or under assuming the noses’ width.

Mistake 5: The ears’ length is from the bottom of the nose to the top of the eyes (or in some cases, the bottom of the eyebrows). Some noses might be larger than the ears, while ears might be smaller than the noses. This might be noticed drastically or minutely. Also, take into consideration about how front on you’re viewing the person. Is it exactly straight on? Slightly higher or slightly lower? To the left or right? This will change how the ears look. If you draw the face from the right point of view yet stick with this rule, you might end up making the persons ears look larger or smaller than what they really are.

Example 1: Above is Fred. This sketch is just to simply show what it would be like to follow all of the rules listed above. With the nose width, mouth width, between the eyes the size of the eyes width, the round irises. The human face starts looking forced and mechanical. Being a quick sketch, I didn’t take the time to make him perfectly symmetrical, but it’s pretty close. There are many things I would change, and not follow those “rules” all together. But that would defeat the purpose; he’s an example.

Example 2: To the right is Henry. This photo was taken, for the most part, straight on. Henry’s pupils don’t line up with the corner of his lips, but his nose lines up pretty well with his tear ducts. If you were drawing his portrait from this photo, you wouldn’t line up his ears with his nose or eyes. Toddler ears are much smaller. The green and blue dots show the width of his eye, following the “five eye across” rule (which is another funny “rule”) and the “width between the eye is an eye” rule.  The green dots signify that the width BETWEEN the eyes is actually larger than the width OF his eye.

Example 3: To the left is Quincy. He’s two years older than Henry. And still not all of the rules apply. The dots indicating the width  between the eyes; the close alignment of his ears to the nose; again, the mouth corners not lining up with the pupils. It’s there.

Take all of this info as you please. I’m not saying that these art “rules” for the human face don’t always apply. But when you’re trying to obtain the likeness of an individual, these rules can be dreadfully flawed. Every smidgen of space counts, whether you’re drawing the ears, mouth, nose, eyes, cheeks, neck. All it takes is one adjustment to make it or lose the persons likeness. Remember to take your artistic license and draw what you see, not what “should be.”

What “art rules” do find you like to use or break when you draw?

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I wonder why it seems too easy to be consumed by the responsibilities of life. Why is it that the things I don’t necessarily enjoy can so conveniently push what I really want to be doing aside? This often leads to frustration. (And these feelings also contribute to drawings like such below.) But why why why? Have you heard “procrastination is the killer of dreams?” Well, where does the desire to procrastinate come from? It has to derive from a foremost feeling. Could it be fear? Doubt? Both? Yes. Where do those feelings come from? Perhaps the thousands of successful artists who have dominated and set the bar for the art industry? Definitely. How could I ever break into that? I’d have to be good, motivated, different. How does that happen? Hard work? That’s everybody’s answer to anything. Work at it. You’ll get good eventually. Put in 10,000 hours? Be yourself? Huh? And how many times have I heard that the great artists or photographers don’t have a special solution. Well, duh. If there were a special recipe to become a popular, successful, collected artist then that process would be patented by now and selling like crazy.  Of course.

After spending a whole day studying the human facial muscles, I wanted to venture further on my own and make a face showing emotion. This was how I felt at the time, life throwing curveballs at me, and thus he is a screaming man. What else can I say. I'll talk more about this drawing and the facial muscles in my next post.

_____Ok, so there’s hard work. What else? That can’t just be it. Working away in your little apartment creating masterpieces and no one else knows about them. Networking. But you can’t just network with anybody. It has to be the right people. If you knew a whole bunch of weight lifters and you’re trying to break into the baby photography industry, that doesn’t seem like the greatest combo. Alright, moving on.
_____What about competitions? What about art communities? Hmmm…. innumerable websites to post your work. Do people really find you? How do you stand out from the thousands of other artists who post their work? Does it come back to being the best? Does it come back to the persistent effort into the quality of your art? What about an idea? Isn’t that the most powerful of all seeds? Can’t even the dumbest ideas transform into something that appears entirely pure genius?
_____And then there is orginality. How does someone come up with something entirely new? The world seems so satruated with ideas and new this and new that already. Someone always has a new book, a new technique, a new style of photographs. NO WAY. Someone out there has thought of the same thing already. This is a painful reminder as I write my book.

