creative

Spring Into Something Renewed, Doodle #79

| Whitt’s End Art

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Today is the first day of Spring. A time when all things are renewed. The flowers start blooming, the grass starts growing (ugh) and the trees start to come to life. Spring is also a time when thoughts start turning towards the summer season. Spring for me means the start of America’s favorite pastime, baseball, which is the inspiration for today’s doodle, “The Pitcher.” Football

I don’t know why I like baseball so much. Football and hockey appeal to me more because of my adult ADD with all the action packed into each game. Still there is something about baseball that causes me to anticipate the start of a new season. Maybe it is the crack of the bat and the runner trying to beat the ball to first base. It could be the anticipation of the next pitch or just the fact you can wear shorts and a t-shirt to the games. Of course there is always the taste of ballpark food.

As a follower of Jesus I sometimes find the past creeping into my thought process. Past failures and short comings keep me anchored to the past. I also use past failures as an excuse to not trying to move forward in my life. Baseball season is a reminder to me that sometimes in life we have to start over. We have to put our failures and setbacks behind us and try something new like a year long art challenge. As I grow older I plan to keep moving forward. I may fail but I will just dust myself off and keep going.

The Pattern in Life, Doodle #75

| Whitt’s End Art

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As an artist the first thing that pops into my mind when I hear the word pattern, today’s prompt, is a zentangle. As a football fan who is in the midst of NFL free agency and roots for a team in need of wide receivers my mind of course went to a wide out.

A wide out or wide receiver makes their by catching the ball thrown to them by the quarterback. A good wide out can find a way to gt free from the defender and catch the ball. A bad wide out, well he doesn’t have a very good pass to catch ratio. What does all this have to do with you? Maybe not a lot but it does offer us an analogy for being and artist as well as in our living our daily lives.

As an artist we must be a good wide out who avoids all the defenders (internal and external distractions to creating our art). These distractions come from many sources, critics, well meaning friends as well as other sources. The key to avoiding the defenders is to keep on moving forward with our art by practicing, practicing, practicing even when every ounce of our being is telling us to just give up.

In life we elude the defenders by doing as Paul says in Philippians 3:14, “press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”There are always going to be obstacles in life, the key to reaching a goal is learning how to go through the obstacles and come out the other side stronger and more knowledgeable.  I hope you enjoy today’s doodle a zentangle of a cat entitled “Tangled Cat.”

What’s Art Got To Do With Life?

| Whitt’s End Art

 

I must admit as an artist there are times I struggle with the whys.

  • Why am I spending so much time creating art?
  • Why do I get so frustrated when I can’t get a picture to look the way I picture in my mind?
  • Why do I think I am any good at this thing called art?
  • Why, why why?

Then I remember art is in my blood. It is something I feel compelled to do with my time. Not because it is essential to my life, no wait, yes it is essential to my daily life. Art to me set up everything else in my life. It helps me to see the details in every situation. It helps to insure I have as much determination and drove to learn in everything else I do in life. Most importantly my art helps me be me by allowing me to show my creative side.

Art is life drawn from the inside. It helps you relax when times are tough. It allows someone to express themselves when words can’t come to mind. We were all created to create art in one form or anther..

Motion Settled Down, Doodle #74

| Whitt’s End Art

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The prompt for today is to draw motion. Well on the surface it sounds like a simple challenge after all motion is everywhere. Look around you cars speeding down the highway, people running to and from. We are a nation on the move, at times to much on the move. There is an old adage, “Stop and smell the roses.”

I’ve often wondered where the saying comes from but no matter the meaning is obvious. We all need to take the time to stop what we’re doing and sit back and enjoy life. When was the last time you did nothing? If you’re like me I don’t like to sit still. I always feel like I have to be doing something but every so often I feel the need to stop and sit back and enjoy the moment or moments. Some of my past enjoyments include watching my kids create their own little worlds from nothing, watching the ocean roll and the people rollick in the surf and sitting on my grandma’s porch and watching the world around.

The main point of this whole ramble is the fact that God created all there is for our benefit and it is high time we take the time to enjoy the world in which we live. So strap on some head phones, go to your local park (if you’re an artist take along your drawing pad) and enjoy some time alone or with family. Oh yeah, I hope you enjoy today’s doodle “Motion Settled Down,”

 

A Strange and Wonderful Feline, Doodle #73

| Whitt’s End Art

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When I was young I had a lot of cats. Most of my cats were of the grey and brown tabby variety. I also had some whose coats resembled tortoise shells, LaPerms I think they’re called. The variety of cats I owned seemed endless except I don’t think I ever owned a Siamese cat. I still love cats more than I do dogs. Sorry to all those dog people out there.

