Informational

How Do You Draw Thee, Let Me Count the Ways

| Whitt’s End Art

I still think when it comes to art I am a little ADD. I like to tinker with so many different mediums there are times I feel like I am as the proverbial saying goes, “A jack of all mediums a master of none.” I in my own opinion need to pick one or two mediums and practice with them until I get proficient in their use, but I just can’t seem to be able to differentiate as to the ones I like the best. Here is the list of the mediums I use.

Drawing pencils, which I use everyday. Drawing pencils for me offer the most simplistic way to render a picture.  I use mostly Faber pencils from HB to F. My favorite pencil to use is the standard #2 HB writing pencil. Where I work you can literally find them on the floor so they are real cheap.

Pens, I also use a lot. I like the flow of ink across the paper, especially a blue ballpoint pen. When to pens I also go cheap. I feel you don’t need to pay a fortune to get a good looking drawing.

Colored and Watercolor pencils, These are the newest additions to my stable of mediums. My colored pencil of choice is the Prismacolor colored pencil. I love the way the colors flow across the page and the ease of use. I prefer the harder colored pencils to the softer ones. The harder ones hold the point longer and need less sharpening. As for watercolor pencils right now I am using a set I get at the local craft store on sale.

Hard Chalk Pastels, use to be my favorite way to render a picture. These days I have gravitated away from chalk pastels though I still use them for highlights in some of my pictures. The problem for me with chalk pastels is not the colors. I love the color palette they pro, uce. Their only drawback is the messiness they produce with all the rubbing and the blowing off of the powder. They of course their is the fixative you have to use each time.

Acrylic and Watercolor Paints, I lumped these two together because they both can be used straight out of the tubes or diluted with water. While my use of watercolors had been limited to some of the paints which come in the pads, I have also used some colors right out of the tube. Watercolors still mystify me, especially washes, so right now I limit their use. Acrylics I love, and use them a lot in my pictures. Right now the only drawback for me is getting those fine little details in my painting so will sometimes use markers or colored pencils to fill in the details.

So you can see I dabble in a lot of mediums, there are still some I have lying around the house like crayons and oil pastels which I have yet to dabble. I still feel a little ADD but I guess being an artist is experimenting and trying a number of different ways to create an image. I have even started to use a little digital editing in my pictures.

Doodle #98 Getting the Bird to Pose

| Whitt’s End Art

img_4470

My doodle “Getting the Bird to Pose,” was inspired by the word prompt, hummingbird. I have only seen hummingbirds a few times in my lifetime. Each year my wife puts out one of those hummingbird feeders in order to try and draw the birds out. So far she has had limited success.  Hummingbirds are interesting little creatures They flit and flutter around with seeming tirelessness from flower to flower sucking out the nectar.

How hard it must be to get one of these little birds to pose for a picture. Which reminds me of those early days as a parent when you try to get the perfect picture of your children. Nothing ever seems to go right. One child is looking one way, another will not smile and still another is crying. Still my wife perseveres in order to get that one magical moment when all the children look perfect for the photographer. It seldom worked but each year we went through the same ritual.  Just one of the joys of parenting I miss, not.

Don’t get me wrong. I love to have pictures of my kids and grandchildren readily available for others to see. I however like the unplanned spontaneous moments when the children are being children. The best family moments to capture on your camera, smart phone, or whatever are those that come when you’re not planning for them, when your family is being a family at play. Remember just like you’ll never get a bird to pose for picture you’ll never get the true essence of family life unless you are prepared and ready to capture the spontaneous.

Looking Back at an Art Life

| Whitt’s End Art

I have been creating art in one form or another for as long as I can remember. I decided to become an artist simply because I wanted to be cartoonist like Charles Schultz among others. I saw cartooning as a freedom from the constrictions I put on myself in trying to create the perfect painting.

A number of years later specifically in 2015 when my art life was at a standstill I decided to pick up a pencil and get a couple of art books and revive my love for art. Over the past two years I have had many up and downs with my art. I have created pieces in acrylics which I love working with and still use in my paintings but I have also turned back to drawing.

I decided when I was diagnosed with cancer last year I wanted to kick my art up a notch. I started my art challenge this year not to become a great artist but to try an expand on my art abilities. Over the past two months I have created pieces I am satisfied with, others I might rework for later blog entries and some, well lets say I am done with.

I have also discovered over the two months I would rather produce pieces in pen and ink that have more of a doodle feel to them instead of full fledged paintings. I will still produce paintings in acrylic because I love vibrancy of  the colors but am going to head in a whole new direction with my art. The new name of the blog will be Daily Timeout to Doodle.

The whole point of this ramble is to remind you when looking back at your art life and forward to what you will create in the future stop worrying about trying to create the kind of art others may like but be faithful to yourself and create  the kind of art you like.

 

Don’t Take Art Criticism Personally

| Whitt’s End Art

Criticism, what are you gonna do with it, absolutely nothing? Well maybe not. If you’re like me when you create a piece of art and release it to the world the last thing you want to to hear is criticism. No artist wants there work panned but criticism should not be taken personally but creatively.

As an artist the first type of criticism  you deal with is internal. As an artist you know what I’m talking about Internal criticism is the little voice inside your head that tells you your work is not good,so why even try completing the piece, just scrap it and move on. This type of criticism is the easiest for me to ignore. I just press on, standing back from time to time, evaluating my piece, making adjustments and then moving on. There are times I will even step back from a piece and move on to something else until I feel my internal criticism has waned.

The hardest criticism for me take is the external kind. There were times in my art career where the fear of external criticism caused me to keep my creations from the eyes of the world. I still have those fears but now I have learned to hear the criticism, thank the people for their view and move on to the next piece of art.

The reason I can do this is because I no longer create art to please the masses. I create art which satisfies my soul and brings me the most joy. In the end no matter the outcome of the piece I can release it the world, realizing there are going to be those who don’t like the end result, those who love the end result and those who don’t care one way or the other.

So, if your concerned over criticism, don’t be, it is part of the process of having a creative spirit given to you by our Creator. An artist’s life like any part of life is not going to be easy but the rewards at the end of the road are worth the trials and tribulations or criticisms with which you’re going to have to deal.

As a teach shirt I once saw stated, “Keep on Arting.”