Drawing Exercise – Proportional Measure
This is an excelllent method for practicing your drawing and proportional measuring. Thanks to Dave Malan for the step by step.
Fine Art Photograpy
I have 3 new prints available in my print store in the photographic gallery. I love nostalgic moods and distressed textures. These photos seemed to lend themselves well to that sort of interpretation. Most of the distressing and aging effects were done with PS captured brushes. Hope you enjoy them.
The Poverty of Arrogance
Why don’t people collect skills, knowledge and experience like rare artifacts or gold bullion? Why don’t they hunt for them like buried treasure? The smart ones do. I watched a sharpshooting competition on tv where two contestants facing off were offered coaching by a third expert before the final showdown. One contestant acted as though the instructor was an annoying child dabbling in things he didn’t understand. This particular competitor was a champion pistol shooter. So apparently he had gathered all the nuggets of wisdom and experience he wanted and was satisfied that he had found them all. This sort of arrogance amazes me! I’ve learned things, important things, valuable things, from people with half my years and experience. In the same way that one person searching a treasure site for a few minutes happens upon an incredible find where others searching for hours have found nothing. If something is valuable to know does it matter who or where it comes from?
What if, in our professional development, we acted more like collectors? What if, when we found a gem to add to our knowledge and experience, we became the wide-eyed child as we eagerly added it to our collection rather than grab at our wounded ego because we didn’t come up with it first. Arrogance can cost you plenty and you may not even realize what you’ve lost.
In your professional development start collecting the skills you need. Practice them. Add some more and practice those. Then find someone better than you and aim at their skill level, then do it all over again. Collect the knowledge needed to make that skill better, more polished, then add more. Look for those little nuggets of knowledge everywhere, like priceless treasure. Never stop collecting, even from unlikely people and places. Gain confidence from your collection but not arrogance. The difference can be costly.
WordPress 3.0 CMS is Here!
Looks likes WordPress is not your average blogging platform anymore but a full featured CMS. I’m anxious to put it through its paces. Stay tuned
Powerful Booth Design Means More Traffic
“The point is it’s not the job of the exhibit to educate anyone.
It’s the booth’s job to capture attention.”
via Right-Brain Trade Show Exhibit Design Pulls In Left-Brain Attendees.
Follow me on Twitter and Linkedin
Look me up on these sites and lets connect. Look forward to seeing you there.
Choosing The Right Eraser
A rather useful bit of information about erasers from Binders Art. Some of this I didn’t know.
Tips & Tricks #7: The Other Side Of The Pencil – Choosing The Right Eraser For The Job.
Baby-Step Art
I discovered a long time ago that, for me, the most difficult part about completing any personal art project is getting started (thankfully, this is not true of paid assignments where deadlines and money tend to motivate me). I’ve been known to put off a personal painting for months because of not having the time I want, being too tired, having too many distractions or just the general environment for getting prepared wasn’t right. Huh?! I know, I don’t get myself sometimes. But then again maybe you can relate. What works for me? Baby steps! Thats right! I have to go no further than the movie What About Bob to find an answer. Don’t laugh. The approach has gotten me through many a project. If I do something, ANYTHING towards getting started no matter how small, rather than look at the project in its entirety, before I know it I’m finished. Maybe its just getting out my paints and brushes or stretching the paper or getting started on the drawing or just finishing the nose instead of the whole face. Sometimes they can even be microsteps. Maybe I’m just a big baby. Anyway, whatever process works for YOU and makes YOUR art happen? Do that!
Art Print Store
Just finished setting up my print store where you can order prints of my paintings, choose the paper they’re printed on, and even order framing if you wish. I hope you’ll stop by and give it a look.
Some of the art available at my print shop
Backwoods Militiaman: The Finished Painting
I can’t believe I only just got around to finishing this 2 years later. I don’t know why I waited so long. Although I fought against the paper a bit, I really enjoyed painting it. I used Canson watercolor paper from a block and I was wishing the entire time I had used Arches instead, ANY Arches. The Canson is a decent paper but doesn’t stand up as well to the heavy wet washes and the lifting I ended up doing. But its done now and I hope you enjoy it. If you want to see my original post on this subject and the drawing look here.
Prints of this painting are now available at my Print Store
