I'm gonna stop doing skulls soon...I promise :)
This post card series has my brain focused on them whether I like it or not. Last night I believe I finally finished it. I could do more, but I think a total of 6 should be good for the first one. Two weeks of focus on just that has me chomping at the bit to try new things using the skills I've built up.
Though, there might be one more...a big one...perhaps on the wall of a building...so stay tuned. My mind might be set to 'commercial' for a minute as well. I need to build up stuff that I can sell as merchandise so that I can keep this going and drop all other work. There's been a number of sales on posters and shirts lately so that shows me it's possible, and gives me hope, hehe. Gotta keep on that momentum.
I know the other day I said that I've been sucking at paintings lately (the big ones) because my mind has been focused on the postcards, but as I got ready for the nights art session there was this craving to make something bigger. An artist buddy of mine had given me some advice. 'Paint a couple big ones, then switch to the smaller,' as a way to both focus and unfocus my mind. Moving between scales forces the mind to flex and grow and pay more attention to things.
You never want to get stuck in any one size, format, medium, etc..
In my opinion an artist is a person who creates whatever strikes their fancy or inspires them, no matter what. Yesterday as I was sitting at work listening to Youtube documentaries sopping up creative knowledge and history I came across the artist who I think is my spirit animal, Robert Rauschenberg. If you don't know who he is, look him up. What I could say about him could fill pages upon pages of writing and that's just the overview I picked up from one video. Basically, he created whatever the fuck he wanted to however he wanted to and just ran with it. He was good at that, which made it work, even if the art world of the time didn't care much about him until the end. That's how most famous artists apparently operate, ahead of the curve, breaking new ground, suffering the slings and arrows of the Philistines, hehe.
What I'm really happy about with this first one is not only did I get a strong skull outline, but the fill-in is really dope. I took my black acrylic and treated it like ink, watering it down until I had a sort of wash. I then took my bigger brush, and dabbed it around the image to create better form. I was paying much more attention to how the light would hit the skull, and how the minor shadows would work. I seem to really like doing that...filling the interior with more. White space doesn't necessarily scare me, I just like it better this way.
I wasn't quite done with big skulls yet and wanted to mess with color. On this one I started with finger painting to get the broad outlines and moved to a variety of brushes to play with the interior. I wanted to work with toning/shading by mixing white into my paints, like creating lighter and lighter washes with ink. But I also wanted to create some impact, which is why I added the red. I want my work to scream at people, hehe. Like it, hate it, but don't ignore it.
One of the major thoughts that came to my mind as I was finishing this was mounting.
How do I mount it on something to create even greater affect? I mean, it's pretty cool as-is, but I know for more major buyers there needs to be more 'production value.' That means I need to figure out a whole new set of skills, hehe. Maybe I'll do some 'found materials' mounting. Even beginning to ask that question suddenly opens up a crazy number of doors in my head. Mostly on the technical end of creation. Is paint really the end-all be-all? What can I mix together with it? What other materials can I use to create? Am I boxing myself in? Lol, the fun of this journey.
Trust me, most of the time I wonder what the hell is going on, lol. So many things that never happened with photography on the creative end are suddenly beginning to show themselves. Having tried photography for close to 8 years, I can't even begin to tell you how refreshing this is :)
After that second painting I had the large format out of my head and figured it was time to get started on the post cards. I almost didn't, being tired as shit and having already done two cool paintings (in my opinion) but, being a responsible artist I knew what I had to do. I also wanted to trying flexing like my buddy recommended I do. The shapes and lines from the skulls, at least at this angle, have gotten pretty stuck in my head so that I can draw these pretty quick and easy now.
I know they aren't the most accurate when it comes to reality, but they do represent how I see skulls, at least right now.
They have that bit of 'me' along with what it actually is. Someday I'll look back at these and laugh my ass off at how bad they are, but for now, I see them as building blocks. That's all I can do, I mean, to avoid trying to compare myself to the greats out there.
It's so easy to get bogged down with what other people have done, with how much better others are, and I don't want to get bogged down like that. It's a crushing weight, especially with the ease of finding and seeing everyone else's work on the internet. I mean, head to Deviant Art and the drool will just start flowing from the first page of stuff you look at. But, art isn't about that. It's about creating what you want to create, following your own journey, and realizing that the only thing that really matters is you, and the people who like who you are and what you do.
If you want to see me paint one of the black and white skulls, here's my time-lapse for the session :)
And, you can always see me doing these live on Instagram at iamstonedwessel. I'm usually on around 9pm West Coast time and flutter on and off depending on what social channel I want to be on. I also have a twitter that I do live paint sessions on, smokingsomethinggood.
Music: Lobo Loco
I finished off with one last postcard, mainly to get rid of the last dabs of paint I had sitting in the cups. It got a bit out of control, so I ended up just experimenting with things. The face is warped, could have been done better, the colors are a bit thick, not sure what the gray is about, but, whatever. Lessons in painting. It sparked a number of questions...like about base coats, overlaying white on things, how to brush acrylic onto a textured surface better, just to name some. I figure if I haven't asked myself at least 3 hard questions about the work I just did, I'm not moving forward. I've said it before, but, you need to remember to look at your own work and figure out what you can do better. Improvement is not a passive process.
This afternoons challenge is to find somewhere to scan my postcards in
...and to document all the work I've done so I can post it on my website. As well as a hundred other tasks I need to get done, hehe. This life is both draining and invigorating. Even at my most tired moments I still want to be doing this. The cliche of, 'what is life without art?' It might help to find a girlfriend, but that's a whole different topic in life, lol.
Thanks for dropping by and looking, reading, watching what I'm up to. As much of a chore as it is to put these posts together, and as few actual views that I get, I don't really. mind. As I've said with all my other writing, I'm doing this for me. All y'all just happen to be able to get on the ride thanks to Steemit. :) Hope everyone has an amazing weekend!
Wessel
Previous posts:
My Creative Journey 32 + Watch me Paint! Ep. 13
My Creative Journey 31 + Watch me Draw! Ep. 7
My Creative Journey 30 + Watch me Paint! Ep. 12
My Creative Journey 29 + Watch me Draw! Ep. 06
My Creative Journey 28
My Creative Journey 27
My Creative Journey 26 + Watch me Paint! Ep. 11
My Creative Journey 25 + Watch me Draw! Ep. 05
My Creative Journey 24 + Watch me Draw! Ep. 04
My Creative Journey 23 + Watch me Paint! Ep. 010
My Creative Journey 22
My Creative Journey 21 + Watch me Paint! Ep. 09
My Creative Journey 20 + Watch me Draw! Ep. 03
My Creative Journey 19 + Watch me Draw! Ep. 02
My Creative Journey 18 + Watch me Draw! Ep. 01
My Creative Journey 17
My Creative Journey 16
My Creative Journey 15 PT 2 + Watch Me Paint! Ep. 08
My Creative Journey 14 + Watch Me Paint! Ep. 07
My Creative Journey 13 + Watch Me Paint! Ep. 06
My Creative Journey 12 + Watch Me Paint! Ep. 05
My Creative Journey 11 + Watch Me Paint! Ep. 04
My Creative Journey 10 + Watch Me Paint! Ep. 03
My creative journey 9
My creative journey 8
My creative journey 7
My creative journey 6
My creative journey 5
My creative journey 4
My creative journey 3
My creative journey 2
My creative journey 1
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