Ch...ch...changes!

I did say that things were changing and for the last year since I wrote that post there has been a lot of slow and steady progress toward making those changes happen. To reflect those changes... I will be closing down the blogspot accounts. These posts will remain, but I will be blogging exclusively on Wordpress from this point forward. When it is up and running I will leave a link here for those of you who are still with me.

Thanks for the follow and the patience in the course of this past year and a half.
Enjoy your own art works!

New Works: the Hand Cramps

I have embarked on a new artistic adventure. It's taken me years to wrap my head around the fact that the old plan is never going to happen the way I want it too. So while I've angrily dug in, "been a grown up" and worked diligently in a "regular job" with "real work" that is "practical" and gotten just about as far as I have ever done on a "pipe dream", I've been unable to see around the obstacle. I've just seen the obstacle.

I don't know why or how, but a few weeks ago I saw a way around. A clearer path to self employment in a field of my chosing and following my passion. I've learned where I do and don't belong in the world. And just when I was afraid that I was never going to be able to retain my artistic identity with paper and pen while dabbling in digital art BOOM! There is the answer.

The digital art has made me comfortable with computers, web based graphics programs, the wide world of digital publishing and generally being good training to make sure that the work I want to do gets done and gets into the hands of people who will enjoy it. The trend that I thought was a fad is a legit niche market with some staying power that will always work itself back into plan A if the market decides that plan A had good product and enjoys a renaissance.


Here is a sample of what I am working on. These are test pages for a coloring book that I am compiling drawings for. I get about 2-3 done per day. The coloring takes ALL DAY though since I am bereft of my two favorite pencil brands. They are somewhere in storage. I have many drawings now but not all of them fit the two themes that I am starting with.

I am trying to decide on format, covers, the intro piece and trying to get images scanned so that they will upload to the publisher. Have to decide on paper style and all sorts of stuff like that. I have set a deadline and it is fast approaching.

Preview

This is a preliminary mock up of one of my designs that will become a coloring book.

Getting back to basics. That has been the theme of recovery from heart disease. Did I not mention that before? Part of the lack of post was definitely health related. But also it has been a profound lack of art production.

I've been upset about being thwarted in several plans in the past. And it took me getting busy and overworked to realize that the real limit to my success was imagination. I was so set on on way of doing things that I couldn't see a way around the roadblocks.

And honestly, 6 years ago when I started seeing all the Zentagles exploding in the craft markets I thought it was a fad. It went from fad to movement in creating the adult coloring book market. Who knew? If I think about it though, I have to admit that it makes a lot of sense. Any number of customers would drag their friends into a store hoping to make a new fan of rubber stamping only to be told "I'm not artistic." And some people really are not artistic enough to do more than color. Not judgement and no accusations need to be thrown around. That is just the way that it is. The lament of the non artistic over being better at math and not so good with drawing is just what the adult coloring market soothes.

Everyone needs art whether or not they can draw themselves. As is said, Art washes away from the Soul the dirt of everyday life. Everyone needs a soul washing now and again and a trip to church on Sunday isn't always enough. Attending church can be a source of stress and discontent in itself which counteracts the inherent benefits. And sometimes, you need that soul washing in the middle of the day in the midst of a hectic work week and you can't wait for the church setting to get the soul refreshing benefits of art. Adult coloring books provide the immediate effect of being able to get negativity off of you when you find yourself surrounded by the ugliness of of a fractured and dysfunctional world.





Cleaning the soul is important. If coloring books will do it then that is where I am going to put myself to help. I've not done anything artistic in a few years other than on digital formats and I have to say this. While the brain has gotten quite a work out and I have had quite a satisfying adventure in photography and digital composition, it is not quite the same as drawing with a pencil on paper. The whole body is involved in drawing. The whole body is involved in coloring too. And that is what helps to get the energy moving in a positive direction.In the last two weeks my health has improved more significantly than in the last 3 months.

Now to do something with what I have learned and employ my inherent skill set to be the most beneficial!

New Project Updates

Been a while since I've posted anything. I've been trying to figure out how all of the new things I've been learning would translate into finished projects. And I think I have the solution. So there should be more work to see in the next few weeks and a link to a book you can buy.

That's right. I am a few weeks away from selling my own book of art.

Stay tuned.

Recovery

Slowly coming back from a cardiac event following nearly two years of non stop working for the man. Loving PicMonkey as always and working with that app to create new things. Lots of research and food things happening. Photography has been big this Summer as well as the German Foods.

Sounds like there is a lot going on. But it is mostly trying to come back from a near stroke. Like a stroke but without the brain damaging after effects. I am taking up cheese making (Quark, German farmers cheese) and bread making. So the art is going to be sparse for a bit longer. I am also trying to get my fine motor skills back up to par.

In the mean time this is what I work on when I have to sit down for a bit.

I wrote a post about the folk art styles I've been researching on my other blog. I'm kinda all over the place right now trying to figure out what I want to focus on and what to purge from storage. It's gonna be a long Summer.

Gotta Love Creative Market

I signed on to Creative Market to get free fonts. I am looking forward to making money again so that I can buy some of the font bundles. There are amazing things here for font geeks & foundry freaks. More than fonts, there are digital packs for a huge variety of illustrative elements. I just whipped this up with today's free download.

it's a bit busy bit you get the idea
Haarlems cursive font and Es Kalapa Muda at the border

Every Monday the Market offers 6 free downloads. Last week I hit the jack pot 5 out of 6 offers pertained to my interest. Today's yield gave me three things in my style. Restraint is difficult to achieve with these guys. There are literally thousands of graphic designers making things to make it easier for you to make things. 

And lots of information. 

I linked to the blog page for Creative Market because I have been reading the backlog of articles all week. The information is astounding. And I can not wait to get started on my new ventures. Though productivity is going to be an issue as I keep drooling over all of the goodies that these designers have to offer. 

It's been a hard two years for the art work. I realized this a while back. As with all things though, sometimes you have to step back and find your direction again. I can get crazy making things across a very wide spectrum of mediums. Reigning that in and figuring out what exactly I am going to do with all of the skills I have and which direction is the most fulfilling requires time. And I guess that is what I have been doing for the last two years that the art production has been low. 

It will still be a while before I know how and in which direction to progress. In the meantime I am indulging my love of typeface and enjoying the ease with which Windows lets me install those fonts. And as always, PicMonkey is right there making life so much easier.

Long live Pic Monkey and Creative Market!

Apologies

I am so sorry. I scheduled those diorama posts so be spread out over a week. I didn't realize that blogger decided to publish them all at once. It does that sometimes and it is really annoying. I will be working on more photos over the coming weeks.

Also working on food photography again.

A few changes in life being made currently and I am spread a little thinner than I like. But we will get back to the meat and potatoes of art and life in short order.