Just wanted to share a couple pages really quick.
This first one is all thanks to my friend Boo and her lovely comment on one of my recent posts. I was contemplating my old lady-hood and feeling a little blue about my life, and her comment made me feel so much better. Ok, first it made me cry, but then it made me feel so much better! Boo, if ever we meet face to face, you must be prepared for the most gigantic squish you have ever been squished!
And so here is my Boo inspired page, to make me always remember the kind words she said:
Everybody should be lucky enough to have a friend like Boo to tell them just what they need to hear at just the right time!
My second page is for the prompt "April Showers Bring May Flowers" in one of the wonderful Facebook groups I am in:
My poor flower is a little droopy, but she's been rained on all day! I think eventually I will add more to this page, but I'm not quite sure what to do with it yet... Any suggestions?
I love your Boo inspired page. I'm so glad something I said helped you. I don't take the credit. I believe that my high power puts positive words in my mouth or fingers when someone needs them.
ReplyDeleteI like your droopy flowers. I wish we lived closer... you could teach me some drawing tricks.
I'm happy you like it! I like it too, because of what it means to me. :)
DeleteI don't have too many drawing tricks, I might be a bit of a disappointment... I think my one strength is being willing to do something repeatedly in order to get better... For instance on my Boo page, I had drawn a different version of the red clover (in pen like an idiot!), so I just tried again on a book page and I liked it much better so I pasted it in...it changed the page, which was originally just going to not be colored in, but I like how it turned out even better than my original idea!
I will have to post one of my very first drawings so that you can see how practice has paid off...I was VERY, VERY bad in the beginning... I'm still not good, but I can tell I'm progressing. If I keep practicing, maybe I will be good one day!
Some time I will have to take some in progress pictures so you can see how much I still erase before I finally start coloring...it tends to be A LOT of erasing...although much less than when I first started!
I guess my biggest tricks would be:
1. Start! You can't get better if you don't start where you are now!
2. Don't be afraid to make mistakes, because it's how you learn. There are erasers, gesso, and infinitely more paper for you to try again!
3. Find someone who will give you constructive criticism, and try not to want to punch them when you think you've done well and they point out something that's wrong (my sister is this person for me...and I still want to punch her sometimes... hehehe)
4. If you don't like what you did, do it again! (That dreaded "P" word...practice...ugh!)
5. Make sure that you keep it enjoyable...this is a hard one sometimes (especially if you're like me), because you want to do it right, and if (in your own mind) it's not 'good', you get mad and want to quit...and that's silly, nobody's good right out of the box... So if you're doing something and get frustrated, stop and go do something else...
6. Look at how other people do it and see if you can adapt what they're doing to what your doing. Finding good YouTube videos has been very helpful to me!
Wow, I guess I do have some tricks! I will have to think if I have any more for ya!
I think the 'keep it enjoyable' thing is really true. Sometimes I have an idea for something and then I don't get around to doing it and I keep thinking 'oh I must do that composition' or whatever the idea is and then I realise hang on, if I keep not doing it maybe I just am not that into the idea as I thought was. So I just let it go. Usually I find the work that turns out is the stuff that pops into my head and I do it right away or the drawing that started off as one thing and turned out totally different to how I had intended it to. If this makes sense, I think it's a bit like just letting your hands produce whatever they want and going with the impulses that spring into your mind, without letting your rational brain try to overthink it. x
DeleteI totally get what you said about having something just pop in your head and having it be what works out! Maybe it's the mental vs emotional part of art, where your logical brain is saying "this is what you should do" and the emotional brain is saying something completely different... So when you over-think something, the emotional part of the brain won't let you like it, because you cut that part out of the equation... (I hope that makes sense!) Something similar happens sometimes when I see something I like and try to use it as inspiration for my art...sometimes it works, but sometimes it's like my brain is telling me "Yeah, that's a great idea...for someone else to do...but you...not so much..." :)
DeleteThese are great Sweet Red! I've gained so much comfort and inspiration from these beautiful women including Boo AND yourself. Even though none of us have ever met it's amazing how we seem to be getting to know each other. And yes...practice, eventually I think can make perfect! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Lynn! I feel the same way; all the girls from the group are just wonderful, and I feel so lucky to be a part of it! I really don't know what I'd do without you all!
DeleteHere's hoping that practice will eventually make perfect...or at least a much nicer version of imperfect! :)