Outfoxing Your Reluctant Artist

January 6, 2009January 6, 2009 / still a dreamer

bluefootedbooby Actually, this is a follow-up to the earlier post, with a bit of success to report. Sunday was another day that I had time available to work on my children’s book dummy. Once going, I love working on this. Getting myself to sit down and start? Another story. Procrastinating, avoidance, outright fear … whatever you want to call it, it’s all the same in the end. Years ago, someone very close to me said, “You know, we could really talk about this forever, but sometimes you just have to nail your ass in the chair and do it.” Well said. Couldn’t agree more.

Ergo, the plan outlined in the earlier post. This has been working rather successfully in the few short days that I began. You’d think, since we’re all in the same person, that we couldn’t outfox ourselves, but clearly, it’s possible. Above is Sunday’s drawing. Clearly, I had a bit more time than Monday, whose sketch, made at 9:30 p.m., is nothing I will post. Having applied my butt to my drafting chair on Sunday, I drew the rather endearing Blue-Footed Booby you see here. I was helpless to walk away from the dummy which I’d just happened to leave lying on my desk. Quite crafty. So I worked on it.

For the weekend, I got two sketches done, but also figured out where the remaining two page spreads would go in my PB, roughed them out, and did a fairly good sketch of one of them. That was my plan! Even I am surprised that this works.

Are you someone who paces, distracts yourself, and otherwise has discovered 50 things that all need to be done N-O-W when you finally have time to devote to your creative work? You might try this – you, too, can be outfoxed.

Jump-starting Creativity after the Holidays-Equine Sketch

January 4, 2009January 4, 2009 / still a dreamer

penink-colt2 The holidays take up a lot of time one way or another, and it’s easy to lose our creative drive as holiday demands drive us in 15 different directions. Speaking for myself, I need to get back into my drawing and was looking for a way to jump-start my drawing efforts again. I’m quite sure a variation of this will work just fine with writing as well.

I wanted to make it fun, something I wanted to do, AND relatively painless. So I gave myself a challenge. I gathered up all my calendars from 2008 and a couple for 2009 I’d been mailed as fundraisers and stacked them on my drawing desk. My challenge is to draw one animal – yes, all my calendars are animals – every day AT my drawing desk. That’s an important part.

My drawing desk is in the room with all my art supplies, so if I’m feeling I might not do justice to a wolf in pen and ink, I can always grab my pastels. That’s the obvious. The secondary gain is that once I’m at my drawing desk, where my other current projects lie, it makes it much easier for me to park my butt there and settle into some of the more time-consuming projects I have to do.

I’m no stranger to procrastination, so while I may be wanting to pace the room awhile before settling down to work on some serious illustrations, or finding the opportune time to clear out and dust an entire bookcase shelf by shelf, I’ll already be sitting there in work mode. Tricky, eh?

That’s my plan anyway. Maybe it’ll work for you, too! My own challenge is on, and here’s my first sketch.

Inspiration

October 6, 2008May 16, 2012 / still a dreamer

Where do we get our inspiration? How is it affected by our moods? Though not the case today, once was a time when the sadder and more tragic my life was, the more I wrote. To this day, I’d say some of my best poetry came from a sad place.

But why not joy? Why not both? Why not the endless mysteries of life? I find my inspiration to write and draw comes from such a myriad of places … searching for a fall image in my clip art or on iStock, I find myself momentarily lost in the soft, misty photos of autumn trees and roads, and I know down that road lies a story. And I can tell you it’s a wistful one.

Looking at a wmv file of dolphins creating their own rings underwater and then playing with and bursting them with their noses, I see a tale of wonder. I know there’s a story of swimming with them, to really be among them, and share moments of our intertwined lives and ancient histories. It might first be a tale of wonder, then of empathy and joy and lightness. In shimmering, watery blues.

While I work at the computer, I listen to the radio through iTunes. I’ve rediscovered one of my very favorite music genres on FolkAlley.com. I’m once again entranced by the simplicity of folk music, and struck by the endless stories complemented by six and twelve string guitar. The music takes me back to another time when feelings were alternately bright and shiny, rich and deep, overwhelming and frightening – living away from home for the first time and in New York City. I’m at home with folk music. While connecting me to the past, it remains contemporary. The stories it tells bring me images for illustrations and I’m dreaming in rhythm.

Some days I feel myself a portal for infinite possibilities … inspiration everywhere. How about you?

Quote from Emerson

September 24, 2008September 24, 2008 / still a dreamer

“The misery of man appears like childish petulance, when we explore the steady and prodigal provision that has been made for his support and delight on this green ball which floats him through the heavens.”

– Ralph Waldo Emerson, from Nature

Chimney Swifts Grace A Dusky Sky

August 29, 2008 / still a dreamer

Chimney Swifts Flying Overhead

Each evening in the summer, before the crickets and frogs begin their serenades, there is a loud chittering outside, a beckoning to come see the sky. The light fades and in increasing numbers, small birds dart about in the approaching dusk. Their rapid wing movement nearly mimics that of a bat, but as I watch, I note their too-slender bodies and elegant lines. They circle overhead, first in sight everywhere, then seeming to disappear. They return to recklessly swoop in random patterns, now close, now hundreds of feet overhead, criss-crossing the sky in repetitions.

They are Chimney Swifts, small birds that live inside uncapped chimneys and open vertical structures. Practically swarming the sky, they bring Alfred Hitchcock to mind. I’ve learned a family of five Chimney Swifts eats 12,000 small insects per evening, mosquitos, gnats, no-see-ums, all the ones that quietly bite and torment. The suspense is clearly for small flying creatures, not me. The birds also migrate 6,000 miles every year, in pursuit of their meals.

I’d never seen Chimney Swifts until I lived in this part of the state, and never so many `til I moved to this location, just a few houses from the Delaware River. The dining by the river must be nothing short of gourmet for the Chimney Swifts.

Swifts Eating on the Fly

I stand on my back porch, lean on the railing. The sky deepens and I watch in amazement, perhaps for 20 minutes. I am mesmerized by these flickering shadows on a blue-grey canvas. I am happy to be a part of their evening repast, if only as a bystander.

Photographing them with a digital flash cannot do them justice, but do click on the photos to get an idea of what I see. For more information on Chimney Swifts, check out their own web site, chimneyswifts.org or the HSUS Chimney Swift info page.