Artumn Madness: Day 6

I've been painting a lot of these because they are tasty and I love them. I need to buy more. I need to practice more too.

I have a painting of a dog I did for a fiverr gig I'll post later today. I will stop the gigs for my autumn painting time, so if you want one you better order before tomorrow, when I'll suspend my painting gig. I'll still be doing drawings, however.

I've also got to figure out how to update my ticker on my phone. It still says I've only done a little over 100 sq inches! That's so not true :)

Is anyone going to join me for Artumn Madness in October? It's only a little over 3.5 sheets of letter sized (A4) paper a day for a month! Not too difficult!

Artumn Madness: Inspiration of the Day 01

So, I was asked the question, "If I do this, how will I get enough ideas to draw every day?"

This was a good question because it made me think outside of my head for a bit. For me, ideas just pour in. I look at stuff from the past, I doodle, I keep a camera with me at all times, I keep a sketch book, etc.

Ideas beget ideas.

But how to start when one is not used to coming up with ideas?

I have decided to share some of my set ups with everyone. Ideally, you would want to set up this in your own studio or work space and draw or paint from life. But I know this isn't always possible. You are welcome to paint directly from my photos on these posts. They aren't the best photos, being done with an iPhone, but they are there just to get so ideas flowing. Here is an anaar.

Simple, but the reds are difficult to get just right.

And here is one that's a bit more dynamic:

Yeah... I've been painting veggies and fruit. But thy are so fun! And I always start to think about what else I can do with them. Onions can be peeled and have gorgeous skin when light shines through it. And Pomegranate seeds are like little jewels! There are just a ton of ways these things can be painted! I could spend the entirety of autumn on just fruit!

But...I also have some handmade pottery I've been wanting to use in a painting. And the trees are starting to turn. And cotton is almost ready to be picked. It is the season of mist and mellow fruitfulness.

Inspired? Have something you can't wait to draw or paint? Something or someone you secretly want to paint? Let us know (what you can!) :)

Artumn Madness: Days Three, Four and Five

Isn't this time of year great? It's been absolutely busy. And I've been doing my best to not only paint, but get ready for October (where I will kick off Artumn Madness, October Edition) and help some of my friends with drawing.

I've done a few paintings, and I should update my count. I'm now at 101.325 sq inches. But I should be able to add at least 100 or so more today once I get done with my two commissions and a few other smaller paintings. I've gotten into more of a painting groove. Now if I could just produce good paintings (notice the lack of a photo of what I've done on this post!)

One of my friends asked me a question last night: "How do you start when you draw from life."

I thought this was an excellent question and I set out trying to explain the start. I realized while I could do it in words, it would probably be easier for everyone involved if I do a demonstration. So I'm planning to do that, it'll just take me a bit to get the photos done right and the post formatted. Especially with all the paintings I'm trying to do. But I'll be doing several beginners posts because I think it's important to have a starting point. There are a ton of "how to start painting and drawing" posts, but I do think I have something different to bring to the table. A different way of looking at it. So either sometime tomorrow or the next day I'll be posting that, and I hope it helps!

Artumn Madness: Day Two

Thin Pepper and Lemon
Still Life
4x5

Well, I thought I would show off the best piece I've done that counts towards Artumn Madness. I had a day of volunteering so I haven't done much, I'm afraid. They put me on trash duty for most of the morning, and then I ended up doing face painting for about an hour. I don't think I'll count that towards my 30,000 sq inch goal, but it is tempting. It was painting. Kids are kinda cute.

I have painted some after that, and I'm about to paint more. I have a little set up for still life and everything. I'm going to do two commissions first, before I start on the still life. I have peppers and lemons and all sorts of fun things to paint! Aanar even! Tomorrow I'll have to shellac more boards before I'm able to really start painting. I think I'll shellac as many as can fit on my work area outside, and then go inside to paint for an hour or so, then harvest those, shellac another set, then paint for an hour...

I've really got to get started! At least now I'm back on a normal sleeping schedule so I can get up at a time that isn't noon or later. That was getting old fast. I like being able to paint with natural light, and I was missing morning light sleeping so late! I mean, I get natural light all day, but half of the day was lost... lost...

When do you like to paint? Morning? Night? Do you prefer natural light? North light only? Sky light? Light box? Let me know about your set up! Link to pictures for bonus points!

Artumn Madness: Day One

Well, it is September 23 and I have gotten off to a...

