D.I.Y. (but Don't Forget Others)

OR Don't Lose Yourself, In Yourself:


He-he, crazy I know but I think some people forget to live and can get lost in their art.


I mean that living isn't just the process of creating, it is life experience then processed in to art. I know some of you look at the word "process" and think of the negative connotation of "processed", like processed food... I think of it positively as an encompassing need to create but the evil dark side is the addiction of neglect of the whole. That which makes you the artist.


I have met these type of artists who think that painting 24 hours a day in their studio will answer their artistic or human needs.



They forget that to really create you can't just lock yourself in a room without any consequence or create consequence.

I know too many artists that forget this and fall into a bad habit and think that working "only" at their craft will be the answer, will make them whole.


What I am trying to impart to you is that you must go out and live, travel, interact, network, feel and yes even fail.



I don't mean with just artists but that is OK (for a start) I mean try and step outside your comfort zone. I know people who don't only draw comics/paint/play instruments but people whose interests vary from sports to cooking to gardening, physics to marine biology to whatever (OK so the marine biologist is married to a painter) . This is good...



This allows you to open up and expand on your process and makes for a healthier you, which makes for a healthier creator.
..

I know many of you are professionals or on the way to becoming a professional but don't forget that which made you who you are and there are others that can help you become more...


"Solitude is fine but you need someone to tell that solitude is fine."
— Honoré de Balzac



My Art Week:

I'm still working on my inks and probably becoming further removed from realistic illustration in terms of the detail work. I'm finding pose, fluidity and blacks in service of the illustration are what I am working on. I have also spent time sketching backgrounds and landscape reading Jack Hamm. Hamm's books on drawing have some excellent tips and exercises...


Keep on creating!

ArrrOOooo!