Part of the Art Journey

During my own personal journey of art, I have created paintings and drawings focused on a subject.  It seemed to be my safety net.  My first subject was the wolf.  I began drawing them in high school and found some comfort getting lost in drawing their fur.  I admired their strength, dedication to family, and their ability to maintain their individualism all while working together in a group.  In the start of college, I continued to paint them. 

While I began making my Mizzles, I fell in love with the Rapidograph technical pen.  It is my favorite drawing tool.  I discovered the book The Technical Pen by Gary Simmons, which inspired me to create my Randomness Series.  They began just as an exercise to practice with and pen and get over my fear of making mistakes. 

 

Then I began creating paintings of my Mizzles, which led to drawing trees and squirrels.  It is here where I've stayed in a safety net.  My entire illustrator's portfolio is strictly Mizzles.

I tried drawing kids, but it never felt quite right creating kid characters.  Perhaps it is because I was afraid to branch out of my comfort zone.  I began taking the Hero's Art Journey online course with Mira Reisberg at the beginning of June.  I had been feeling stuck with my illustrations and story.  This course came at the right time and it has been amazing.  Mira has developed a great online course that is simple for any person of any skill to follow and enjoy.  Each day is planned out with short articles to guide and inspire.  The other thing I love about the course is that we are encouraged to show our work, especially if it is still in progress. 

I wasn't completely sure what to expect from this course.  I figured if anything were to come from taking this course I would leave with new ideas and techniques to share with my students.  But I have received so much more.  Somehow and somewhere a little girl appeared in my artwork.  I'm not sure where she came from, but I have enjoyed seeing her appear and grow.

This is still in progress, but it's coming along.

There are 2 more weeks in the course.  I'm not sure if she will continue to show up in the next two paintings, but I'm happy she has appeared in these.

Random Thoughts Thurdays- Mistakes

"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep."
-Scott Adams

That is my favorite quote. But in my class, I like to call mistakes in art "happy accidents."  When you are able to allow your creative mind to be free to explore various possibilities, then you are limited by nothing; not even by a so called mistake.  It is easy for us to get caught in the details of a drawing or painting and attempting to be as accurate as possible.  I see this happen to my students all of the time, especially when faced with an abstract or loose style drawing assignment.  A panic attack almost occurs because they don't know how to just let go and embrace the "not knowing" feeling.  

I discovered a cute little book called Beautiful Oops! by Barney Saltzberg, which has enhanced my Ink Blot assignment.  I love this book and how interactive it is. 

I had my Intermediate/ Advanced Drawing class sit in front of me on the floor and I read to them. We talk about how it feels to make mistakes in art.  I explain that weith a flexible mind, an artwork can often times be saved.  The day before school starts I take a bunch of cards and drip, splatter, and spill ink onto them. This is the fun part for me. I've contemplated taking tea bags or coffee to stain them, but I always forget and stick to the ink.  After reading the book and showing them a few other images that were created from ink blots, I lay out the cards and have them pick the one that "calls to them."  They are to turn it into a fun drawing.  There are no rules about what they can draw.  Secretly, this is my test of their imagination.  After looking at their results, I can usually tell who will struggle with assignments that are based strongly on ideas.

Here are some of their Ink Blot Drawings:

I feel people fear making art because they fear making mistakes.  They look and compare themselves to others, which is only a good thing when you are using them as inspiration, not a measuring stick. In general, mistakes are critical in life.  You learn to recover from the mistakes, but you also learn how to not make the same ones. I'm going to be 33 this year and lately I have been looking back at my life...mistakes included.  I like who I have become.  I know that without the mistakes I've made along the way I would not be where I am now. 

Embrace the mistake!