MORE Online Learning

Just found another place offering video/online classes thanks to Ken Auster posting his upcoming class on Facebook. Tuscon Art Academy
I wish I had known of it sooner. Its an interesting concept and I would like to hear if anyone out there has taken any classes online like this. Can you share with us? V....Vaughan and I have been considering this idea also. Maybe we can share some of our cafe sessions through this media.
James Gurney is using an interesting format too with Concert Window.


Share your comments below.

 -- AND - don't forget to visit the offerings at Craftsy.com --

They have been kind enough to create a landing page for followers here to sign up to win a free online class! Deadline to enter is Sept. 30 and Melissa will randomly choose a winner from people who sign up through this link!

ENTER HERE

Online Learning - Craftsy.com

Melissa at Craftsy.com recently introduced me to their website which has instructional classes for just about any art or craft. Have you wanted to branch out from painting and learn to crochet in the evenings? Maybe you'd like to learn more about container gardening. Or maybe you feel you need some more instruction in color mixing. This site has much to offer!

She has been kind enough to create a landing page for followers here to sign up to win a free online class! Deadline to enter is Sept. 30 and Melissa will randomly choose a winner from people who sign up through this link!

ENTER HERE

Deterred or Determined?

- from Robin

Even when things are going well in the studio, there can be so many other things that intrude upon creativity or cause you to question your work.
How do you deal with those?
A buyer is dissatisfied with a painting they bought, a gallery doesn't pay you for sales, old paintings sit around your studio challenging your new works, or sales are so low you wonder why you keep making new art.

I find these issues undermine mine confidence but sometimes they also serve as an impetus. When things are going badly in other areas, being able to pour yourself into your art can let you play ostrich for awhile. And also maybe stretch yourself.

If you are like me, maybe these frustrations can drive you to the easel with more determination than ever. As if to "show them" that they are wrong and to prove to yourself that you are worthy. Our self worth is so wrapped up in our art, and each piece it like a little part of us going out into the world to be judged. Don't let set backs deter you! Go back to your work and remember why you do it. Do it for yourself if for no other reason. Maybe you will create your next big thing.

Keep Throwing that Clay (Or Swinging those Brushes)

From David Bayles and Ted Orland's excellent book Art and Fear: 

"The ceramics teacher announced on opening day that he was dividing the class into two groups. All those on the left side of the studio, he said, would be graded solely on the quantity of the work they produced, all those on the right solely on its quality. His procedure was simple: On the final day of class he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh the work in the "quantity" group: fifty pounds of pots rated an "A", forty pounds a "B" and so on. Those being graded on "quality," however, needed to produce only one pot--albeit a perfect one--to get an "A". Well, came grading time and a curious fact emerged: the works of the highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity. It seems that while the "quantity" group was busy turning out piles of work--and learning from their mistakes--the "quality" group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay."

Book Report

Hi friends!
I suppose the silence on here is a good thing... we're all busily and happily working away, right? Well, not quite in my case. I was quite busy preparing for a solo show not long ago. Towards the end of the build up, I took a workshop and maybe derailed myself. I came back from New York City full of inspiring ideas, but just as I had dealt with on location, was unable to express what was in my head on the canvas. I seriously have pages in my journal/sketchbook where I thought I should just quit. Focus on being on the PTA, a dedicated mother and housekeeper, maybe get a part time job to fill in the economic gaps... I really hit a low and was seriously thinking that it was over. I've done this before, but not this bad.

Then I went to my bookshelf and picked up "Art & Fear" by David Bayles and Ted Orland which I'd read years ago - and then downloaded it from Audible to have it read to me in bed at night (lots of sleepless nights during this bleak time too).

What a huge help it was. After just a couple of chapters, I was ready to try again and cut myself some slack. It was as if the book had been written directly to me. I read passages aloud to my husband - things which described my angst, how hard it is to separate my art failures from me as a person, how much I demanded of myself, etc. There are a lot of great ideas in this book and if you are like me, a perfectionist and rather hard on yourself, its a great reminder that art is about imperfections and interpretation and its personal and most definitely not formulaic.

