Dandelions and Bad Art

Dandelion in ink and wash

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.

Spin-the-Wheel App

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!

Chicken Adventure

Leghorn rooster

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.

New flamingo exhibit at the Houston Zoo

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.

At the Clay Festival in Gruene, TX

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

Intense chicken staring

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

Art Journal ice Storm 2012

Ice Storm 2012

Water doesn’t NORMALLY freeze in Oklahoma.  Not on its own, anyway. ‘Tain’t natural I tell ya!  Anyway, the last week of 2012, all the weather stations were talking about life altering winter storms that were going to hit our state.  I think it snowed for an hour or so.  Needless to say, we survived it.

There’s a video for this page over at Teh YouTube or in the window below:

httpv://youtu.be/YDp9pJSLcQA