The third in my series of acrylic abstract flowers on an 8×10 flat panel canvas. This one is probably my favorite so far. I love the way the white flowers pops on the grey and orange background. The flower reminds me of something Jesus once said and I paraphrase, You don’t put a light under a basket where the light is hidden, no you put it out on a table for everyone to see. In the same manner do not hide your faith, put it out there for everyone to see as their guiding light.
I told you I would be writing a part 2 so here it goes. In part one I covered why it is hard being an introverted artist. Mostly it had to deal with art marketing. It is hard to put yourself out there when you feel not up to the task. Well here are a couple of ideas I use to give my art exposure from behind the scenes.
1. Start a Facebook or Instagram page on which you can offer your art for family and friends to view.
2. Start a Blog. I use WordPress but there are many others out there for you to choose from. The good thing with my blog is that when I post on here it automatically goes to Facebook, Twitter and other places.
3. Join a local art group. Many local art groups have non-juried art shows where amateur artists can show their work.
4. Look for local shops that cater to showing and selling art by local talent. A word of warning you still may have to talk to the shop owner and offer up your work.
These are a few of the things I do to alleviate the effects of my introverted tendencies when it comes to putting my artwork out there. There are others. Look for my next article in this series.
This 6 x 9 closeup view of some daisies is done in soft pastel with some highlights of color pencil. I often think this is how God sees us not from far away but up. Lose and personal like these flowers. This makes me realize more how I have to self examine my daily walk so I am a good reflection of God to others.
An artist has a peculiar view of the world because we see everything from the end of a pencil or brush. Our world is one made up of angles, relationships and color combinations. An artist’s world can be realistic or abstract depending on what mood we are in when creating a piece of art. So why do we love the view from the end of the pencil? Here are three reasons, for me at least.
1. The view from the end of the pencil is one of curiosity. Can I as an artist create a likeness simply by placing down a few lines or a few brushstrokes? I for one love to see a work in progress seeking to satisfy my curiosity. Is the drawing being created turning out the way I want? I need my curiosity sated so I move on.
2. The view from the end of a pencil is a challenge. As an artist I study a picture in order to seek and learn as much about it’s structure as possible. Then the challenge begins. I add more and more lines. Time passes. I don’t realize how much, but I press on. Soon in front of me is a likeness. I glance from picture to drawing to see if the challenge was well met.
3. The view from the end of the pencil is comforting. As I have written before, art is a mind quieting and soul fulfilling process. When you are drawing the world around you seems to melt away. Also as you place each stroke on the paper it leads to moments of learning and growth as your skills continue to grow. Opening your mind to art also helps you to see the deeper aspects of other subjects because your view from the end of the pencil is one of study.
So in the end my friends art on, art on because life is so much more when you view it from the end of a pencil.
I created this drawing using some soft pastels and a pen. The drawing is done on a 6×9 white drawing pad. There are times in life when being playful is allowed even for us who call ourselves a flower of Jesus. I can’t picture Jesus always being serious with the 12 disciples. There had to be times when they kicked back and fun in order to relieve the tension. At least I think they would.
I have been creating a series of 5×7 paintings of which Little Red Flowers is the latest. The painting is done in color pencil and soft pastels on card stock. I started doing these paintings because I think creating small art pieces is technically more challenging than creating a larger piece of art. Creating small paintings also get you from start to finish in less time so it helps me to learn new techniques faster. We called by God not to be the greasiest but to be attentive to the small things because it is in the small things where we grow and flourish as a followers of Jesus.
This is a drawing of a broken gate on an old country path. My original drawing is in the upper left corner. It was created using soft pastels and color pencils on an old 9×12 piece of manila paper. The other three pictures were created using a photo editing app called Photo2infinity. My favorite is the manga drawing in the upper right hand corner.
The broken gate is a reminder that as Christian paths we seek to take have gates broken by God so we cannot open them and stray from the course which is set for our lives. I also think there are times when we take it upon ourselves to push open the broken gates and take the wrong path. These end up being reminders to us how much we need to stay on God’s true path.
This is a practice drawing I created on a 9×12 white drawing pad using soft pastels and color pencils. The only thing I can say is practice will hopefully one day make not perfect but better. Enjoy your day and God bless.
This is the newest entry in a series of paintings I’m doing with depictions of seated models. This one like the rest is on a 6 1/2 by 8 old book page. It is illustrated using soft pastels and color pencils. I hope you like the drawing. I have no message for today other than to say to get better at anything you must put your faith in God and trust Him to guide you.