So I am back on track. I'm allowing myself to enjoy the summer and not stress about production. I am taking a slower approach. I have goals for the next steps of my art journey - another thing the book suggests. Its always good to have something to look forward to. And I do.

There must be thousands of inspiring books on creativity out there, what has moved you?

-- Robin

Wicki's Top Ten Ways to Put the Fun Back in Painting

Really great ideas to start the new year off from the wonderful Vicki Ross at MyArtTutor.com

10. Select a few books from your art library and then stack by your favorite relaxing chair. When TV drones through endless advertisements, pick one book to absorb. Try to read it all the way through and understand what the author is telling you...remember why you bought it in the first place. Use little post-it notes on pages you want to review later...or to actually PRACTICE :)

9. Avoid social media for a day...the world won't spin off its axis. Unless you are using your computer as photo reference for a painting, don't allow it in your studio area. Even turn off email. 'Oh, no, say it ain't so, Wicki'!

8. Try a new medium...even if you are 'known for your oils', nothing says you can't try soft pastel or watercolor. OR encaustics, acrylics, charcoal. You don't have to show anyone, and you will learn new skills that will help freshen your chosen medium. Mastering two mediums is very common for artists.

7. If you paint tight, paint ten small (8x10) with the largest brush you own. If you paint loose, paint ten pictures detailed. If you paint fast, execute a few paintings slowly and enjoy the process. Too slow? Set a timer for 30 minutes and do ten 8x10's, ten 11x14's, ten 16x20's (Lyn Diefenbach's suggestion). You'll learn how to capture the essence of your subject and your work will have a painterly quality.

6. Buy something totally out of the ordinary for YOU, the artist. A new pochade box, a few new tubes of pigment or brushes, or some new equipment...easel, roll of canvas, or an out-of-print coffee table art book!

5. Browse your art books for artwork you love. Copy it as closely as you can...pretend you are Anders Zorn or John Singer Sargent, duplicate the color, the brush strokes, the composition. Be sure to sign it 'after Zorn' so there will be no confusion in the future ... :)

4. Put together a mini-painting kit for 5x7, 3x4-ish. Make or buy a pochade box (my new fav is the 5x7 Pocket Box by Guerrilla Painter), with a lid that works as a support. A small jar can rest in the bottom of the box for turps or medium or water. Go all the way and get some short handled brushes that will live in your box. A small palette can rest on top of your mini-supplies (pigments, board, etc.). NOW, sit in your favorite chair and PAINT...PLAY. I have a small 7x8 Masterson Sta-Wet palette, cut a lightweight piece of acrylic for the bottom for easy cleanup...it had been in the freezer for months and the pigment was still usable! It fit perfectly in my box...in my chair!

3. Canvas by the Roll (or Wallis for pastel or watercolor paper roll) is an excellent investment. You can pre-cut your favorite sizes (leaving 3" border for stretching/framing). Now tape the canvas to a support board. If it turns out to be a 'keeper', you can stretch or mount on a panel. Gives you permission to 'play' because you are not using up expensive supports!

2. Electronic devices (smartphones, tablets) have drawing apps for a few dollars (or free)! Learn to fingerpaint again...if you don't like it, just erase it. If you do like it, forward it to your computer. Work out compositions, make quick sketches. Digital art is still ART!

AND THE NUMBER ONE WAY TO PUT THE FUN BACK IN PAINTING...

1. Treat yourself to one of MyArtTutor's workshops...select a new medium, style, or tutor. (Computer allowed in studio for this purpose :) Study in Scotland, France, Australia, or the US. Meet other students and participate...everyone is learning new techniques for the first time, so the playing field is even! Start NOW, and complete at your leisure...your class is always available on your schedule. (You can be anonymous if you are afraid your collectors will find out!)

15 Scientific Facts About Creativity

-- from Robin

A fan sent me this interesting article from the Online Universities blog.

Fact no. 1 - Stress Kills Creativity - is so very true for me. And I let the artwork itself become a stressor. That is the one thing I resolve this year to change. I can't let outside forces influence why or when I paint. And I can't let studio time become a chore.
The information is very sciencey... but its intriguing. Honest. ;-)

***

Although creativity keeps human society flourishing, science honestly offers few answers to how the intricate, infinitely complex concept actually works. No matter how much research pours into measuring and grasping the essential phenomenon, it seems as if more questions pop up than receive tangible answers. Theories and findings sometimes conflict with one another as well, meaning every "fact" presented here might very well end up discarded in due time. But that’s par for the course when exploring what seems almost entirely inexplicable.

