Snails and The Blank Canvas (BCS)

Posted on April 29, 2025 by Jonathan Manning

Ink and wash snail sniffing small flower — Ink and Wash Snail Sniffing Flower

This week’s two themes in the studio were snails (because that’s what came up on the randomartigraph) and dealing with blank canvas syndrome.

You may or may not know this about me, but I love arting about the tiny things, especially the things that are usually connsidered slimy. But it’s not slime. It’s mucus. Except for snails. For them it is most definitely slime.

A few snail sketches drawn in fountain pen — Snail studies in Fountain Pen

These snail sketches, even the watercolor, are all on the smallish side. That’s to get a feel for what I want to do before I dedicate a canvas or the good paper to a new art piece. That’s the first tip to combatting BCS. Start small.

Second is to mess up the paper. Set your coffee cup on it or splash your paint water on it.

The bug painting on the left is the one I have been neglecting for months. The canvas on the right is in prep for the next painting. It’s where I clean my brushes.

By staining or marking up the new canvas, you eliminate the idea that it’s unblemished and perfect. That frees you up to make whatever art you want with it, good, bad, or ugly.

The third method is to have a set process in place. If you have a system to your art, you always know what your next step is supposed to be. It’s hard to get mired in fear paralysis when you know exactly what comes next. For me, the hardest part is choosing a subject. I have systems for that whether it’s pulling a random object out of the random object randomogrifier, or picking the next thing on my list I cultivate when I’m feeling creative. Once I pick the subject, it’s just construct the composition, shade it, then add the details to finish.

The fourth tip is to experiment with different techniques. Getting your curiosity involved can make you forget to be perfect. You know you’re not going to be perfect if you are trying something new. And who knows, it might just lead to a new favorite medium. It’s how I went from acrylics to fountain pen.

My final tip is to embrace imperfection. When you look at all the art in the world, it’s the tiny differences that make them unique to their respective artists. If all of the portrait artists always painted with photorealism, how would we distinguish Rembrandt from Sargent from Van Gogh?

The little misplaced line, or color that’s off just a bit, or even a mispelling, all contribute to the uniqueness of your art.

Dandelions and Bad Art

Posted on April 21, 2025 by Jonathan Manning

The themes for the week were Dandelions and to Make Bad Art. Years ago when I was feeling creative, I would make lists of things that interested me and write them on a stack of business cards. Then, when I wanted to art but didn’t have a subject, I would shake the sack and pull out a random prompt to work with. Along those same lines now, I’m using a spin-the-wheel app that lets me add what ever I want to it. I just spin the virtual wheel and BOOM a prompt to brainstorm with for the week. That’s where the dadelion theme came from.

Then I just go into free style mode on what exactly that means… Is it a literal dandelion? Is it a Dandy? Is it a lion? I chose for it to be any member of the Aster family like chicory

Pocket sketchbook with an ink drawing of Chicory and a scientific description of the aster family and where to find chicory in Texas — Chicory in fountain pen

Sketches of dandelions in my pocket sketchbook, done in fountain pen. — Dandelion sketches in ink

As for the make bad art, I sat down and listed a hundred or so slogans I’ve seen tossed around pertaining to art improvement and started listing them. This was the top of the list. It’s not really encouragement to make bad art. Nor is it an implication that your art might be bad. Instead, it means your focus should not be on making good art, but just on making art. Even bad art. Especially bad art. Bad art teaches you something new. Everytime you engage in your creative processes, you learn something, but you learn more when you have challenges and mistakes to review. So, make bad art.

These two themes came together on The Artistic Biker Live! last Thursday when I painted dandelions in the art journal. I realized that I should have made the background more dramatic and there should have been more splash in the colors and shadows of the asters. All in all it was a good time. I streamed it straight to youtube and left all the hair-dryer paint drying in. :) You can watch it here:

The Artistic Biker Live!

Renaissance Man, or, A Faire to Remember

Posted on December 9, 2024 by Jonathan Manning

A couple of weeks ago, the family and I went to the Texas Renaissance Festival and had a great time. My wife and I dressed up a bit, the kids went all out, and I got to spend the day experiencing fresh air like a true Scottsman.