The most original authors are not so because they advance what is new, but because they put what they have to say as if it had never been said before. -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

_____Yet people still surprise and invent something new and technology advances. How does art advance? Modern art has turned into something that is almost disposable. Rotting vegetables nailed to a board. Feces on a podium. Why does that remind me of a trash dump? Shock art? Work that is described as grotesque, violent, and sexual. I suppose that genre of art can appeal and inspire other people and artists. Everyone has their tastes. Just like some artists are engrossed in creating classical art and mimicking the Old Masters. That genre has always been more appealing and popular. Not surprising that artists who pursue that style end up having very similar looking work.
_____So many questions. Does asking questions help one discover the answer? Possibly. But the answer to what? What are you looking for, Grace? I have come up with several factors:

• Hard work
• Networking
• Originality
• Style/Theme/Genre/Niche

_____Factors of what? Successful artists? What defines a successful artists when artists themselves can’t even put a solid definition on what art is itself?

I think I’m leading myself in a circle. Wait. Is that it? Perhaps it’s not one long road and whoever reaches the end wins. What if it’s a race track. A never ending direction and whoever can last the longest, with each exhausting stride, for countless circles around the track, wins. But what is winning? No. There is no winning. The race never ends. The only thing that matters is if you’re the one to give up, not run as fast as the others, or sprinting faster than everyone else. Perseverance. What if that is the key? Meeting failure, doubt, fear, procrastination, yet being the one to never give up.  But what if giving up is sometimes the answer? That should be possible. Maybe you’re on the wrong race track? In the end, I’d rather be running on the artistry race track than looking and waiting around in life for the perfect track to run on. Maybe it’s better to be somewhere than nowhere at all.

Why does it sound like I’m obsessing over this? Because I don’t want to be at my part-time job the rest of my life. But the reason I also have a part time job is because I didn’t want my art to revolve around money. It was exhausting and depressing. I traded. We’ll see if it was for the best, but right now, I know that art and illustration is what I want to do. Only, before I was afraid of doing it, and am still working on conquering that fear.

Ok, no more thinking for you Grace. And goodness, this was supposed to be a post about facial muscles. I guess my mind was somewhere else.

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This week was crazy. I didn’t get to posting the three posts of the week as I normally wish. But two posts will have to suffice…again. And this one won’t even be about anything super exciting. I’ve had to deal with a broken down Jeep this week. It took a lot of free time trying to get things figured out and squared away. We’re still not even sure what the next step is for the old car.

The photograph is from Luray Caverns. I took John there in celebration of his birthday this past January. We enjoyed looking at the natural beauty, formations, colors; we breathed the caverns’ clean air; we learned about the caverns’ history.
_____Although we both visited the caverns as kids, some particular details stood out to us more than when we were little. The caverns were so natural yet so commercialized. Items such as the lights, man made walkways, stairs, handicapped elevator, railings, everything that was put in place to ensure our safety and grant access to everyone also made the caverns feel domesticated. I understand that all of these things were put in place so that we could safely enjoy the caverns, but the rawness of nature wasn’t there.
_____It might sound cheesy, but I would put it in this kind of analogy – The caverns were a wild, beautiful beast, but in order that everyone could enjoy the amazing creature, humans locked it in a cage, giving a safe view. Yet the beast could never be viewed through what made it most intriguing in the first place — it’s raw natural freedom.
_____Caving is an entirely different experience. I had my first caving exploit in West Virginia. You’re at the mercy of the battery powered light on your helmet. It’s cold and damp. Some pathways and different cave rooms can only be accessed through crawling on your belly.  You got dirty. The paths were muddy. You got wet. The experience was thrilling. And I would do it again. Even spelunking, if I got the chance. Now that would be an adventure.