1. Stress kills creativity
   Just like it kills mental health, the heart, and pretty much everything else. Stress negatively impacts creative expression, particularly when it involves rigid timeframes and criteria. According to psychologist Dr. Robert Epstein, no gene or any other factor predisposes some individuals toward creativity and others not (this perspective is, obviously, disputed). External factors such as stress play a much heavier role in determining innovation than anything intrinsic.
   
2. Those considered geniuses describe their creative processes as trancelike
   Dr. Nancy Andreasen, who wrote The Creating Brain: The Neuroscience of Genius, may not be able to scientifically explain how creativity and genius emerge, but she does know how they inspire and impact the great thinkers. All people experience moments of "ordinary creativity," which permeates daily tasks. But the artist, composers, scientists, writers, and others qualifying as geniuses typically talk of oneiric "flashes" setting off their most notable, iconic works.
   
3. A connection between dopamine production and creativity might exist
   Because dopamine increases along with positive reinforcement and other rewards, some neurobiologists (like Dr. David Sweatt) believe it easily correlates with creativity, too. Either receiving money or the simple satisfaction of a job well done might stimulate levels of innovation, and dopamine in kind. Such a link still exists as a theory, albeit one that does go a long way in explaining the sometimes inexplicable.
   
4. Perception is the first step to nurturing the creative spark
   All creative pursuits start when the thinker perceives an external stimulus and processes it in his and/or her mind. More complex than merely seeing, the "engines of our ingenuity" hook up imagery with imagination. Personal differences in this inevitable linkage lead to creative output and adroitly explain why some people end up with the particular results they do and keep society pushing forward.
   
5. Creativity might correlate with brain chemistry and structure
   Theories regarding creativity’s true origins abound, and some think one’s aptitude may be determined by his or her brain chemistry and structure. University of New Mexico’s Rex Jung believes that if you have less of certain neurological phenomena, you’re better off when it comes to creative pursuits. Specific chemicals froth about in smaller dosages, while white matter sits weaker and the frontal lobe’s cortical regions are thinner. Interestingly enough, brains testing higher on intelligence tests feature the exact opposite composition. Generally speaking, of course.
   

6. Creative thinkers have slower nerves
   During creative moments, the left frontal cortex experiences comparatively more sluggish activity, which also correlates with the aforementioned decreased white matter and connecting axons. Unlike intelligence, creativity tends to thrive when thinking slows down, although "flashes" of inspiration and insight occur with the speed of flashes. Emotions and some cognitive processes happen in this particular region as well, which scientists such as Dr. Jung believe encourage abstract and novelty thought processes.
   
7. "Psychological distance" facilitates creativity
   When hitting a creative snag, the best thing thinkers can do for themselves is step away and try to look at everything from a completely different point of view. Studies have shown that the most consistently creative individuals display a willingness to approach their challenges from a wide variety of angles beyond their initial inklings. Putting some space between original perspectives and newer ones encourages abstract thinking, a crucial component in the inventive process.
   
8. Early research into creativity divided it up into three separate subsections
   Mel Rhodes’ inquiries into the creative mind — which required him to research around 50 takes on the subject — eventually led him to break everything down into the person, process, and environment components. The person element, as you can probably guess, involves one’s unique set of characteristics needed to think and perceive things in an innovative, abstract fashion. Actually understanding and formulating ideas and results is known as process, and environment means the internal and external milieu in which the creative individual works.
   
9. Aerobic exercise increases one’s creative potential
   When brain fog starts rolling in, try a moderate amount of aerobic exercise to try and clear it up. Rhode Island College scientists noted that the two hours after engaging in such rigorous physical activity proved some of the most mentally fertile in a 2005 study. They used the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking to measure how well the participating thinkers performed with and without exercise.
   
