 |
| fun with new pens |
When imagining this journey, I saw myself sitting down daily to work through drawing exercises and sketching life around me. Enter the world of art journals. There is a whole genre of art out there I wasn't really aware of. People who create fun pages of words and doodles and patterns and textures and color - with some or no realistic drawing incorporated. It feels more crafty to me, but it is tempting. I try to mix it up - do a little of both. Whimsy is winning lately. I want to believe it's my inner illustrator at work. I've created motivational sketchbook (art journal) pages trying to convince myself it's okay to veer off a bit. So far I'm not falling for it. Sometimes I think, "Hey, that turned out kinda' cool." However, usually I think, "Okay, that was fun, but tomorrow I need to do some 'real' art."Hence the dilemma. Is this helpful, useful, or does it matter? Does any kind of practice advance my skills? Or is it just lazy and another form of procrastin(art)ing? Someday there may be answers. The journey continues and I'm wondering how many diverging roads there will be in these yellow ochre woods. Onward ho... or ... to the battlefield! There will be blood tonight! (best movie ever!)
Art practice for the realist. Blind contour giraffes - a lesson from the Drawing Lab book. I must admit - I used to hate this technique, but it's growing on me.
2 comments:
I think this is a dilemma that all creatives have. When to play and when to get serious. IMHO, since you are re-finding your art, this is the perfect time to play, follow the artist prompts, find out which mediums still inspire you, sketch, scribble, doodle away! Maybe in a month or more (set yourself a definite hard date deadline) split your time up, one day scribble/play, the next day nose-to-the-grindstone on something a little more defined. If you end up playing on a defined day, then spend the next day on your more structured exercise. Keep playing though, because it does open you up to stuff you may have forgotten or not found yet. Too Many Monkeys came out of playing :) And sometimes playing has led me to other really great ideas for my more structured stuff.
Nice perspective. I'll give serious thought (while I play) to a deadline for a more defined plan. With a busy holiday season coming, I'm leaning towards 2013 being a next step. Thanks!
Post a Comment