But how could you bring the comparison of a cave like Luray Caverns (which I enjoy visiting and recommend everyone else visit too!) and the wild caves of West Virginia (an unforgettable journey); how can you compare them to an artistic perspective? Something clean and safe to something raw and dirty. Perhaps digital art to medium art? I love them both. I’ve seen amazing artwork on both sides of the spectrum. I also really enjoy work that is combined of both medium and digital art (like Justin Gerard‘s work). And is one necessarily better than the other? I believe the answer is no. Both types of art have their advantages as well as giving the artist a personal preference. Just like some people like writing over typing their work, or walking in the neat pathways of Luray Caverns vs. getting dirty while caving. It’s a preference. Something to think about.

I’d love to hear your thoughts. Comment below.
GP

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If I could only paint/draw one object/subject the rest of my life, it would be the human being.  From the details, subtle emotion, and boisterous, raw energy created by people, there is never a lack of surprises or intrigue.

But what I’ve really enjoyed is just drawing the human from memory and making up a person. From understanding the human anatomy, even in a simple form, the ability to redraw it from your mind and creating your own invention is more fulfilling than copying something the brain already sees.

Being able to recreate the human figure, from memory as my own invention, has been my focus of practice. I’ve picked up a very helpful DVD teacher, I must admit. I’m not magic woman doing this mysterious learning on my own. It has been nice to see how an other artists work, learn at my own pace, and change it up to fit my style.

Finding a way to learn, a way that suites your needs, is the best you can do for yourself and helping you advance in your skills.

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For a long time while I was taking art lessons, I was content with drawing cartoons or being a caricature artist. Nothing wrong with that, especially for those who find enjoyment and passion in that art field. When I was thirteen to fourteen years of age, I entered several contests at our local county fair art contests. One artist won every category over all of the other artists who entered. I was lucky to walk out with 4th place and an honorable mention. This artist specialized in realism. It was technically very good and advanced compared to the other youths’ work, but why was it that only the most realistic drawings and paintings were reviewed as the best artwork? Probably because of the county fair judges’ knowledge about the arts and commonly thinking that if something looks real, than of course it must be best.
_____(I think I’ll always be surprised though when it comes to winners of competitions. The large percentage of winners will be due to the judges and the judges’ taste in art, not necessarily if the art is good or not, because who can tell any artist what is good and what’s not when one can create anything out of something and get potential recognition for it. This will always be the big circle that my mind wraps around when I try to comprehend what makes art. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”)
_____Anyhow, that was a long tangent. During those moments, I decided to pursue the idea of realism, because if the artwork that won first place in every category as well as best of show for the little county fair art exhibition, then it must be the type of art to pursue. I was young and still learning, but that is how the idea got nestled into my head. I started working on the realism concept with my art teachers, and it definitely didn’t happen over night. I practiced and practiced. It took me nearly three years before I adapted the concept of “seeing and applying.” The idea of taking what your brain sees and translating it onto paper through your hand.
_____One morning after I read an article in the Artist Magazine that featured the talented and young Raphaella Spence, I was astoundingly inspired by her massive talent and was entirely determined to sit down and create a realistic work of art on my own without help from anyone. I took my own photo and completed the waterlily in a week and a half, making it my very first artwork from it’s birth to completion. I sat at my little art table in the basement working so hard on this pastel painting. It was the first time I actually realized I wanted to see so bad, and I was going to sit there and draw the waterlily until it looked better than the photograph. I’ll always thank the inspiration of Spence for that little bit of sharing, because for some reason, I was never ready mentally for realism until after I read her article. But through it I discovered some of the very essential elements in the work that I use as a little recipe for myself pertaining to realism art.