10. Creativity might plummet if it becomes a means to a rewarding end
    Although from 1987, this study’s findings showcase just how largely unknowable creativity’s true face is these days, as it conflicts with some more contemporary theories despite making just as much sense. Tests conducted on Brandeis University creative writing students noted a dive in their motivation and thoughts regarding their work when receiving rewards for their efforts. They approached poetry with a lessened sense of intrinsic interest, a finding which ended up applying to situations beyond the creative.
    

11. Improvisation stimulates the brain’s language centers
    fMRIs and improvised jazz form the crux of surgeon Charles Limb’s pioneering maps of the creative process. His TEDxMidAtlantic lecture discussed his fascinating findings regarding the physiology behind musical improvisation, specifically, how it makes the Broca’s Area light up like the Fourth of July. Brain scientists think this part is responsible for language development and cognition, implying that one of the body’s most essential organs might recognize music (and maybe even other expressive pursuits) as akin to speech.
    
12. Bilingualism and multilingualism might improve one’s creative skills
    Researchers "may not have had [their] EUREKA moment" when it comes to proving a link between bi- and multilingualism, but compelling evidence certainly exists. Individuals capable of speaking more than one language generally display more competent multitasking skills and improved cognition, both usually labeled key ingredients to creative thinking. Most telling, however, is that they seem better able to analyze situations and stimuli from multiple angles, which nearly everyone attempting to define creativity considers essential.
    
13. Creative people are more likely to be dishonest
    That doesn’t mean all creative folks ought not be trusted, nor that their opposites are always the most honest sorts, of course. But individuals capable of more novel and abstract thoughts — and possessing more flexible moral fibers — "enjoy" a higher risk of less-than-trustworthy behaviors. Multiple studies show that the ability to concoct more solid, viable stories and view scenarios and stimuli from many angles dull the chances of getting caught.
    
14. High IQ and creativity might correlate with one another
    Harvard, like many other institutions of higher learning, hopes to try and unlock creativity’s beautiful and bizarre secrets. Dr. Shelley Carson, notable for developing a new standard to measure the mysterious phenomenon, wants to try and find a definitive relationship between intelligence and creative thinking. Some of her earlier studies note that both increase together at the 120, 130, and 150 IQ levels, but more research is needed to prove any sort of solid correlation.
    
15. So yeah. Creativity and mental illness might very well coincide
    Painting all creative types as insane — particularly the influential and genius — always has been and probably always will be a rather tired cliché, albeit a cliché that might actually hold some cachet. Their brains have been proven to open up more to external sources and possess greater memory capacity than others, but such a perk does come burdened with some unfortunate side effects. Overstimulation might very well result, which can pique (or worsen) anxiety and depressive disorders.

The Art World at Your Fingertips

I recently discovered the Virtual Art Academy site and have subscribed to Barry John Raybould's free newsletter.

I can't stress enough how important it is to keep learning and trying new things. Perhaps when we get stuck in a rut or have a block its because we're bored. I forget to try other things - new methods, new ways to start, other materials, etc. I tend to think that any and all my time at the easel must be focused on a gallery worthy painting. In essence, I forget to play and enjoy the process as much as the outcome.

Going "back to school" is excellent way to revive your creative spirit, to push yourself to grow and to try new things just for the sake of play and experimentation. Even if you don't have teachers locally, there is a world of quality mentoring and lessons online. Check out the list we've begun in the right column and treat yourself in the new year.

120 Bad Paintings

from Jeff Mahorney - 120 Paintings

Excerpt from Jeff's blog post Oct.14th -- I'd like to thank artist and instructor Larry Seiler for featuring some of my work (and blog) in a recent Wetcanvas live Webinar (and soon to be DVD). Larry's work and wisdom have always been an inspiration to me. In fact, the name of this blog is taken from his oft quoted mantra that it takes around 120 bad paintings before you know something about painting. Larry's beautiful work, advice, wisdom etc. are part what influenced me to commit to this little experiment in learning to paint. I can't really describe what it's meant to me (which is everything). So, I wanted to say thanks to Larry. Thank you for sharing your experience, strength and hope over these many years. Thank you for passing it on to the rest of us. :)

Webinar Session #2 "120 paintings" is where Larry describes this idea that no matter what you are learning, the path to success is built on failure. You have to put in your time and show up. The bad paintings that you make on the way aren't unfortunate mistakes, they are equally necessary parts of the journey. The bad paintings are the foundational bricks on which the good paintings stand. It's all connected, the pain and the joy, the bad and the good, even if we can't see it at the time. Have faith that these seemingly random dots will connect and trust that the universe will take you were you need to be. So, relax, take a breath and pick up the brush again. You can't control or predict what will happen, but that's not your job anyway. Your job is just to show up and head in the direction of what you love.

