Top 5 Reasons To Become An Artist

Sep 23, 2015

Why would anyone want to take up art?

Some people would just say I wish I could draw like that and never even try to draw anything themselves, but the only way to become any good at anything is to practice. A friend of mine once said to me ‘you are born with a gift’, but I don’t know about that, I think everyone has to practice and learn everything they can on their chosen craft to be good at it.

When we are very young all children draw and colour in their books, so we all did it once upon a time, we just have to learn and practice to improve. How many people retire and take up art? It seems to be the in thing to do as we age and why not, I think it is the most relaxing hobby ever and time just flies when I am drawing.

So, here are 5 good reasons to take up art and become an Artist, give it a go you may surprise yourself.

1. Friends – if you are struggling to draw then why not join an art class to learn and improve your drawings. You will meet lots of new people and make some good friends who are mostly in the same position as you, I used to go to an evening art class and it was a great night out and I made lots of new friends, plus when you are all in the same boat in can build your confidence which is a good feeling.
2. Interesting Subjects – this is a great reason to take up art, you can grab your camera and go out and about finding lots of interesting subjects to draw and paint, you can also go through all your old holiday photos or why not draw your pets. We spend days out in wooded areas taking great photos of wildlife and trees plus we take a picnic, it makes a good day out. What about drawing people, you could visit friends and family and grab some photos of them, I am sure they would be delighted to be drawn by you.
3. Very Proud – so you are learning to draw, you will know when you are improving because people start to comment on how fabulous your drawings are and how they wish they could do it, this will make you very proud of yourself, it is a great confidence booster. If your drawings are still not how you want them, then learn from peoples comments to improve your technique.
4. Exhibit – so, you have finally managed to draw something brilliant, your next step could be to enter it into an exhibition, there are plenty of them around you just have to do a little bit of searching. You spend a lot of time learning and you finally got your drawing how you want it, so why not sell it and make some money – go for it you can do it.

Have A Great Day 😉

Artist Chill-Out

Sep 21, 2015

What do I do when I’m not writing for my blog?

I usually draw using my pastel pencils or sketching for my sister blog ‘Pencil Sketching’. Once I get started drawing I can lose roughly 4 hours where I am so engrossed in what I am doing, this is also the point when my body tells me to stop drawing and take a break as I start to lose concentration.

So, to refresh myself I will wander out into the garden and check on my vegetables and plants. This year I have had a good crop of:

• beans
• tomatoes
• lettuce
• chillies
• strawberries
• potatoes

I love food from the garden it tastes so much better than shop bought items.

Fun Time

For fun we make novelty birthday cakes, it’s a great chill-out, KJ loves electronics and is very good at decorating the cakes.

This cake is one we did last month in August for my brothers birthday.

The Cake Theme – we all play a game on our Ipads called ‘Clash of Clans’ – maybe you have heard of this game – the cake is based on a very high level town hall, KJ wired it up so there were lights and the sounds of the game playing.

We were very pleased with how it came out and needless to say, my brother was over the moon with it, the whole cake when it was finished weighed 19.5 llb including batteries – very heavy and very yummy 😉

Artist Coffee Time

Sep 18, 2015

Lets have a catchup over Coffee 🙂

If we were having coffee right now…I would tell you about the poll I set up on my blog ‘An Artist Day‘ so you can have your say in what I do next, because I know you like to get involved in what I do and I do value your opinion

If we were having coffee right now…I would tell you about the fabulous pair of red boots KJ bought me yesterday, they are so comfortable, I love them, I might draw them one day – hope my subconscious isn’t listening 🙂

If we were having coffee right now…I would tell you all about the fabulous holiday in Cornwall we recently had, we stayed in a fabulous farmhouse cottage and I would show you my photographs. I think there are a lot of pictures that can be turned into great pastel drawings

If we were having coffee right now…I would tell you about all my plans for future artworks, we would eat yummy cake and discuss all kinds of girly things.

If we were having coffee right now…I would ask you what you have been up to, so go ahead and tell me 😉

That’s it then, Coffee Break over for today, back to work, take care.

Artist Letter

Sep 18, 2015

This morning I received the letter below from an old friend, it’s basically tearing me off a strip, but hey ho, I do my best, but you know what they are so right.

