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.
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.
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.