Just Keep Painting

from Robin Cheers

The advice my husband gave me last night. And my "mantra" akin to Dory's "just keep swimming" - JUST KEEP PAINTING.

The past two weeks have been a struggle. But I keep trying at least. I have granted myself permission to waste materials. To just try and if it doesn't work, I can wipe off or paint over later. Or wait and see if its got hidden potential.

I noticed my palette got stuck in a certain range and I painted 3 paintings with that same color scheme without even realizing it. So, I altered that. I've tried different compositions, going larger, then going smaller, but just keep going! I do tend to quit too soon. I think a lot of artists stop when it gets ugly. There is an ugly moment in many paintings, but we have to work past that and bring things together. I've been giving up and haven't believed in the painting.

I had the good fortune to attend an artist talk and demo with Quang Ho and Scott Christensen last weekend and they shared some wonderful thoughts which really made me stop and think.

Scott joked that artists have to "enjoy suffering" and need to be willing to have paintings fail. Fail not for lack of trying, but because you push yourself in order to learn and grow. And if you are making decisions as you paint, then you will have a positive outcome, but if you aren't making conscious choices as you work, then you are painting in fear.

Quang said you can't get attached, rather ask, "What if?"

Shea Hembrey: How I became 100 artists

If you are out of ideas - try this!

* * * *

How do you stage an international art show with work from 100 different artists? If you're Shea Hembrey, you invent all of the artists and artwork yourself -- from large-scale outdoor installations to tiny paintings drawn with a single-haired brush. Watch this funny, mind-bending talk to see the explosion of creativity and diversity of skills a single artist is capable of.

If You Want to Be An Artist

from Robin

My friend Tess shared this with me from Stapleton Kearns... he has a great blog btw. You will find a wealth of business and painting advice, lessons, Q&A, etc.

* * * *

IF YOU WANT TO BE AN ARTIST, HERE IS THE SECRET. GET UP EVERY DAY, AND DO IT ALL DAY.

I am not well organized, forget to write stuff down and would rather paint than do all of the the things that those creepy books written by career counselors recommend. But I guess I can come up with a few things.

• Find Earl Nightingale and study his material. Here is a link to a post I have written on that. I am not a devotee of self improvement literature. Earl is different.
• I often carry an index card in my left pocket with five things that I want to get done during the day. I check them off as I go.
• I avoid making appointments. I want to paint, not meet with people so I try to keep my schedule freed up. I will obsess about the damage to my work schedule caused by an hour long appointment sometime next week. If I have an appointment during an upcoming day, I look at that day as lost. I try to get as many things done after the light fails as I can, grocery shopping, laundry, family etc.
• I have no hobbies, I don't play or watch those sport things. I don't play video games or Farmville (whatever that is).
• I don't have a television. If you watch two hours of TV a day and wonder why you are not making it as an artist, you are kidding yourself about the size of what it takes to do this.
• I don't seek to earn money from other sources than my art. I don't own a rental unit nor do I buy stock, I am afraid it will divert my attention from my work, part of which is to make a living. If a dollar comes into this house it has to be from the art. I don't do jobs or employment.
• I have a a mental list of my contacts the people who are my dealers and fellow artist travelers. I call them routinely and check in. Speaking with my friends who are professional artists who are also at their easels helps. I have about a half dozen of those, and talking to them helps me build a model for my own efforts. We are working together, separately. Their lives are very like mine. We provide emotional support for one another. You need to have a network of people who you want to be like. I have that in spades, very important to me. These are successful painters, you would know their names. We become like the people we hang out with.
• I keep mental track of my time at the easel. Doing business things, talking on the phone, etc is all essential but it is not time spent on your art. You have to account for it separately.There is a lot of advice for artists out there on business management, most of it written by people from the business world who want to help us spaced out artists. I know a few artists who do all that stuff too. Often their work takes on the same quality though. It is real important to put your art first. ALWAYS THE ART COMES FIRST. Then worry about marketing it. Good art will sell. I don't mean to say that you don't have to do all of that phone calling a list keeping, but it is not as important as the art. I know a very successful artist who has no e-mail, no web site and no business card. He does do the phone a lot though.
• I use Google calender it is on G-mail. It notifies me before appointments and I can look in there and see what is coming up. Many computers are sold with calender and event programs and you probably have one.
• Once a month or sometimes more often, I call all of my dealers. I don't do it to ask if they have sold my work. I do it just to talk, I need to work with friends. If I can't be friends with a dealer usually things don't work out.
  

