My Rock – My Mom
Sarah Drawing a Picture, ink on paper by Emmy Ezzell, circa 1984. Click here to see more drawings from this session.
My Mom was the first person who knew I was an artist, and who never ever told me I couldn’t be one.
There are thousands of things she has done along the way to make sure I followed my dreams – too many to list here. The most important thing she does, by far, is love me.
Thank you, Mom. You make it possible.
And We’re Back
My studio, featuring Submerge and Anonymous Niece.
How have you been? Glad to hear it.
I’ve enrolled in the Blog Triage online class taught by Alyson Stanfield and Cynthia Morris in an effort to spruce this place up. These smart ladies have started the course by asking participants to think about what goals they want their blogs to accomplish, and who they’re writing for.
In other words, why do I have this blog? What do I hope you’ll get out of it?
Interesting, interested people
I read a log of blogs. Like a ton, every day. My favorite posts on other people’s blogs are the ones where I learn something new. About anything, not just art. This is my mission here – share what I’ve learned with you.
I post about painting techniques, sketches and experimental work, artists whose work I admire, art events happening in my area, and thoughts and ideas that roll across my landscape. If I think it’s interesting, someone out there will be interested. I’ll share with you; I hope you’ll continue to share with me too.
What’s interested me lately
David Rees sharpens pencils. I just love it when people find the thing they love to do.
I’ve been grooving to the beats of Kinshasa One Two for several weeks.
A cardboard arcade made by 9-year old Caine inspires me to build what I want using what I’ve got.
Ze Frank reminds us that we can begin anywhere. Like here.
Feeling Stumped?
Here are some tools that can help spur your creativity. Don’t try to execute every idea all at once — pick a link at random and follow it.
The Brainstormer (Read a history of The Brainsormer here.)
Directors Bureau Idea Generator
Michael Nobbs‘ 75 ways to Draw More and Draw Your Life
A methodology for creating new ideas (written by professional illustrator Nate Williams)
An extensive list of ideation tools
Keith Haring knew that anything worth drawing once was worth drawing a hundred times.
I like to go to movies and draw in the dark. And I love love love blind gesture drawing.
Join the BookMooch Journal Project (or just browse their blog or their Flickr pool) or 1001 Journals
Participate in the quarterly Worldwide Sketch Crawl Day.
Illustration Friday suggests a new topic once a week!
Following are some idea-generation links oriented toward writers, but they could just as easily apply to image-makers.
No one cares what you had for lunch.
Idea Generator Blog Writing Prompts
Googobs of Creative Writing Prompts
Now rock out with your socks out.
Related Posts
How (and Why) to Title Your Work (Includes some prompts to help you create interesting titles.)
Project Idea: Object Sketchbook
My Naughties
Yeah, I’m a little late to the top-ten-list party. Here are my top ten artistic moments (in chronological order) from the Naughts, 2000-2009 :
2000 I have my first solo show, ____ day of my life, at the now-defunct ASA Gallery at UNM.
2001 My senior thesis show, Actual Size, sells out. I graduate from UNM with a BFA.
2002 Making art on my own in Indiana, I realize that I need more instruction to become a better painter. This becomes my goal in applying to graduate school.
2003 I begin graduate study at RIT.
2004 I learn a heck of a lot about the illustration business, and my personal style really begins to solidify. I start making paintings like this.
2005 I complete my graduate thesis show. One of these paintings is accepted to the Society of Illustrators Scholarship Competition.
2006 I move to Oklahoma, and am warmly welcomed into the artistic community here.
2007 I get a beautiful studio above Mainsite Gallery, and a slot in the Art 365 program.
2008 The Art 365 show debuts, including my series Normal, OK.
2009 I join the fabulous, inspiring, nerdcore community at the Oklahoma City Coworking Collaborative, or okcCoCo.
And from this past year, 2009:
January: I make two drawings for the Seeing Other People show curated by Jennifer Barron.
February: I take my family to Society of Illustrators in NYC to see my piece in the annual Book Illustration exhibition.
March: I quit my last day job to commit to art full-time. Haaaa-le-lu-jah
April: I attend OVAC’s Artists’ Retreat at Quartz Mountain, where I learn all about residencies.
May: I began the Occupied project, on my own, because a) I wanted to and b) I can.
June: My drawing of romy is accepted to the 24 Works On Paper travelling exhibition.
July: Back to Normal: Normal, OK Revisited opens at the Gaylord-Pickens Museum.
August: I join the okcCoCo and move my studio there.
November: I’m accepted into OVAC’s first Oklahoma Art Writing and Curatorial Fellowship.
December: Looking forward to 2010. There have been so many positive changes for me in recent years, I can’t wait to see what comes next.
Worldwide Sketch Crawl Day, 2009.09.19
This is what happened today, mixed media on paper, 2009. Click image to view source.
Get your sketchbooks out, tomorrow is Worldwide Sketch Crawl Day # 24.
Sketch Crawl is an excuse to draw whatever’s in front of you or inside your head for a whole day. (It’s like a pub crawl, but a lot more productive.) Challenge yourself, and don’t forget to stretch first. Click here to read more about participating.
I am at the end of my summer sketchbook, an upcycled beauty made by Lindsey Zodrow at Collected Thread here in OKC. I’m transitioning over to another upcycled sketchbook by Sparrowtracks, and I may dip into some Moleskine kraft-cover books.
Looking for some ideas? Have a look at the sketchbooks of Doug Chayka and Debby Kaspari. Or, download one of two pocket guides created by artist Michael Nobbs, 75 Ways to Draw More and Start to Draw Your Life. Go!
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