Youtube is a great place for inspiration. Follow the videos down the rabbit hole and you can find some really, really cool stuff. That's what I did the other day. Seek some inspiration. I've been kind of hitting a roadblock lately. All the practice I've been doing has been great, but there's been so much focus on the process I've almost forgotten about the product...the art. So, to bring my eyes up and back onto the prize I sought out creations that would make me drool with envy.
My eyes caught on some ink work. A guy was going through one of his project books, showing the audience the different random drawings he had done. Some abstract, some quite easy to figure out. All jaw-dropping to a person like me. Imagine those doodles you used to do in your high school notebook, but, like 20 or 30 levels better.
The video was pretty long, like 30 minutes or so...and it was quite inspirational. I could have gotten stuck on the fact of how good he was compared to me...but instead I forced my mind to think about all I could do to get as good as him. I forced myself to imagine doing pieces as cool as he was showing...cooler. For me, at least, it's hard to imagine myself creating anything 'cool.' I'm never quite as good as I want to be. I have to force myself to think that I can. I mean, otherwise what's the point of doing all this? Right? Gah...crazy minds trying to figure themselves out is like trying to untie a Gordian knot.
Anyways, that got my mind on what skills I should work at next. My mind, once again for unknown reasons, suddenly craved using one of the old-school pens. The ones with nibs and dipping into ink. You see people who really love calligraphy using them. There was something about them that appealed to a craving for thin controlled lines...kind of like a pen, but more, well, artsy. Well...more that it's cheaper in the long run because of ink and how fast you can go through a pen for a really detailed drawing. I've learned to just accept these feelings and follow them. I knew it might be a little rough because people had always told me how hard they were to use. Honestly, no idea what they were talking about...but that might be because I've only used the thin nibs for fine lines. I shall find out, likely soon as suddenly I have a craving to try out an idea that just came to mind.
But, let's get to the drawings. My minds been focused on dragons as of late, and something I noticed as I was drawing them was a lack of accurate detail in something quite important...their horns. How the attached to the head, how they behave as they twisted and turned, how the shadows played, how they fit on a skull...so many things. So, I decided to draw horns. And, in particular, those on the skulls of animals. A double header of drawing new subjects and doing a more detailed study, hehe. Though, I know my detailed study has to get way more detailed. Try not to giggle as you see me unable to properly size things on the page :)
Like the guy in the video I decided to create a project book. Something I could work through. A small goal in the vast ocean of goals I need to accomplish. I always preach about the baby steps that get us to better places, and having a focus I think helps. I also think it will be pretty cool to look back and go through the progress...or regress...not sure which looking at some of the pics, hehe.
I'll also include the one I really didn't want to include. It was the last one I did last night. I was trying to go out with a bang like I had the previous night and instead...well, high dive belly flop into the deep end with, well, maybe half the pool watching. :) Trying hard to keep to my promise of showing everything. I mean, the path is bloody long and there are going to be lots of fuck-ups and the better I get the more scared of showing those I might get. Not because I'm shy about it, but because of the way people think.
Public commercial artists always love to put their best foot forward always...and so that's what the public expects...and when suddenly you show something less than perfection people get a little weird. It might have to do with context...like an artist who's never done that before suddenly being like, 'look at how I messed up!' will confuse people...but because I'm always showing, y'all will have. chuckle along with me...anyways, lol.
Got a little stream of thought there...
I've also been messing around in a different notebook. I wanted to do something I'd never tried, so I got a pad with black paper in it. My original idea was to work with acrylic in it, but, those attempts were quite, yuck. Like, random smudges of paint kind of yuck. So, instead I grabbed a white pen when I picked up the nibs n stuff and decided to start another project sketchbook. An inverse of what was going on in the book above.
Overall, I'm pretty happy about the last couple of days. I hate that things aren't cooler. I really do. But, at the same time, holy shit the forward movement is crazy in the last week or so. At this point I still need to focus on the basic elements, as boring as they may be to most people.
But, I also don't want to get trapped in the 'practice and evolution' like I did when I was a photographer. Just treading water almost waiting for a major project to come to me, or never pulling it together into something that really mattered...those are mistakes I don't want to make again. I need to plan something...a series, that seen together means something.
I think I can do that at least at a basic level right now...so, just gotta do it.
Thanks a ton for stopping by to see what's up. Hugs to everyone whether you like, comment, or just consume. It all means a lot to me. Off to create more stuff! :)
Wessel
Previous posts:
My Creative Journey: Day 60. Dragons have taken roost inside my head.
My Creative Journey - the weekend of Dragons ends :)
My Creative Journey - Weekend dragons
My Creative Journey - watercolor days
My creative journey - sketching sketching sketching
My Creative Journey 52, 53, 54...55? Do numbers really matter?
My Creative Journey 51
My Creative Journey 49 + 50 (shit tons of art...)
My Creative Journey 48
My Creative Journey 47
My Creative Journey 46
My Creative Journey 45
My Creative Journey 44
My Creative Journey 43
My Creative Journey 42
My Creative Journey 41
My Creative Journey 40
My Creative Journey 39
My Creative Journey 38
My Creative Journey 36 + 37 + Watch me Paint! Ep. 16
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