I spent about 20 minutes watching a video on how to paint with acrylics for beginners. It was a two plus hour video and I only watched 20 minutes of it and yet it turned out to be a super productive 20 minutes. It wasn’t what the person was teaching that made it productive. It was what I learned in that time that made it productive.
I have drawn with pencil for more years than I can really say. I do it in fits and spurts, like I have with my music. Once in a while I would venture to try to add some color to my work. For this I’ve used ink and the stippling process to create something with more color or at least more interesting. I always go back to the pencil because I like the feel of the pencil in hand. I like the control as well as the bits that I can sort of force into other shapes using the shading or smudging techniques. And yet, when it comes to larger scale pieces and things I want to have greater pop, I find a level of frustration. The solution, so I’ve thought, was to learn to paint.
I’ve tried watercolor paints a few times and they just don’t allow me to create the art I want to see. With that in mind, I figured I should try oil or acrylic paints since they would allow the more vibrant colors that are hard to come by with watercolor as well as the broad stroke and better control. So I went looking for a how to video because it would get me started. And I found one. After listening to the person explain about the quality of paints to use, he then started explaining about the tools, the brushes. It was at this point I figured out, painting is not for me. Certainly right now and possibly ever. Something about the blob of paint at the end of the brush and how far away it was from my hand filled me with a dread and despair.
That was the most productive 20 minutes I could spend because for me, it let me finally see that I didn’t need to keep trying to figure out how to paint more than the walls of my house. It let me finally acknowledge that I don’t enjoy making art that way. It let me finally let go of continuing to fight a battle I really didn’t have my heart in. And it let me move on and look at the things I’ve done art in that I enjoyed the process or the outcome. I’ve done one or two things involving soft pastels, and I like colored pencil. Both, put the medium closer to my hand and give me the control I feel I have with a graphite pencil. Both allow me to create vibrantly colored pieces of art.
So I will be working on creating art in either soft pastels or colored pencil. I’m actually excited about it. I’ve got a few pieces lined up to work on. And I’ve ordered some fresh supplies since, I found when I was working on my test piece, that my supplies were either incomplete or in a distressed state or both. Those should arrive within the week. I’ll still be working in the graphite. I enjoy it and what I can do with it. And I’m always pleasantly surprised to see the results. I’ll also be continuing work in the computer, particularly with Blender. I find it endlessly fascinating what I can do there and while it is often a struggle as I continue to learn new techniques and tricks. It is another case of being pleasantly surprise with some of the end results.
While I was looking for that video on learning to paint, I came across a talk that Andrew Price, from Blender Guru and Poliigon, gave at the 2016 Blender Conference. ‘The Habits of Effective Artists’, you can find it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vM39qhXle4g . I found it really interesting and inspiring. And relevant to more that just visual artists. The information and tricks and steps and all are helpful across all forms of art. I even recommended it to my mother who is a writer. She found so much value she recommended it to some of her writer’s lists. In it he mentions the book ‘Steal Like An Artist’ by Austin Kleon. A book I have heard of but never bothered to check out. Because somewhere along the way I bought into some myth about creating art. Well, I’m learning new stuff this week so why not check it out. This is another bit of creative advice with tips and tricks that I would recommend across all creative mediums be it writing, visual art, musical art, you name it. It’s a fast and easy read.
The pictures are some things I’ve been working on in the last couple of weeks or so.
I haven’t been spending much time playing music for the simple fact, I’ve been having some pain issues in my elbow, wrist, and back. I have found some things that help with that and I’m getting a bit more back in the groove. I feel a need to have a bit more practice time this week. We are lucky enough to have another jam coming up this weekend. At this point, every one we get feels to be a gift.
I do still have the videos from the last jam to get edited. As I am off from the day job this week, I might manage to work that in, in between music practice, drawing, and computer art. Which are all I’m hoping to do this week.
A final note on my productive 20 minutes. We tend to think of productivity as being what we get done. But productive can also be eliminating things we don’t need to do. There are so many possibilities that it can sometimes be a challenge to figure out what is the right thing to be doing for each person. Eliminating those things that are not right is just as productive as doing one of those things that is right. We get to narrow our focus and find the things that are really worth concentrating on for each of us.
Enjoy the pics.