This past weekend, while the wife and kids were in Oklahoma visiting the inlaws, I decided to take another trip up to the fair for the Yule celebration. Because I was on the bike (Azula) and also because it was 41F that morning, I did NOT wear my skirt. I bundled up nicely and even so, I was cold enough that I’m sure I could have been a glass cutter.

Me and Azula at the fair motorcycle parking lot

I fought procrastination the whole morning. I bought the ticket online the night before and all morning long I regretted it. I kept trying to convince myself that I shouldn’t have spent the money, that it was a long ways to go in the cold on a motorcycle, that it wouldn’t be as much fun by myself.

I couldn’t have been more wrong about any of it. I had a lovely time walking around, looking at the sites, meeting and talking with so many beautiful people, and eating some really good foods. It was a wonderful opportunity to fuel my creativity tank.

Link to all the photos I took at the fair that turned out good. — I created a page to upload all of the pics I took that turned out good

The link above has all the photos that turned out good, and the link below will take you the youtube for the video: https://youtu.be/PFl-V3zS_j0

Chicken Adventure

Posted on November 25, 2024 by Jonathan Manning

Recently I read a study about how humans mark time. Why Christmas seems so far away to kids, but New Years was just a few days ago to adults. It boils down to “core memories”. When you’re a kid, there are tons of FIRST TIME events. The first time you saw a duck was an exciting time for you. You may not remember the exact date, but it was a first. It was likely followed immediately by another first of being chased by a goose. Or the first time you kissed a girl. Or the first time you drove a car… There are a lot of firsts for kids. All of those firsts make the marking of a year seem like a very long time. As an adult, you’ve likely seen lots of waterfowl, driven lots of cars, and kissed plenty of girls. As the novelty wears off, so too do the making of memory anchors to mark time. One day you remember sitting at the table helping your son with his homework, and the next day, he has a whole little family of his own. And that time flies for everyone.

To combat that, you have to have new adventures. You have to try new things and make new memories. You can do this in a lot of major or subtle ways. Try a new restaurant. Go to a new festival in a new town. Even something as simple as changing up your seating arrangements at home. All of these things create distinct anchors. The more anchors you have, the longer it seems for time to pass. Or, maybe it just feels like you’re living your life on purpose instead of it just being something that happens.

A few weeks ago, I started having new adventures every Saturday. We’ve been at it for a month now. First, we went to the zoo. The next week, I had a volunteer weekend at work. Then Girl2 and I went to a two story bookstore and saw a movie in a different theater. Week before last, we went to a ceramic Clay Festival in Gruene, TX. And this weekend I went to a rescue farm to sketch chickens

I took my sketches and used them as a reference for this little sketch I managed to knock out during a break at work.

And I did a color study for a larger painting. There’s a video of that over on the YouTube: https://youtu.be/6qWQxZ9UFtw

The Creator’s Spark – An Introduction

Posted on October 30, 2023 by Jonathan Manning

Pablo Picasso said, everybody’s born an artist, and the trick is to remain an artist as you become an adult. That is to say that everybody is born creative, that creativity is inherent in the human experience. Everybody has a creative spark.

Most either believe that we were created by an Almighty Creator, or that we evolved from a single-celled organism and grew into multi-species, and all the various life forms. If created, then The Creator used His creative spark to create us, and thereby imbued us also with a dose of creativity. If we evolved from the energy of the universe, then the only thing that sets us apart from the other animals is our creativity.

Creativity is simply the ability to imagine something, and planning ways to deal with it.

While the source of creativity can be argued until the end of time, it’s purpose is evident. To ensure our survival. We are not the strongest species. We have no claws, sharp teeth, or even thick skin. We only have our collective wits to set us apart and that appears to have been enough. We could not only imagine ways we could have been in danger, but also ways to avoid it, to prevent it, and to use an attack to our advantage in catching prey. Our creativity allowed us to domesticate helpers and foods. Our creativity allowed us to build on discoveries made by others. Whether you believe our being the apex predator is a good thing or not, it was our creativity that got us here. And it is our creativity that will help us resolve any problems we face, even those we might create. ;)

Can you think of ways creativity has helped or hindered you personally? Do you sometimes doubt your own creativity? Leave a comment and let’s discuss it.