I will think about this some more and see what else I can come up with. I will do a post aimed at the serious amateur who has to have a life outside of the studio, which I don't.

-- Stapleton Kearns

Where Does the Time Go?

from Robin Cheers

This week has really gotten away from me. Here it is, Friday afternoon, and I have one incomplete small painting to show for my week. Last week, I painted 5 larger paintings.

What changed?

Well, last week I was determined and focused. I took my daughter to school and came directly to my studio to get to work. I didn't schedule interruptions and luckily didn't have any crop up.
This week, I had several appointments, met friends for lunch, took the car in for service, etc. As a result, when I had art time, I was too tired and distracted to focus on it.

The results are a feeling of annoyance with myself for letting so many things distract me from my work. I think the most successful artists clear their schedule for art. They schedule appointments later or on weekends, they treat it as a job where a boss is checking your timeclock. Sometimes its not feasible, but its important to try so the other distractions don't end up being your work.

Do you admire another artist - to distraction?

from Robin Cheers

There is so much eye candy out there that you could easily spend hours poring over other artist's work every day. From magazines and books to online galleries, websites and blogs, the access to art is amazing. And overwhelming.

This can be too much of a good thing. Its quite natural for artists to admire and want to learn from others, but if you spend too much time allowing all those images clutter your mind, you will not be able to express your own vision. I think its great to look to others to see how a problem was solved, or to inspire a unique approach in your own work, but only as a springboard. Sometimes copying a master's work is a great lesson in color mixing and design. And if you are very careful, you might distinguish how the paint was applied, which layers were first, how the paint varies from transparent to opaque. But trying to paint like someone else in all your paintings will only lead to disappointment. You will inevitably see your work as a failure, because you aren't giving voice to your own creativity.

Learning to express ourselves is a bit like a treasure hunt. Through honest expression and the belief that we have something important to share in our work, we create work that not only pleases us, but inspires others.

Working Through It

Reader Leslie recently sent the following - Thanks Leslie!

When I was first learning to paint, my biggest block was finding something inspiring that wasn't too overwhelming a challenge to face. Boy! That was a small universe to choose from! One day I scoured the net for the secret key to finding the perfect inspiring subject... knowing it was out there somewhere, because so many other artists were finding endless inspiration. When I hit on this, the search ended. The truth of what this person says just resonated and stuck in my bones.

Unfortunately, it was an anonymous post in response to an anonymous question on some message board I could never find again, so I don't know to whom it could be attributed. But truth is truth, and I can't help but believe the original poster wouldn't mind it being passed along. -- Leslie

***

How do you find your artistic inspiration?
anonymous

What a wonderful question. I know this is true because I drift in and out of disillusionment and inspiration on nearly a daily basis. I think after all these years I have discovered what works for me. And apparently from reading about the struggles of people with similar difficulties, what works for others as well.

Ready?

Wait for it….

It’s the WORK! Yes that’s right, it’s the work. It is not some muse which guides me here and there within my artistic self and then abandons me. It is the understanding that if I do the work within my own heart and soul, and head, and actually produce a product based upon that effort, then whatever I am artistically is seen by me and others. Thereby my art is produced. And often when I am so blocked by all those named and unnamed things which I consider to be in my way (and they number in the thousands) which can stop me writing, or photographing or painting, or doing whatever it is I can do artistically at that moment, I know that if I just DO IT – write word upon word (nonsensically if necessary), or photograph a bug, or sketch a subject, or whatever, anything, my ability will all of a sudden reemerge. I know HOW to take pictures. I KNOW how to write. When I feel blocked and unable to create I have a thousand excuses why I cannot create. I can set a thousand barriers in front of me to disallow progress. And I have gone years using those impediments as excuse.