1. Perspective — This is probably the least vital out of the four ingredients. Keeping the distance from one object to the other consistent with how close each object is to the viewer is important.  (Here’s a post with photos where the perspective is so distorted that it looks like someone is really touching the sun.) I used this in relation to one person standing behind the other. If I draw two babies, and the on in front is larger, than it makes the appearance of a giant baby. But if it was an adult in front, it would only appear to be a grown up with a baby behind him.  Simple enough.
2. Depth — The depth in a painting can sometimes be my biggest pet peeve, like if the entire painting is really soft and blurred or if everything in the painting are really sharp and almost outlined. There needs to be a balance if the brain is to find peace with the painting. Your eyes only focuses on one place at a time. If everything in a painting is in focus, the eye doesn’t rest and know where to look. If everything in a painting is blurred, your eyes get tired or the sense of realism itself in the painting diminishes.  Focal points are important to finding the depth. Perhaps, I have a portrait of three people. I want all three faces to be the focus, but perhaps their shirts and arms are not as necessary, or maybe they are and instead, the landscape behind the three people isn’t essential and can be blurred. Any objects near the people are not going to be as sharp as well.  Know where you want the viewers to focus.
3. Color — This doesn’t pertain to black and white realism paintings of course. But if your colors are off, from real life, in certain things that are very particular, such as skin tones and water, then the more noticeable something doesn’t match, in our minds. I will work on the color of a neck to the tones of the forehead, to give the proper sense of that individual. Babies have very pale skin, while children and adults have darker skin complexions. This also goes hand in hand with finding the proper cool and warm tones.  Of course it depends on the lighting situation to the substance of your main subject, so be selective if you’re going to pick up Paynes Grey or Yellow Ochre.
4. Value — Paintings or drawings that are stuck in the medium values without pop tend to feel more like a drawing or painting, less real. Our eyes are capable of seeing all the different variations of contrasts, so why can’t we paint them? Make your lights light, and make your darks dark. Throughout my first art years, I was told to never use pure black or white in an artwork. I didn’t listen. I use them all the time, and mainly mix then with other colors. But I’m not afraid of dark or light, and you shouldn’t be either. The combination of the two make for something mysterious for the viewer, and  also helps the depth, giving you a painting that looks so real you could reach in and touch it.
5. DON’T COPY! — You are the artist; you can make the decisions; you are not bound to the photograph or life model. Change it! Tweak it! Have fun. You’re creating, not copying. Make it come from you and put some of yourself in it. This is how you’ll always make the painting look and feel better. If you want to pump up the contrast, do it! If you want to remove some strands of hair or leaves from the viewers eye, then do it! Draw test samples if you’re not sure. This is your painting and act on your instincts. Don’t be a slave to your reference. (This was my biggest hump, and I’ve been there, stuck deeply. Don’t ever be a slave to your reference. Enjoy the freedom of being artistic as much as you can!)

I hope perchance this little recipe of artistic elements will help next time you sit down to paint. It does for me; I know I’m STILL (and hopefully always) learning more. I’m also enjoying using these elements as guidelines when I’m drawing things from my mind, like my villain, things that don’t even exist.

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I had some vague ideas stirring in the back of my brain, but not until early September when I was getting my haircut by my hair stylist, Jo Cohen of Changes Hair Salon in Woodbridge, Virginia, and we discussed the possibilities of an art project. My three wonderful friends volunteered to add their skill to the first element of the project — the photo-shoot.  Jo graciously volunteered to be the hair stylist for the production while Gina Cohen, Jo’s daughter, was the cosmetician and applied the make-up beautifully on the model, Irene Johnson.  I applaud these fabulous ladies in their enthusiasm and efforts to help my vision reach the next level. Thank you.

This project was inspired by movement, abstract design, and realism portrayed differently than my normal or traditional methods.  I know the techniques of making a nonexistent subject appear real enough to touch has been around for centuries, but the idea has been fascinating me more, while technology advances and as the meaning of art deepens for myself.

These photographs are the first step of the new project, however, I still have two paintings to finish before I start the execution of the artwork, which means follow up pictures won’t be for awhile.  But either way, I’m so excited about where this is going and how it will look in the end. The photos are just a reference, and not the final look of the artwork.

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Yay.

