Let the Countdown Begin!

 

This is how many days I have until I can work at my art full time. Both my kids will be getting on the bus around 8:15 and getting home around 4:30. If I work about 9:00-4:00 five days a week that's 35 hours a week to create and work at my business. I decided to start a countdown to give me a goal; A focus.

Things have been a bit crazy the past couple of weeks. We've had snow and ice with school closings. I had lots of little things to get done before I went into the hospital for surgery. Then I've been recovering from surgery. Things are finally leveling out and getting back to normal. While I was recovering I spent time thinking about my art and my frustrations. I get really annoyed at not having time. I'm talking 4 or 5 hours in a row of uninterrupted time. It just doesn't happen often. So, what can I do about it? How can I get what I want? I think I need to let go of the desire of having hours of uninterrupted time and just steal minutes where I can. Focusing on "time" has become a roadblock so I'm changing my thinking.

I'm taking "Year of the Fairy Tale" from Carla Sonheim and this month's assignment has been about "quantity" over "quality". We have to make lots of quick sketches and paintings instead of intensely working on a few paintings/sketches. I love this concept. It puts all the focus on the process of making art instead of the final product. So, I'm going to make as much art as possible and not care if it's "good enough" to sell or if it will "work" for licensing. I'm just going to make the art and have faith beauty will emerge. Some of the best things I've made have been when I just got lost in the moment of making art.

My art buddy Juliette Crane has been painting on paper and she has piles of paintings now that were quick to make and are lovely. And my friend Mindy Lacefield had a post of all her work from last year. Over 100 paintings. I can't even imagine accomplishing that! If I let go and just think of any minute spent on making art as valuable I know I will have a wonderful body of work. I'm just going to sketch, doodle, paint and create. Whatever time I get will be time well spent because I'm not going to worry about the "quality". I'm going to enjoy the process!

Here are fun charcoal sketches I've been making on book paper. They take a few minutes to create and they are so dang cute!

I love these little drawings. The charcoal has a nice bold line and you can easily smudge and shade for depth. I can see some of these pieces being used in something else down the road. Every mark has value because it leads to another and another and another.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

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I Can't Art Without.... Charcoal Pencils

If you are a regular reader of this blog you know I have a plethora of art supplies. It's why I consider myself a mixed media artist. Art supplies are my potato chips, I can't have just one. I am trying to make art every day, even if it's just 5 minutes and I decided to focus on one art supply for at least a week. This way I really get a feel for them.

Currently I am loving charcoal pencils. They create dark lines and quick shading even for cute characters. I like how they glide slowly on the page. It forces me to be conscious of the shape of my line. When I start drawing I do a basic head shape, then I let that shape tell me what it wants to be. I know, it sounds weird but the shape either feels like a "person" shape or a "critter" shape.

The sketches below only took about 5 minutes to draw. The shading helps make the image look more finished than it actually is.

This elongated head felt like a more grown up girl.

This head shape could've been a young child but, once I did the eyes, a bunny emerged.

This circle had a tilt to it so, it became a sleepy girl.

This image of the sleepy girl is my favorite. So, I tried to figure out how to use this sketch in other artwork. Perhaps with collage or paint.

I traced my original sketch onto a coffee filter, sprayed it with fixative and glued it onto an art journal page. She still has the smudgy line quality I want but I'm not sure about the coloring I did.

The above piece I did on an ATC watercolor card. I sealed it then tinted it with my Inktense pencils. I like her better. It feels like a tinted black and white photo. I will master this and find a style that works. I like the simplicity of it.

There is an advantage to having multiple art supplies on hand. When I'm stuck I pull out a different supply and my head immediately switches to play mode. It almost always pulls me out of a creative rut. See, hoarding art supplies is psychologically beneficial to creative people. That may explain my husband's vast supply of musical instruments. I guess I won't give him a hard time about owning 5 guitars anymore.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

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