Monday mornings are the worst...especially when you realize it's a Tuesday. The double edged sword of long weekends, hehe. So much done, and so much not done. But, that's the way of life. I think I had this conversation several times over the last week with fellow entrepreneurial friends. The list of 'to-do's' never gets shorter. Every time you get something done, something else pops up. The lesson, it's a marathon, not a sprint. Slow and steady wins the race. Be happy with what you get done, focus on that otherwise you'll get overwhelmed and wanna scream, like 24/7. I've been there before, hehe. Didn't like it. And, even though I'm rushing headlong ahead, sprinting, experience from actual running way way back lets me know I'll settle into a certain pace pretty soon. Or I'll just run like a mad man and try and win :)
Saturday night when I created these was pretty dope.
There was supposed to be a bunch of my friends getting together at another friends house, but it ended up being just me and one other, which was cool. Instead of socializing I ended up creating. There were, of course, some great conversations with my buddy, between drawings. But, I think both of us were in our own worlds in a way.
Los Angeles does some pretty crazy things to people, maybe it's just life nowadays. Maybe I'm just overthinking it, but, there are so many people out there on the fringes just trying to get in. I know, because I'm out there on the fringes. People who are a bit different, have their own personalities, that don't necessarily fit into the regular categories, that those who are in the regular circles generally tend to just let sit at the fringes instead of inviting them in to add to who they are. Why? Because it means stretching their conceptual frameworks. I get that it's hard, but, seriously, it's not that hard.
Anyways, as always, sidetracked on random thoughts... but, that's the back story for Saturday. So, let's get to what I created :)
I got started with some ink on watercolor paper. Still working with the skull concept, mostly from memory. I'm trying to morph it in a certain direction, though, as you can probably tell from the horns that are beginning to appear on some of them. To give them more character, a little more of a sinister feel. This is definitely not the direction my parents would want to be seeing, but, you gotta follow the rabbit holes where they lead.
As always, each step is just a building block on a much longer journey. Adding horns to them now forces me to work perspective and lighting even more. I've found it really hard to make the horns stand out with that 3D feel that they really need. But, that will come with time and practice.
For those of you who are sick of skulls...you're in luck :) As promised, I'm starting to branch out again. Well, more like return to where I started with warriors and geisha. I think I've been avoiding them because my brain wasn't able to figure out exactly how they would look, using ink to draw people vs marker or paint, and if it would look cool. Not to mention the technique... But, that was mainly fear, as I found out watching these appear underneath my brush.
Shit is still rough AF...
But, a definite huge improvement from when I first got started on these figures with pen a couple months back. These are still imitations of things I see vs my own ideas. I'm most definitely still in that phase with so many things still to figure out and internalize. I think on this round of creativity I'm going to start getting into other shapes/forms/figures, to stretch myself more, so it's not like I'm just going over the lines of something that I've already done. That can be good at certain times, but I feel a growth phase coming up, so, gotta run with it and not hold myself back because I'm scared.
Faces...hands...eyes...mouths...so much stuff to work on. Oh, and color. Lol. And backgrounds. And multiple people, and action, and story, and, well, shit, tons of stuff. I should be scared or daunted, but, whatever, lol. You can choose to get hung up on what you don't know, or how good you aren't, or focus on what is happening and what you can do. It's your choice. I'm tired of focusing on the shit because there's so much of it.
Anyways, to the finial piece of the night. I decided to go a bit crazy with this one. It was back on the skull theme, which I'm getting more and more comfortable with, but took an interesting turn when I decided to start playing with the background.
I have no idea why I wrote, 'Victory.'
It just kinda popped into my head, like pretty much all the words I write on my work. I saw the skull, and somewhere in my unconscious there was a random firing of neurons that led to a new connection. Normally I fill up a lot of the white space with lines, shading, whatnot, as I like the paper to be covered, but, this time I was like, 'let's leave some white.' Perhaps the lesson from way back when I was working with color for the first time and I realized that the lack of color/ink could embolden the lines around...like an emphasis, was resurfacing. I don't know. I just run with what comes out, hehe.
I'm learning to trust my unconscious more and more. We take in so much data on a daily basis through all our senses. I can't even imagine how much raw information is just sitting around. It might not be in active memory, but I know it's there. Creating art might be one way to start linking things together, even if we aren't able to actively access anything.
The clock keeps ticking, and I got lots to do today...like make up the posts I should have done yesterday. Sitting at the luandrymat right now doing like 3 weeks worth of laundry and there's only a couple minute left on the timer so....
Thank you all for dropping by to see what I'm up to on my creative journey. It's been a wild ride so far and I don't see it stopping anytime soon. As always, your comments are always appreciated. I like to hear what people think, good or bad. I mean, if you want to say my work is crap and that I should tear it all up as soon as I finish it...awesome. Let me know why though :) If you love it, just as good. Let me know why :) Art is about reaction, and one of the coolest things for me is to hear what people see in what I do. Hope you all have a great day!
Wessel
Previous posts:
My Creative Journey 41
My Creative Journey 40
My Creative Journey 39
My Creative Journey 38
My Creative Journey 36 + 37 + Watch me Paint! Ep. 16
My Creative Journey 35 + Watch me Paint! Ep. 15
My Creative Journey 33 + Watch me Paint! Ep. 14
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
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My Creative Journey 10 + Watch Me Paint! Ep. 03
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My creative journey 1
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