Go crazy and lose control.

Before I became a professional artist I spent about 5 years practicing portraits. I just couldn’t get them right. Then one evening I was drawing the family when I became really angry and drew so quickly that I lost control. Read the rest of this entry »

Well done, you’ve arrived!

I am not listening to you anymore

Over your lifetime, your little brain has collected information that you have collated, catalogued and categorized until you created a story. Each person has a different way of viewing experiences, so the stories created are unique and different. we all have stories to tell.

Governments and corporations are forever creating stories for us. Many people are happy with this situation, because it saves them the effort of organising and interpreting their information. Stories are often repeated so that they become familiar patterns in your brain. After a while, they become  firmly cemented in your head and not only do you believe the myths you have ben fed, you will fight for them.

Life is a series of stories. Everybody has lots and lots of stories that they could bore you with. A story does not have to be based on an event, in can simply be an interpretation of life or an abstract idea – insightful or idiotic, it does not matter.

Now there are a lot of desperately unhappy folks out there, frantically seeking answers to their unfinished stories. They will eagerly thrust their problems, (I mean stories) upon any half-interested listener. Sometimes they are hard to escape from, sometimes the unwary listener is swept up in the story and takes it on as if it is part of their life.

People with causes are forever trying to get you to believe their stories and to join them in their quest to climb to the top of an invented mountain. Religions offer a rigid set of stories along with powerful emotional hooks that draw you in.

An artist has to write his own stories. He does not have to borrow or believe what others tell him. You are writing your story as your art progresses and then one day, you will have a fascinating tale to share with the world.

Stop and look at the creative details

Sometimes you have to stop rushing to get to the project finished and take some time to attend to the details.

This blog is a creative work of art to me. It takes discipline, focus and determination to write something every week. However, if I want the multitudes to read and appreciate my efforts, I have to slow down and take the time to attend to the details. A blog is not instantly found by thousands. Keywords and key phrases have to be inserted. There are plugins that have to be added to make it more interesting and tempting for you the reader. Many details for me to learn and attend to.

As an artist, when I first began painting, it was splash and crash. I used the excuse that this was the way that the sea appeared to me. However, week after week, year after year, I paid attention to different details, until my product was no longer the product of an unruly ocean, but is now more like the peace and beauty of a work of harmony. The details took care of the overall picture.

Stop every now and then and tidy up the little things that can make a big difference to your creative work.

I was born to be a creative failure

When you begin, use cheap materials and be prepared to fill your rubbish bin with your early works. They have as much value as last years newspapers – okay for recycling or maybe for starting a fire.

I am creatively challenged

Please watch the short movie that I put together showing most of the 100 pastel portraits in roughly the correct order. Distortions are obvious but I want to encourage you by showing that even an old experienced guy like me does not always produce 'pretty' work, especially when it is for practice purposes. Revealing these images is revealing the distorted steps that have to be taken to achieve your goals.

Normally I would not show anybody this type of work but I want you to realize that imperfection is normal. When my subject is sitting in front of me,  it all comes together and everybody is happy with the outcome. The bride is always beautiful on the day. The creative artist falls on his feet.

It is so much easier to draw from real life than from photos. With live subjects, I can feel the essence of the person I am drawing and it is expressed through my hand naturally. I can also see clearly. Believe it or not, it is difficult to draw someone that you cannot see! It sounds obvious, but if unless you have an excellent large photo, it is very hard to actually see and understand the details.

Forget about being perfect and aim at being the best you can. Don't worry about your warts, we've all got them!

I want to be clever right now!

Instant success is not real life. You are not born talented. You build your talents by consistently practicing what you love doing. This week I have set myself the challenge of learning to do pastel portraits. For years I was a quick portrait artist at theme parks. I used felt tip markers and my work was gentle but they were more like cartoon portraits and not serious portraits.

This week, I decided I would like to be able to do serious portraits in pastel. To achieve this I have set the goal of producing 100 portraits in 1 week. I am photographing each one as it is finished and I will put them all together as a movie at the end. Next week I have  already booked myself into a venue to draw the public… quick panic!

I am practicing what I am preaching… practice, practice, practice. There is no substitute. If you want a skill, you have to make a consistent effort to achieve it. As I write this, I am ½ way through the 3rd day and I am already up to portrait 44. There is a rapid improvement in the quality as it progresses. (Just as well, the first few were a bit scary).

I have left the bad works in to show that it is not all pretty. This morning when I started at 2am the first 2 I did were shocking, I think I was still asleep. Nevertheless, I continued on to my goal. The creative artist in me will not give up.

If you want instant success, you are on the wrong planet. On this world everything takes effort (and money!) So get your act together and get your new creativity together so that you can gain a skill and perhaps make some money.

Creativity takes effort

If you want to be imaginative, creative and expressive then you need to be able to translate your ideas into form. Whether it be to paper or clay or the written word, unless you have the skills to translate your idea accurately, you will be frustrated.

An artist needs to be able to draw well.
A potter needs to be able to feel the clay and know its value.
A writer needs to be able to type quickly and accurately.

You do not want your lack of basic skills throttling the expression of your creative ideas. Every art has its basic requirements. You are an apprentice when you start. You have to learn the basic skills. Even if you want to paint you should still take the time to become a competent drawer first.

So many artists claim that there work is an abstract, simply because they do not have the skill to express their imaginative ideas properly. Take the time to learn your basics. It is no good being in a hurry to produce a great work. That is as funny as a 5 year old being in a hurry to be a teenager. It takes time to become clever. It takes effort to become skilled. It takes practice to become an artist. It takes time to release the creative artist within.

You need to learn a whole range of artistic skills so that you can call upon this diversity to enhance your creativity. You may not directly use a lot of the skills you learn but they all add up to make you more versatile and expressive.

When I was drawing quick portraits for a living, I used to practice other skills at the same time. For example, I learned calligraphy. I would write pages of different fancy styles simply for the joy of learning a new art. It gave me finer control over my hand and as a bonus I improved my general writing skills. Even now, a million years later, people still comment on the clarity of my handwriting.

If you want to draw, practice drawing your own hand. Place it in different positions, experiment with different styles of drawing. Keep a small notebook with you and sketch random scenes. Sit in front of a mirror and draw your eyes, your nose, get to know the proportions of a face. (If you are ugly, sit in front of someone else!)

Your hands need to become a free expression of your imagination. You need to practice until you have the confidence to discard your eraser!