the state of perfection

I was chastised by an artist this week when I told her I left art school because I was worried about the prospects of being able to financially support myself with a job doing art. She then proceeded to name numerous jobs in which the key training is art. She herself is an oil painter by profession (Nicola Wheston) and an extremely encouraging and insightful person to converse with. It made me think just how nasty insecurity is and how it can really harm you if you let it have control. Also just how dramatically important it is to have people who support you in your life.  Everyone once in a while you meet those people who kind of smile and nod their head when you tell them you're "an aspiring artist" like they're indulging a child with unobtainable fantasy. It is a very romanticized idea being an "Artist", especially in todays youth culture where half my generation is proclaiming to be an artist of some kind. I'm not trying to hate on or discourage people from pursuing their artistic development, but sometimes I feel the titles Art and Artist are abused.

This is a video I recorded in the beginning of the year, because I like making speed videos of my drawings. I hope you enjoy... I have no idea what i did with this drawing. I'll have to search around for it sometime. (state of perfection is the title of the piece.. not a fact about the drawing itself, hahah. I hope that's understandable.)

I was a vendor at my first market last week, and keeping in mind my total lack of experience in this realm of anesthetically pleasing displays, it was quite the success and a really fun time! I had the opportunity to talk with other artists and crafty people there! A big thanks to Rachel & Jasmine for inviting me out to Victoria for the day!

sketch book

I know you perhaps have seen these before, because their old sketches, but I feel like i need something for you to look at in every post... i couldn't just post a bunch of words! Who does that? Gross.

I've been extra busy these past couple weeks because I am so flattered to have the opportunity this Saturday to have a table at the United Eclectic market for young emerging artists in Victoria. So I've been drawing up lots of little good things to try and sell which include beer cap magnets, magnets, cards, art cards, some prints and a painting or two.

So working over time to make this a success, and marinating in my happiness.

what lies inside

Mmm, feels good to do large pieces again. I love being able to work up close with a work like that and really get into details.

I really need to get photoshop or some other program more sophisticated than PhotoStudio. haha. Yeah it's pretty lame trying to work with anything on there. This piece is approximately 26 x 10 in. and took a multiple amount of scans on my little 9 x 12 in. scanner which i then puzzled together in... photostudio. yay.

I realized that I've been sticking to a distinct style and technique as of late, which is cool, because i have a lot to learn about drawing and linework still. However I'd like to try be more broad in my choice of medium and palette.. I've been eyeing my oil pastels on my shelf.. but my oil paints have also been looking especially enticing. Who knows.

gold

How many people can relate to being guilty of starting something and then never seeing it through 'til the end. Probably most people, right? or at least that's what i like to console myself with. The endless amount of half painted canvas' and unfinished drawings i have stored away and piled up in secret corner's in my room is embarrassing... but i conquered a drawing today.. and finished it. such a beautiful thing.

Sometimes I will have a premeditated idea of what i want my finished piece to look like, and other times i have no idea and i just start in a small area and build. When i look back on drawing's though the one's that i've sketched out rough copies and made thumbnails for are always significantly more..... pleasing. Sounds pretty stupidly obvious, I know, but i just never wanted to believe my art teacher's when they'd force us to plan ahead. I always assumed it was because they were cruel natured and just wanted to spite us with meaningless toil. Seems legit, right?

From now on, I'm gonna be the artist with a plan!

bow & arrow

So i think it's been pretty obvious that my life style can't uphold this creating one drawing per week deal, so I am shamelessly changing it to just.. my art blog. and I'm okay with that. I just barely breeched this subject in my last post, but I was so rushed, I literally hit 'post' and walked out the door to the airport. I kind of felt before hand that creating an art blog was such a egotistical thing to do, because it is essentially. However as an artist if I can't share what I'm doing with others then art it obsolete, and I realized how utterly stupid I am. Yes i still gain personal satisfaction from the actual task of drawing and the pleasure of accomplishment when it's finished, but that's not what creates the lasting emotion of being satisfied. "Happiness is only real when shared." Experiences are always more enjoyable when you have someone to share that with. We are social creatures, and we're not meant to be alone.. but that's a different topic. So it's kind of a necessity for me to complete the process and be able to share these things I draw with you. I'm basically giving myself a pep talk here and reassuring myself on the initial foundation on which i created this blog so I don't have to feel guilty about failing it's face valued motives.

I didn't really have a plan when I started drawing this, except that I knew it was going to have a bow and arrow.. because I had drawn something on a whim on a someone's hand that was generally the same idea.. because I draw on a lot of my friends hands. haha. It was hard to know when I was finished, because the thing with not having a plan it that you really don't have an end goal, you just sort of keep going until something looks right. My eyes get a little confused looking at this piece. There isn't a lot of connection between all the different elements that make up the picture anesthetically.. but it's abstract so no there is no right or wrong. win! Starting on my next one right now.... mmhmm.

my mind holds the key

So I'm basically slapping this up online as I run out the door, because it's either now or a week from now which is way too far away. I've been dabbling far too long on this piece for it's relative simplicity. There is just always room for more dots. I've taken quite a keen liking to the stipple technique, but I think it works best in larger scale pieces, so I plan on doing a large scale drawing sometime.. tape it up on my wall like old times. and then swear at it while trying to scan it in 11 x 8.5 inches at a time and cutting it together in photoshop. It puts such a damper on drawing big.

I love this blog. I am so glad I decided to create it, and had friends who encouraged me to do so. Even though I've sorely failed at my once a week goal, it's so nice to have pressure to draw.. other wise I don't know when I would make the time for it.

control

hi.

do I even give an excuse or should I just pretend nothing's amiss. I prefer the latter.

wow, there's not a lot I feel like I can say about this piece..

i know I'm really selfish when it comes to talking about meaning's behind the imagery, but the title makes it quite self explanatory. No one experiences an image the same way, there are just general directions but the details are all relative.

This image pulls from a multitude of different artistry styles and genres. I've been browsing through so many print work illustrations from old books, some japanese anime ink work, and lots of tattoos. And so many death metal bands have the most amazing album artwork.. it deceives you into thinking their music is good too. not true.