... ok, so I haven't really started. I hope to have 40 square inches done by the end of the day. I think that's fairly miserable. 40/10000 I am rocking it.

I would stay up late to get more done, but I have to be up to volunteer tomorrow. All day. depending on when I finish I may do another painting, but I can't stay up past midnight to get a lot done. I might try at least one more larger work.

I was always slow starting out during NaNoWriMo too. One year I didn't start until 6 days in, but I did get it done. I always work better on a deadline. But I do tend to skirt them.

How do you deal with deadlines? Do you start strong? Finish strong? Keep an even head? Let me know!

Artumn Madness: The Rules

Well, my cousin told me it might be helpful if I outlined a few rules in the event that someone would like to paint with me on this venture. I said okay. And then I had to figure out exactly what the rules were going to be. It's easy for me, I have a lot of stuff and I want to paint. I'm going to PAINT ALL THE THINGS!


So here are the rules:

1. 10,000 square inches. You have one month. Do something with them. If you want to do the whole "Artumn" with me, (September 23-December 21) it's 30,000 square inches.

2. Yeah, that's it.


And here are the questions I am anticipating:


Q: Does it have to be one large 100in x 100in work?

A: No, you could do 10,000 square inch drawing or paintings if you wanted. Or you can do a 16x20 painting a day (plus some extra on special days) or you can find a giant 100x100 canvas and go to town. Whatever would make you feel more accomplished, or would fit into your goals.


Q: Does it have to be painting? Oil only? What's the "correct way"

A: There really is no correct way. It's whatever you would be happiest with. Do you want to get better at pencil? Pen and ink? Watercolor? Decoupage? Paper cut outs? Pyrography? Fabric arts? Acrylic? Oil? It's up to you!


Q: I don't really have a lot of money....

A: Eh, neither do I. I am an artist. But, seriously, you don't have to go out and buy the best canvas, the best paint, or the best brushes and paper and tools. This is about getting better, not making a bunch of (Or one big) masterpiece. This is about working! I once saw a lady take a roll of brown paper towels from storage and use that to draw on. Tons and tons of drawings with that and an ink pen. You can get a ream of paper for about 8 dollars at Staples. I went to Hobby Lobby and asked for all off the mat scraps (Smaller than 5x7) they just throw away and they'd keep them in a box and I'd buy a whole bunch of them for a couple of dollars. Now I'm shellacking them and using them! See how creative you can be! Isn't that what artists are known for? I know I went to a place where we had a bonfire and I ended up with a ton of charcoal that worked brilliantly. A roll of butcher paper from Lowe's doesn't cost that much. And just ask around. Who knows what your family and friends will have in a corner that they'd love to get rid of!


Q: I've started this work and I want to use it. Do my preliminary sketches count? What about...?

A: If you want to use it, use it. If you would feel good about yourself after counting that, then I will feel good about you too. This is about getting better. And if you cut corners, you don't really hurt anyone but yourself. But if you worked hard on whatever it is, count it! But they have to be done within either autumn, or the month you've chosen to work in. That's it.


Q: How do I keep up with how much I've done?

A: I don't really have anything set up where people can keep up with their square inch count. I've started a twitter account @artumnmadness and I will be starting a facebook group that people can join. As for now, you can tweet @artumnmadness or comment on my blog here. Or you can post to your own blog and facebook page. Just try and link back here so other people can join! You can either measure it out perfectly or estimate if you are using less than regular pieces.


Q: Where did you get 10,000 square inches?

A: I looked up the size ofA Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. I figured that would be an accomplishment in a month. It was 9000 something square inches. I rounded to 10,000.


Q: What do I win?

A: A real sense of accomplishment? Maybe a certificate you can print and hang on your wall....


Q: Why in the world would I want to do this?

A: You should look inside yourself and see if you have what it takes.... Ok, I'm being slightly facetious. The reasons for doing this are as varied as the reasons people sign up for NaNoWriMo. People always say "I want to do art" or "I want to write a novel" and it's always going to be "someday." Some people like a challenge. Some want to use up a large amount of art supplies that they're too afraid to start to work on.

For me, I don't really have such a noble cause. I am always timid when starting something else. I work best within rules and deadlines because when I add limitations I always come up with more creative solutions. When I have a deadline I work harder and do more. I loved NaNoWriMo, and I wanted something for art that didn't involve comic strips or create one perfect painting daily. And also I have a lot of art supplies...


So I made up my own rules and deadlines.