But the truth is that no one cares if I write or take pictures or draw or paint. I mean they say they do, but in the scheme of things, in comparison to world hunger, war, illness, poverty my artistic output is of little import. It is only in the RESULT of whatever art I can actually produce that people can find something to feel about my work. I can talk about my art. I can boast about it and promise it and lament its incompleteness. But only if I actually produce something can it be called art. And even then it may be bad art and I may find eventually, and sooner rather than later, that I suck as an artist. But if I don’t produce something, anything, if I only remain one of those who TALKS art, well then I am just another sap who let the barriers and blockage get in the way of that which I must do to be an artist. Actually make art.

So with all that said, my suggestion to you is just do the work. Put word to paper, pen to ink, brush to canvas. Eventually the blocks will fall and the breaks will unsieze. If you are really an artist, your art will get you going again.

***

Wow - powerful stuff indeed. A good dose of plain speaking too. And I have to agree - in my own experiences I fight it, blame outside events, claim my muse is MIA, but when I just get the brush wet and start pushing the paint around, I find that I can paint still. And the more I work, the more easily it comes. Like a river being undammed. -- Robin

High Tech Bookmarks

I might be behind the curve here - I know Kate has been using Pinterest for awhile now - but I read this today from My Modern Metropolis and thought the concept quite clever.

Top 6 Bookmarking Sites for Visual Inspiration

-- Robin

Online Gesture Drawing Sessions

Reader Matthew shared a blog post he wrote about a great concept for in-studio gesture drawing sessions. Work from the comfort of your monitor if you can't get out to do this from life, or if you need to bust through some blocks!

Here is his post copied from his blog:

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Gesture Session
I recently discovered a site with a figure drawing script. You can choose from a short list of subjects and set a timer on how long the 'pose' lasts. Other nice features are keeping all the photos in grayscale and scaling the image to fill the entire browser window. It's not the same as doing these types of exercises from a live model, but when it comes to subjects like big cats and horses, this may be more convenient.

Discretion is advised on the site with this notice: Every single picture in every category is potentially NSFW due to costumed and uncostumed models. The horses and big cats are uncostumed which is my guess as to how every picture in every category is potentially NSFW

Here's the link: http://lovecastle.org/draw/

I am definitely going to make use of this - I just wish I knew what NSFW means. :-)

-- Robin

Blocks and Barriers Interrupt Even the Masters

Reader Jena Ellis shared this article with me recently:

10 Most Famous Unfinished Pieces of Art*

*update: 7/13 - I was asked to remove this link as it was irrelevant info on the host's site. Maybe wikipedia has something.

-- Robin

Charcoal Drawing

from Terri Wells

Sometimes it takes several months to gain enough distance from a project to change direction. My artist friend, Elwood Howell, reminded me of the value of drawing in charcoal to conceptualize and it was so freeing to work this way again. The wall sculpture enlargement of “In God’s Paint Box” has been on hold while Ampersand tweaked production of the boards, but I waited beyond that to start the work. Knowing that there were changes to make in the shapes and support structure, but unsure of what to do, charcoal drawing opened up creative doors. I’ll be cutting wood soon!

Click Here to see Elwood Howell’s work.

Beyond Networking

from Robin Cheers

I think one of the best investments an artist can make is in artistic friendships. Not the kind that help you build professional relationships and get your work out there, but the kind of friend you can sit and have a cup of tea with and talk about what inspires you, or the lack of inspiration.

I have such a group of friends and they can understand me better than my spouse even. Its very personal when our art fails us and its hard to separate failure at the easel from the rest of our day.

We've all been through this and its nice to have another artist commiserate and remind us of our better days.

As a woman, mother, wife, etc. its also important to have a friend who is also juggling all those roles while trying to nurture the artistic self. Its a challenge and the artist can easily be overwhelmed by other commitments.

Don't lock yourself away from the world, whether things are going well or you're struggling. Online forums are great, too but there is nothing like chatting face to face. ;)