First day off in two weeks
It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks. I had two paying gigs happen at the same time. So I had to split my time between both, and parent (it's summer holidays so no school) and keep the house up and cook meals and so on.
To alleviate some stress, I wrote my to-do list, and cut out the unnecessary things that could wait.
Prioritised my “spoons” and time as best as I could.
The Creature Project
The kids produce original designs that get redrawn/reimagined by professional artists. This is to help boost/restore creativity in kids, help them connect deeper to creating and also inspire them to see where their creations could go.
Social media numbers game/Celebrate the small wins
With the “Rise of the Beasts” movie hype, and subsequent increase in followers on social media, I was inspired to make a few more pieces of fan art.
Ultimately, social media numbers don’t mean anything. Sometimes they bring sales, but mostly, it’s just a quick dopamine hit.
Touching grass
I mention the tough parts of being a freelancer artist, because it's not discussed enough. There's so much rejection and rebuilding to do for most of us. And if it's not discussed, then we assume that we are the only ones to face such rejection. And it becomes demoralizing and unable to produce art becomes a nasty circle of defeat.
Art block after rejection! You don't say.
So when I recieved my rejection letter yesterday, I felt a bit blindsided. As we all do. We all hope to get in, and when the rejection letters come, we question our sanity. Not all do this, but I certainly do. How can I improve my application process, is the art good enough yet, etc.
Maximalist painting part deux
I love it when inspiration just knocks me right over. And I have to start working, without starting my usual prep. I'm in too much of a rush to get the idea out on canvas, to deal with turning on my music and setting up properly.
i feel the most alive, when the flow of inspo hits.
All the art that I don't share
Knowing that I'm influenced by numbers and external factors. There are some pieces I make that I don't want social media to see. I refuse to let myself feel even remotely bad, for lack of numbers on something that I'm so proud of. Me. I'm proud as heck of these things. I refuse, REFUSE, to let anyone cloud my opinion of it in the slightest.
Not everything is meant to be shared.
Social Media Highs, Social Media woes.
The downsides to watching the numbers grow or fall flat on Social Media. I will forever talk about this. Being an old artist, I’ve watched and noted how much this has effected my drawing,my choices and where I go next.
I know of a time before social media. It was harder to get your art seen. On the plus side, you were left to develop your practise at your own pace and not feel unnecessary stress from numbers, or lack thereof.
painting on cassettes
This was a long blog post about my joy of painting on cassettes! It was sadly deleted by total accident.
Now it’s a photo post of what I’ve done, I’ll write about the painted cassettes in detail another day.
Commissions for your own custom painted cassette are open!
Maximalism pop art
Maximalist Pop Art. I’VE FOUND MY HOME.
In the arts, maximalism, a reaction against minimalism, is an aesthetic of excess. The philosophy can be summarized as "more is more", contrasting with the minimalist motto "less is more".
I’ve submitted this piece to the Blue Crow Gallery for consideration for their summer show.
Grieving portrait, pt 2
Also the experience of painting from life vs painting from a still photograph shows the difference between coat color perception and what not. Ronon in real life is very tricolor still, but on camera photos he looks very grey and white. Lighting always plays a large part image perception.
Grieving portrait & artist guilt
This current commission, hits close to home. We knew Hank, he was a dachshund who came into his parents life around the same time my pupper came into mine.
Deep diving into my psyche
It's called "shadow work," and involves "diving into the unconscious material that shapes our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors,"
deep diving into my psyche through my art
Art Trade/Fun Illustration
Hitting personal coloring milestones as an artist, achieving new levels of what I thought was possible with my art.
Class consciousness
The homeless encampments are growing in size, I know of a few families who live in one, in the middle of winter in Canada. This is oh so much more personal than I can explain and it’s really like talking to walls. So many care more about their inconveniences of seeing poor people than acknowledge the problem is THERE SHOULD NEVER BE BILLIONAIRES EVER. NEVER.