Do you want to join me? It could be fun! I'm looking forward to starting in 3 days time. I will be welcoming people who want to do a month of art in October, and once again in November as well, so don't feel too rushed. Just comment, follow me on twitter, and let me know what you think!

Fiverr: Dream House in Autumn

This is a cute painting I did, I kinda like it, though I did have to fight with it a lot.

Artumn Madness: The Idea

Autumn starts this year on September 23. I've always loved this time of year. I just want to go and create and put things in order, enjoys the colors and the scents. Large bouquets of sharpened pencils and school supplies! I love it!

So what's that box of... Stuff?

That is a small part of my collection of mat board scraps. Yes. Small part. I have two other bags and another large box. so... What am I going to be doing with it?

I love writing for NaNoWriMo in November: the madness, the work, the finished piece! I wanted to do something like that with painting. So I did daily painting, but I never got that feeling of madness. I felt pressured to make perfect pieces daily, but even that ran counter to NaNo and the "it doesn't matter if it sucks just WRITE" argument.

And if you write and paint a lot of absolute crap and drivel, you are bound to accidentally come up with something good as long as you're trying! There was once a pottery class where the teacher divided everyone into two groups. The first group only had to turn in one pot, but it had to be perfect to get a passing grade. The second group would be graded on quantity instead of quality. They had an ungodly quota to meet. So where did the best pots come from? The group more focused on quantity, hands down. The other group got bogged down in theories and beauty and didn't create as much. It's all about the work!

Then I got an idea. Something I could do. I was going to use all of my pieces of mat board for painting. All of them. At first I thought I would do it in October which would be a very, very scary thing to do. Luckily while trying to come up with names Assad came up with Artumn and I found out that fall starts September 23 and ends December 21. Much more doable than thirty days, especially with the amount of board I have!

So that's my challenge. An ungodly number of small paintings are to be done by December 21st. I am not going to be focused on quality. I'm not going to try to be bad, but I won't have that pressure of one perfect daily painting.

I will have the freedom to just paint!

Bookbinding: Books 1, 2, 3 & 4

Well, I finally got all four of these mostly done. Well, as much as I'm going to do. I have to redo a signature in the star one, the pages of the dark black one have to be trimmed down, and the other two have small problems that I'm never going to fix because they're my books and a little bit of weirdness doesn't bother me, even though it would have brought my grade down in my bookbinding class I took.

I really dislike how stressed I was during that class. I love books and I love making them, but I think I would have done a better job on these if I didn't have, "so what if this would have been marked wonky! I can do anything!" in my head like a mad woman. But now that I let that go through my system, I feel much better about bookbinding in general. Less likely to freak out.

Ok, it's me, I always freak out. But usually I'm not freaking out to please someone else, but me. I haven't done that in awhile. Art school did make me a lot more chill about mistakes. No. It had nothing to do with drugs. Ever. (seriously! I'm much to high on life to ever want to get into an 'altered state') But one thing art classes did teach me was that if I can paint something good once, I can do it again. It's better to wipe out something beautiful in the wrong place and put it where it needs to go than trying to paint around it!

Bookbinding class taught me to freak out again because I had no time to do assignments and make them as perfect as I wanted and yes, it would really mess up my grade. Not a good feeling to cultivate.

No! Don't take me the wrong way!

I'm not saying we shouldn't strive for getting it perfect, we should! I'm just saying this feeling of absolute panic and failure was a bad way to go about it. It didn't make the people who weren't going to try anyway get any better and it made people who were actually trying to learn and do beautiful books miserable and not want to do it.

If we were going to make "perfect books" right out of the gate, why bother joining the class?

In my painting classes my teacher could make someone with an admittedly bad painting (someone who was trying, but just couldn't get it right, not someone who didn't try) feel better at the end of a critique, have confidence that they could be better, and feel like trying again. The grade didn't matter but he was making people try harder!

I wish I would have been able to get that from bookbinding class... I'm working on it though!

Bookbinding: Book 1 & 2

I finished the red one last night and I just love it. Right now I'm sewing book three and hope to be done in an hour or so, but I'm getting a pretty rotten blister and it's making me go so slow! Book four won't take much time because it's only six signatures.

After that I've got another article I'm working on about why north lit studios are awesome and why kayak compasses confuse me. And I have done another article on the faux fauve palette, but I'm missing works that illustrate my point so I have to work on those. And I have a commission.

Whew!