A Busy Week!

Happy Family Day!

It's been (yet again) a very busy week at my house.  We hit a landmark here - Valentine's Day is the official last day of high calorie eating for the season.  Yay!  While I've enjoyed all the good eats from the last few months (maybe a bit too much) I am very excited to start working towards fitting into my jeans again :)

On the art front, for my birthday my wonderful hubby got me a copy of the book "Drawing Lab for Mixed-Media Artists: 52 Creative Exercises to Make drawing Fun" by Carla Sonheim.  The first exercise is to take about 10 min or so and draw as many cats as you can.  Judging by the examples in the book, I took this to mean that you should stretch your skills and NOT try to draw a super-realistic one.  Here's my attempt:

What I thought was so amusing about this exercise was afterwards, when I asked individual family members which were their favourites, everyone chose different cats!  There didn't seem to be one uniquely popular cat!  It was LOTS of fun to do, and I can't wait to give 10 min to the next exercise :)

Earlier this week I did one of those online quizzes, something like "Which Jane Austen Heroin Are You?".  I got Elinor Dashwood from Sense and Sensibility.  But that wasn't my point.  One of the questions was "what would you do on a Sunday morning?" with various options to choose from, one of which was "Sketch".  I thought this was such a lovely and romantic idea!  Something I've always wanted to do without knowing it!  So I decided to incorporate it into my Sunday yesterday.  I didn't try to overcommit myself.  There was no set amount of time I had to fill, but I did have an objective: to draw the goldfish in our aquarium.  

I don't get a lot of opportunity to draw live creatures.  There's got to be some sort of trick to it, or maybe fish isn't the best creature to start with.  Anyway, the biggest trouble with drawing a living creature is that they move.  A lot.  And perhaps they were excited because they thought they'd get fed or something because they were particularly active when I sat down.  Consequently I didn't get as much drawing in as I'd hoped, but it was still fun!!

On the courses front, I have completed 3 tests (some with better results than others :P) and 1 assignment.  It's reading week this week and I will be taking the time to catch up on my studies and start work on the 2 essays that are required.  I'm actually looking forward to this.  I know essays can be very dull and boring and hard, but, if I can get past the hardest part, determining a thesis statement, the rest can be full of creativity and excitement (I know, nerdy right!?).

Have a great week all!  I hope you find some way to express your creativity this week!

Week 6? and JD Hillberry

Wow.  I have to say that the last 4 weeks have been...interesting.  I know, I know, and I'm going to say it: I give up.  I freely admit that I have taken on way too much and that no amount of time management is going to keep me sane AND get all the things I want done.

That being said, here's the new plan: I am going to temporarily put my artistic endeavours on hold until the end of this term.  Now that isn't to say that I won't still be researching new techniques, imagining new projects, or even (dare I say it) creating the odd piece.  But I am relieving myself of the pressure to follow my prescribed schedule for the time being.

It isn't that the art I do isn't important, because it is.  It helps keep me sane and balanced.  But at the same time, priorities have changed since I drafted my work breakdown structure and I simply can't keep up and maintain the standards I want/need to succeed.  I'm still young.  I have lots of time.  And I can't help but think that if I was lying on my deathbed today I wouldn't be saying to myself: I wish I had not taken those extra courses.  I'm just enjoying them too much!

So what does this mean in terms of the blog?  Well, to be honest, I'm going to allow myself a bit of freedom here too.  Obviously I won't be reporting on my weekly progression through my WBS, and I won't have a lot of updates regarding new art projects and the like.  But my hope is to at least find something interesting for you each week.

For example, this week I have an interview for you to watch!  JD Hillberry is a fantastic black and white artist, working in charcoal, pencil, etc, as good as (or I might say even better than) MC Escher (another personal favourite of mine).  He and I share more than that in common, we are both members of the LinkedIn Group: B&W Pencil Artists & Illustrators.  He is author of the book 'Drawing Realistic Textures In Pencil' which has sold over 75,000 copies and was recently interviewed by our group owner Cindy Wider.  His drawings are incredibly realistic and are remarkable in that they are done using fairly inexpensive media.  Watch the interview by clicking here.

While I don't own his book, I have read it and the techniques and tips in it are amazing!  The interview is full of good info and insight.  I hope you enjoy watching it as much as I did.

Have a great week!