Skip to main content

I'm Showing it, I'm Showing it!

Early on I bought a book by Austin Kleon - "Steal Like an Artist".  Since then I had also bought another of his books - "Show Your Work!" and I've taken it to heart.  


This drawing is of a "Sinclair" gas station in Summit county close to where my son owns a couple of lots.  It's an old timey type of station where the pumps don't match, the building old but with a unique style and there is a "real" Sinclair dinosaur on the roof.  Just one of those sights on a back county road trip.

So here it is in a drawing.  My drawing is rough, simplistic and has an illustration type style to it, done only in grays.  When I first started these, I thought they where next but I didn't feel they were "Art" as it was the style I could do.  

But I showed my work to others.

I thought the response would be that they where nice but simplistic (they are) but art?  I didn't know.  I had fear (read the book - Art and Fear) that they where just ok.  The more feedback I got the better I felt about them.  Now they are not all winners and I do filter out ones that I know are stinkers (mostly from composition, etc.).  The turning point occurred when some artist friends (think full time rent-paying, gallery showing artists) provided me with feedback that I do have a style and others like it.

It keeps me going.  Thanks guys and thanks Austin for getting me to show my work.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Still Life

 Life is never still, at least I don't think you would want it to be.  That's why so many of us (i.e., retired care free people) travel.  Keep seeing new things and places.   Well the Hurricane so far inland was a new thing and one I would have rather forgone but life is what happens.  Life keeps moving. Except a still life is forever and captures a slice of time frozen in a painting.  This is from a wooden bowl of pears onboard our ship during dinner one nice.  Again, just thought it looked nice. Enjoy.
Post a Comment
Read more

3rd Try is a Charm

I've been trying to draw / paint these barns for a couple of years but never felt or got them right.  This time I think they turned out right. So What went wrong before and what's right now with this drawing?  This time, the light was right.  It's coming from the upper right and the shadows just looked right.  The other thing is the corn field on the left had to "be in season", otherwise it's just a plowed field.  I had taken other photos from different angles but they never felt right.  This angle has the road, power lines, corn field, etc. all leading to the right.  The shadows on the lower right helps fill in that corner (don't forget about the corners!).  The last part is trying to draw (ink paint maybe) the trees in the background.  Not so easy when they are kind of a blob is green shades. So yeah, it's composition that is king.  Many times I just don't see it until the drawing / painting is finished and when it's right it feels goo...
Post a Comment
Read more

So THIS is My Style?

 If I play around long enough my style will appear.  I'm guessing that this is kind of it.  I'll keep working on other techniques in watercolor but for now this appears to be my style. I do like it and others appear (to my face) to also like this.  Not every one of my paintings is a success.  About 1/3 so far, but when they do I am rather pleased that anything good comes out of it at all. I do love color.  Color is happy and outdoors is full of color, be it the west or back east with the greens.  Color color color. Also doing some painting on hot press paper and see how that goes. Later......
Post a Comment
Read more