Work it out!

Recently I was asked to write an article for the site Work Your Art.  I chose to write about the importance of gaining someone's interest and maintaining interest in your art.

Take some time and check it out when you get a chance. Thanks!

Just Keep Swimming

Class 4

Here are a few samples from my drawing class.  We are learning how to properly contour and depict depth by visualizing static and dynamic planes.  I can tell that I am progressing as I could barely even get something down on my sheet in the first class. The beginning felt quite arduous and frustrating, but I'm getting the hang of it now!

Class 4

Class 5

Some of my design work..

Here is a sample of some of the designs I made last year. Enjoy!

Hoot, Hoot!

Daiva wants a hoot, so I'm giving her a hoot (and to all my other owl lovers!).

Eden the Owl

Artsy Fartsy

Tonight I was feeling a little "artsy fartsy".  Apologies for the poor quality.  Photos taken with my phone.

Back to School

At work I'm constantly put into a position where I have to draw something freehand.  This has been a constant struggle for me because I have come to the point where I can't hide my poor drawing skills no more.  Instead of drawing a mockup, I take notes.  I find that with a drawing tablet it is different.  I get to use a bunch of tools to perfect that straight line or undo something easily with the push of a button when I make a mistake.  But this is freehand drawing ...yikes.

Alas! I have found a solution to my problem!  I have enrolled myself into a night classes for people who want to draw at the local art school.  I know I probably won't become the next Picasso or Cezanne but I'm hoping that my skill will improve.  Tonight was my first night.  Well, like any new skill that you want to pick up, you can imagine that it takes time and patience.  And for me, this may require a lot of it.  The instructor had us draw a still life scene, which of course no one could finish because we were still trying to master the technique he quickly taught us.  But this I find comforting.  I am not the only one who struggles with freehand.  Hopefully my time, patience, and practice will pay off. Wish me luck!

Is it Art or a Joke?

The Fountain (1917), a "readymade" sculpture

Last night I bought a book called What Are You Looking At? by Will Gompertz.  Gompertz is a BBC Arts Editor, prior director at the Tate Gallery, and probably the world's first art history stand-up comedian.  His deep interest in modern art is what grounds the base of this book; however, it is written in a non-pretentious way that will give us the knowledge to decide whether we think a particular piece of art is good.  A couple chapters in and I'm already laughing.

One of his first stories tells us about the history of how Marcel Duchamp's famous "readymade" sculpture The Fountain came into existence.  You know, it's that sculpture which is in fact a urinal that has been laid on its back.  The gist of it is that Duchamp and two of his friends walked into a plumbing store in New York and bought this urinal.  Although his friends laughed at the thought, Duchamp was nothing but thought.  After he brought the piece back to his studio, he painted the disguise R. Mutt 1917 (as opposed to his real name) onto it.  His intent was to enter it into the 1917 Independents Exhibition (America's largest modern art show), which was organized by the Society of Independent Artists ("a group of free-thinking, forward-looking intellectuals who were making a stand against what they perceived to be the National Academy of Design's conservative and stifling attitude to modern art").  However, long story short, even these "free-thinkers" thought it was too much of a stretch to exhibit what was in essence — a urinal.  They did not exhibit the sculpture and we do not know what happened to it, to this day.  Yet, there are 15 copies being exhibited in galleries and museums today.

However, the point that Duchamp wanted to make was that if you were an artist and you paid money to be a member of the Society of Independent Artists then your work should be exhibited.  I like what Gompertz says when he writes "the conservatives won the battle, but as we now know, spectacularly lost the war."  Although Duchamp's (or I should say, R. Mutt's) piece was seen as too offensive to the board, it has become revered to this day.  Who would of thought? A urinal.  The overall concept of this fountain influenced many art movements, which includes Dadaism, Surrealism, Expressionism, Pop Art, and Conceptualism.  I'm not going to tell you whether to believe that this story is bunk or pure genius, but I highly recommend checking out this book of Gompertz'.  He has some pretty insightful (and comedic) views on the whole thing.