While I had a lot of cats growing up there is one cat which stands out as my favorite, my Manx. I don’t remember the cat’s name but I do remember the cat had the tortoise shell look with brown around one eye. Why did I like this cat more than the others?  It was that the cat stood out from the others. It had an exotic look which stood out from all the rest. If you don’t know a Manx has no tail but a little stub kind of like a Lynx.

My Manx was a cool looking cat. I don’t know where the cat came from. How I ended up owning the cat or as cat people a cat kind of owns you, but I loved the cat and it’s look. The cat was set apart from the other cats. Thinking back to the Manx it is a reminder to me in my life as a believer of Jesus the Christ I must stand out from others, not because I think I’m better but because of the love I have for others.

As followers of Jesus we must show the love of Jesus to all. Not the ones of we select to give our love to but to all.The Bible says in Luke 6:31, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” If you treat others like crap don’t expect them to treat you like a kind person. Cats are interesting creatures they can sense those people who like truthfully like them. I have news for you so can people. So don’t be hypocritical in you love, be truthful in order to be fruitful.

A Sign of Warmth, Doodle #72

| Whitt’s End Art

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I live in the greater northeast and am looking forward to warm weather returning so I can take my sketchbook and hit the road to make some drawings. Sorry to all you skiers but I have been looking for the first signs spring is on its way like flowers peeking through the soil and the robin’s return. Today my wife saw the first robin this year.Woo who warmth and sunshine are on their way back.

I learned long ago, like the robin is a sign spring is on its way bringing the warmth, people are looking for signs in your life to validates the claims you make about yourself. This is true about your faith as much as many other areas of life. People can spot a fake a mile away.  Proverbs 28:18 says, “Whoever walks in integrity will be delivered, but he who is crooked in his ways will suddenly fall.” While this verse is technically not about being a warm person it is a part of living a life of integrity.

My mother instilled in me a long time ago the need to show warmth to others in everything I say as well being generous in all I do. I may not have a lot of money but I do have a lot I can give. You never know who you touch in life so you must always be who you are not who you feel people want.

 

A Line at Work, Doodle #67

| Whitt’s End Art

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Artists look at perspective two ways. The first is using a two dimensional surface to create a three dimensional picture viewed from a particular point in space. The second way an artist uses perspective is by creating pieces of art influenced by an internal point of view (perspective).

Using these two points of perspective an artist is free to create a piece as elaborate or as simple as they would like. Perspective is also a part of life where we see a few line as in my piece “A Line at Work,” and think we know what the whole picture is about. Many times we are wrong. While my doodle is obviously a man… there is still a lot missing like color,depth and where he is working.  What you see is not the whole picture only one little piece.

Since our external view of the world is influenced by our internal perspective we must be careful not to make snap judgments about what we see based on what we think we know.. The Bible says in Proverbs 25:8, “Don’t jump to conclusions-there may be a perfectly good explanation for what you just saw.”

So the next time you see something strange don’t judge the situation strictly by what you see. Take the time to find out the truth.

Walking With Courage, Doodle #66

| Whitt’s End Art

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Courage, The first thing that popped into my head when I saw the prompt was the lion from the Wizard of Oz. The second thing which popped into my head was Cowardly the dog from an old cartoon show. What do both these characters have in common. They both were cowardly but in the face of obstacles they stood tall and did brave acts.

Courage may come in finally standing up to a bully in school. It may come when you walk into a doctor’s office and hear those three life changing words, “You have cancer.” It may come when you face the end of your life. The main point is no matter how much you try and avoid it there are time in your life when you must stand up like a lion, be brave and walk with your head high into the battle even when you want to crawl under a rock and hide.

If you have faith in God the Bible says in Ephesians 6:10 that we can, “Be strong in the Lord and his mighty power.”

I hope you like today’s doodle and my brief ramble.

Rope the Night Sky, Doodle #64

| Whitt’s End Art

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There are times as an artist when you hit a creative wall. When I saw the prompt for today was night  I thought it was going to be easy to be easy to come with a good representation of the prompt.  Boy was I wrong. I went through a number of quick drafts and then tossed them aside.

After all the fuss over the prompt I finally came to one conclusion I was trying to hard to create the perfect drawing. Art is all about spontaneity. The more we try to create the perfect  brush stroke or put down the perfect pen mark the more we stifle our creativity.

While looking for something to inspire me I was redoodling  pictures on my iPad. Today’s offering is one of them. I don’t usually put theses doodle out there but it is a reminder of what we as artists do sometimes “Rope the Sky,” in order to find inspiration for our art.