Good Morning JanD

I have to write this letter to you as I think you have a couple of problems that need sorting out, now don’t get me wrong your art is really good it’s the way you go about it that I have the problem with.

As you are very creative, I understand how you bounce around from one project to the next without finishing the previous one, this is not on and we seriously need to change it.

I don’t know where to start with you, in the past I have tried to convince you to stick with one project at a time and you have just ignored my advice which, trust me, would benefit you no end.

So, once you have read this letter I hope you will be ready to act on my advice, at the end of the day I am only trying my very best to help you, so listen to me.

I have been thinking a lot about this problem and I honestly think you should sort out a calender and make it your ‘Artist Jobs To Finish/Goal Bowl’ call it what you like, but make one a.s.a.p.

Put on this calender the project you are working on and the end date for it to finish and stick to it, DO NOT START ANYTHING ELSE UNTIL IT’S FINISHED, do you understand? have you got it?

I will be checking up on your progress along the way and hope you have taken notice of my helpful advice.

If I find you have started another project before finishing the one you are currently doing, I will be forced to take further action.

So, go, finish the Rievaulx Bank pastel drawing, set a date and I will be reviewing it.

Lots of Love

Your subconscious mind

x

Are Pastels Messy?

Sep 18, 2015

Question: A while ago I was asked a question by Roxanne, ‘how do you handle the messiness of pastels? I think that’s one of my biggest struggles when using pastels as I’m left-handed and my hand drags around in all that colour’

Answer: Well yes they are very messy, I gave up using block pastels (these can make your hands very messy) many years ago because of this one problem, I now use pastel pencils which are a lot cleaner on your hands, but you still have to be very careful not to touch your actual drawing unless of course you are blending your colours.

I don’t think there is a way of not having mess with pastels.

How do I cope with the mess?

I always start my drawings on the top left hand side – as I am right handed – and work across to the right, once I reach the right side I go back to the left side and work across again.

Left handed people would probably benefit by starting the drawing on the right hand side and working across, this way your hand never touches your drawing.

Also I always have a piece of kitchen towel that I rest my hand on whilst drawing, this stops the oil from your skin going onto the paper which can interfere with the pastel colour on the paper.

Artist Drawing Board

I have an artist drawing board that KJ made for me, it is a piece of flat wood with a thin piece of wood along the top. It was originally used for drawing on an easel, I could rest my pencils on the little lip along the top of the board so this is what I use for pastel drawing.

I draw some and then give the drawing a gentle blow and the dust goes up to the top of the board where it hits the lip and most of it collects there.

This board can also be used upside down on an easel so the lip is at the bottom, then as you draw the dust will fall down and the lip will catch it.

Mess on hands

Hands can get very messy when you have been blending using your fingers, I always make sure that I clean my hands after every little blend I do because if you don’t, you can spread the colours to other colours and ruin the vibrancy of the pastels.

I use a baby wipe to clean my hands, these works very well, or just a damp tissue does the same job, but be careful again to make sure your hands are completely dry before going back to your drawing.

I hope these little tips help you to create a fabulous clean, vibrant piece of Art – happy drawing! 🙂

Artistic Quotes

Sep 17, 2015

“Every child is an Artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.” – Pablo Picasso

Whenever you read about an Artist and their work they always include the words “I started to draw when I was a child” – well didn’t we all, but the secret is some people carried on drawing and painting and other stopped.

I don’t think it matters if we stopped our art then came back to it in later years, as some of us have no time to practice Artwork when we are bringing up our families, it’s not until the later years a lot of people really have some spare time to get stuck into their Art.

I think as we get older we also travel more and take lots of photographs which we can turn into Artwork memories which is great fun.

Have you seen the latest craze ‘Adult Colouring Books’ these are supposed to be good for your mind and they are great fun, I have one, they are really enjoyable because you don’t have to think about anything you just relax and use whatever colours you want 🙂

An Artistic Poll

Sep 17, 2015

Artistic Poll

I have turned this poll into a sticky post so you can find it easily.

Ok, over to you, I have created the poll so you can have your say, just click on what you want to see more of on my blog:

Thank you for voting!

If there is something you want to see that isn’t in the poll, I would be happy to hear your thoughts, you can contact me here, tell me what you would like 🙂