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Alright, I know…never thought I would be seriously looking into this. But ever since my wedding in March, I’ve had time and some freedom to reflect on whom I’ve wanted to be as an artist.  After becoming very conflicted with my art direction, John and I sat down and talked about what I was like during childhood.  The examples came instantly — somehow I’d manage to get my brothers involved and we would play “make believe” all afternoon.  Some days I wouldn’t want to touch on the topic of make believe, but instead sit in front of the children’s bookcase with piles of vibrant books around me (I enjoyed looking at every detail of  the pretty illustrations while I diligently read each page).  Other days I would build cities of Legos or Lincoln Logs.  Constantly making up things and stories.  That’s what I did naturally.  But for some reason, ever since I’ve been an artist, I had this idea that I had to be a classical painter and traditional artist — only creating what already exists

Perhaps my traditional art style was so insistent because my painting inspirations were from the Old Masters or my teachers, but if I wasn’t drawing a realistic portrait or flower, I would be doodling creatures and people I invented.  That’s what I called my “doodling.” And with a lot of contemplation, I’ve realized that my creating doesn’t have to be limited to classical/traditional portraiture, but I can incorporate my crazy imagination along with it!  So excited.  So excited.  I’ve been excited about projects before, but this feels like I’ve finally found myself. Finally.

While I do have two paintings to finish before I start a new artwork, I am planning on my next piece.  I’ve had this graphite project spinning in my head for the past two months.   Here’s a little sketch of the concept that started off the idea.

After dwelling on this sketch for several weeks, the mood and movement desired for the artwork has become clearer. It’s going to be black and white, pencil drawing  because that is the only way I see it.   But to pull this off in a photo-shoot, I knew I would need back up.

I’ll talk about the details and the photo-shoot more in the next post!

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Lately, I’ve been doing some reading about Michelangelo.  Apart from being one or the world’s greatest genius artist -as a sculptor, painter, architect, writer, poet- and  other than his immense sense of detail, form, figures, proportion, anatomy, composition, lighting, structure, and deep meaning behind each work, what else can we learn from Michelangelo?

I’d like to draw your attention to his innate sense of materials.  He was such a perfectionist, and that started with his materials.  He would spend 6 to 8 months in the quarries picking out the perfect pieces of marble before he started any of sculpting.   Could you imagine spending almost a year before you even start the art application process!  You’re just trying to get the materials.  The right materials.

He especially learned how important  the right materials are when he was working on a sculpture and a black vein came through across the face of  the Rebellious Slave.   From that he realized that the marble slab he picked wasn’t large enough to work with and far from perfect.  Usually he would carve and carve to mold the form, but with the slave, he ran out of room. What he learned from this he also applied to all of the huge projects he undertook later on, like the Tomb of Pope Julius II.

Also, with his  first version of Christ Carrying the Cross, he discovered a black vein  in the marble and quickly left it to start working on a new.  He was nearly completed with the first Christ, but found the impurity and left it with no hesitancy.  He did an entirely  new marble statue because the first one had a large blemish!

So how does this apply to contemporary day artists?  How often is it easy to just pick up a canvas and start painting?  Do we even learn about what kind of linen, canvas, or paper that we’re using?  Would we spend 8 months trying to make our materials perfect and lasting? Yes, it costs money.  Yes, it takes time.   I’m even wonder how much it even means to clients.  Do installations and contemporary art have to be a good quality?  Not really.   Rotten vegetables, feces, old mattresses… come on… why do you have to really put energy and effort into your materials?

Um, maybe because it lasts… No one is going to remember your name unless you actually have work with your name on it.  Seriously, why not use good quality materials and go through lengthy process to make sure that your artwork doesn’t dissolve into a million pieces or lose color or warp or crack.  How important is it?  Hmmm….

We live in this instant age.  We want to create now. We want art now.  Does it even matter how much time we put into our work?

You could say that it comes down to the branding of your art, not necessarily the quality.  But for some people, like Michelangelo, his branding was his style and quality of art.  He was known and will forever be known as the best.  From the materials to the finished work, he gave every bit of his attention to the creation process.  Instant art didn’t exist then, does it now? Should it?

Shout out your feelings and let me know your thoughts

Peace of cake.

Grace