Yiiiipppppeeee ... finally got the sketch book from Art House Co Op. And now I'm the official participating artist of The Sketchbook Project 2011! :D
(Did you see me holding my neck to an angle and doing a one leg celebratory dance? You should see me. I'm sensational! HAHAHA!)
The theme I pick is: First thing in the morning, last thing at night. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to execute the theme. Sketch / Doodle / Draw / Paint objects, emotions, sensation! What about collage which I've never try before! Oh and the cover? I really want to do a killer work of it. But how?
O.K. enough of panic.
I still got a fair bit of time before I need to finish and send off the sketch book. Plus, I'm in no fit condition to draw right now. This is actually good. I could spend some time to look for ideas as well as brushing up my drawing skill for the project.
As usual, I urge my fellow creatives to join in the project. After all the sketchbook is fairly small. It's about 21 cm (H) x 13 cm (W) OR 8.5" (H) x 5" (W) and consists of 40 blank pages (not including the cover and back cover).
Come on, let's have some fun together!
Before things started to get better, it had to get worse ...
My mobile phone handed in its resignation (with immediate effect) last Friday. I got myself a new mobile phone (with built-in camera) over the weekend. :)
And with this, the tide finally turned.
After a rather painful deep tissue message / manipulation by my chiropractor, I'm having less neck and back pain. Mobility is gradually coming back.
The laptop came back from the repairer with about 80% function. That's fine as it is quite an old laptop. I'm trying not to work it too much so that it could last for another 12 months or so before I switch to Mac.
I've quickly whipped up a very small drawing (below) for the dream project of Art House Co Op. It will be among Art House's permanent collection.
"Birdie", silver & white gel pens, 13cm (w) x 9cm (h)So I'm slowly getting back ...
For everyone who sent loving / supportive comments and wonderful emails, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Your wonderful friendship work magic on my very stiff neck and back.
You gals are natural-born healers! xxoo
I'm still without my laptop ...
My chronic neck pain is getting worse every day ... it's actually extending to back pain ... heavy dosage of Panadol and weekly chiropractic treatment seem not working ... hmmmmm :(
Can't sit and use computer for more than half an hour without major upset of both neck and back ...
No drawing done at all ...
Got a possum who visited my bedroom ceiling roof the last few nights ... disturbed my sleep ...
Very frustrated, angry and feeling a bit down ...
But I know that eventually everything will settle. It's just a matter of how long I have to struggle before I'm all bright and shiny again!
In case you're missing me ... ;)
My laptop is at the repairer and I'm relying on computer at work place for emailing, blogging and other computer stuff. You could imagine how "inconvenient" it is right now!
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the laptop is still "repairable" otherwise ... oh think positive, think positive!
So please be patient with me and don't think that I haven't visit your blogs. I'm trying my best.
By the way, my chronic neck pain is playing up big time. It's not helping me at all!
Why does bad things always come in groups??!! Anyway, I hope you're all well.
See you round! :D
While I'm in my drawing skill study mode, I thought it would be a good idea to update my blog to include "artists links" (at side bar of the blog).
Since I started to draw, I also began searching for artists sites and blogs for inspiration. One of the search sources I used is from contemporary art magazines like Hi Fructose and Juxtapoz. Another source is via other artists blogs. One of my favourite artist blogs is Gabrielle Rose's blog. Not only that she is an unique artist, she constantly updates her blog with other artists links.The artists I picked are based on my own personal preference like subject matters, color palette, aesthetic, style etc. It might not be your cup of tea. Also be aware that some of the artists' artworks are quite confronting. And the artists I chose are from various disciplines.
Pls feel free to browse through them. It will be updated on a regular basis.
Art House Co Op just opened another new project - Sketchbook Project 2011. Check out details here.
I've missed the one for this year (damned!) and there's no way I'm going to miss next year's. Yeap, just signed up and from the community link, I saw that I was the 1st Aussie to join in. YEAH!
For the 2011 Sketchbook Project, all the sketchbooks will be on tour to 6 major cities of USA during 2011. They are Brooklyn NY, Austin TX, San Francisco CA, Portland ME, Atlanta GA and Chicago IL. There will also be an online library of the sketchbooks.
All in all, I think it will be great fun to participate and also a great way to work on a project plus connecting to other artists!
So what are you waiting for, my fellow creatives and bloggers? Join in and bring forth our artworks to the States!
I knew from the day when I first started to draw, my lack of both drawing and painting skill will eventually caught up on me.
After I finished "Jake" and as much as I wanted to soldier on, I've had some funny nagging feelings.
There was no lack of drawing ideas, but it became harder and harder to bring them onto paper. I would have this rather clear image of a drawing in my mind, but my hands refused to do the work.
There was a huge gap occurred during the transmission of idea. I would find myself wanting to draw an object facing directly to me but after hours and hours of drafting, the bloody damned thing still appeared to me sitting on its side!
Something's wrong with my eyes? But it can't be. I just had my eyes checked and they were working perfect. (Well, the actual comment from the optometrist is: Your eyesight is working normal as per your age group. Ahem, what does it mean?)
I had a "hunch" of what was going on. But before jumping onto any conclusion, I decided to try one more thing.
I was to "copy" some drawings to see if it will improve my drawing skills. So I picked a small plant drawing from one of my reference books and began to copy it onto my sketch book. Easy right? Nope!
Though I got the general outline of the small plant right, everything else (i.e. branches, leaves etc) was wonky. Yes, I did draw a small plant but it didn't look like the one in the reference book.
This proved that my "hunch" was right. The ability to draw is more than the desire to create, vivid imagination and hands/eyes co-ordination. It is also about perception - the artist's way of seeing.
I'm to take a (hopefully) short break from my art projects and turn to do a bit more structural study of drawing skills.
So if you don't see many new drawings being post here, don't think that I have given up. Far from it, I'm actually working harder than before to become a more fluent artist!
(Gee, did I just say that ... I'm an artist!!??)
