Sunday, August 12, 2012

she loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah!

hi everyone!

It's Saturday night, and i'm enjoying a(nother) glass of wine ;-)

Stay with me a while!


I felt like doing something meditative tonight,
so i chose a photo i liked of the Beatles
and decided on doing watercolor.

Yeah, i could have meditated, I guess
but meditation is almost exercise for me
and i don't do exercise on a Saturday night. ;-)

Besides, i needed an activity
that included the glass of wine.
;-)

(is that inspiration i see coming around the corner?!?)


A quick outline of the faces....


the first layer of watercolor...
i think i used burnt sienna.

I always begin a little lighter with watercolor,
so i always use more water for the first layer.

When it's dry, 
i just go over certain sections to create layers.


Still creating layers...


The final layer - darker than the rest.
(i just use very little water in the color)

Doesn't look much like the Beatles.
Poor Paul looks like Mr. Big Head.

'course he kinda is... ;-)


You can see that there's very little detail in the faces.
I like that.

Sometimes, i feel like doing fine detail,
but not tonight.


And this little baby was done last night...

Don't ask me what the hell this is...

I only know that when i sat down,
i picked up my colored pencils
and just felt like doodling without anything in mind.

Well, obviously, there WAS something in my mind,
i just didn't know what it was yet. 

I do like the two faces,
and i kinda like the whale/bird thingie 
floating in the water at the bottom.

Or floating on the tree roots. 
:-)


Someone kindly asked me in a comment recently
if i try to "out-do" myself with art.

Short answer: no.

Long answer:
(and you can leave now if this is boring you...)

I am not the least bit interested in competing
with myself or others.

I am not a perfectionist, 
nor do i keep tabs on what other people are doing,
so that i can go one step further
and out-shine them.

It's just not who i am.

I think we all have a place in the world
and the last thing i am interested in
is putting myself on a higher pedestal than the rest.

I'll let the politicians do that. ;-)

I would suck as an Olympian athlete.
Really. I would.
:-)

I don't believe much in talent.
i think talent develops itself
with consistent, creative,
determined, hard work.

Anyone who has participated in a weekly (or daily) art challenge
knows what i'm talking about.

I've seen it on some of your blogs,
in your artwork.

What begins as
fearful, doubtful,
hesitant artwork,

is transformed with daily practice to

confident,
creative,
courageous artwork.

It shows.

So whenever i hear someone say,
"oh, she's so talented"...
i know that the reality is
she most likely practices her art,
or her music,
or her balance beam
every day.

So it's not really talent.
It's just the results of hard work.

By the way, i want to thank you all
for leaving such lovely comments on my blog.
i am always so grateful to know
that so many of you out there
visit this little space of mine.

This on-line community has given me more
than i ever thought possible.

Yesterday, i even got the chance to meet
a wonderful on-line friend, in person - near my home!
The beautiful Stéphanie,
visionary and artist at heart. :-)

She was vacationing here and we met for coffee
and chatted for 2 hours about art and inspiration 
as if we had known each other
our whole lives.

That's what happens when you put like-minds together.

Which is why this on-line community has become
so important to me.

Like minds.
Artists.
People who love to share.
People who love to learn.
Inspiration.

So yeah, ok, glass is empty, it's getting late,
and i did end up writing a friggin' book.

what a boob.

Thanks for reading folks.
Wishing you all a happy Sunday.

G'night John Boy...
xox

16 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing, the Beatles, the unknown painting and your words. G'night :).
    Stay inspired!

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  2. Totally agree with you about the 'myth' of talent. Sometimes certain artists (visual or performing) like to create a sort of mystical air around themselves by having others believe that there is an unattainable, mysterious talent at work. What it really boils down to is sheer hard work, most of the time anyway. :-)

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  3. Your blog is always so interesting, and you are so generous in showing the stages in which you work. It's so good to see the techniques of an artist who works in a different way to oneself. If only I could remember to do that as I work.

    Your comments on competitiveness strike a chord with me. In my youth I always fet I had to prove myself, but now, in my dotage, I do just what I want as the whim takes me, and I see my own blog as my visual diary.

    Whew, that was a long comment. Thank you for your great post.

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  4. Thank you for that last bit, I love reading your blog and watching your great art too.

    I work so hard at improving, and still wonder if a talent will EVER appear, so thank you for your words to inspire me that my hard work is not fruitless and one day just might amount to something. I do need extra lessons in not bothering about other's opinions though - I will keep reading:)

    cheers (clink, clink)

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  5. Hi Pauline, I really like what you do.
    Never in my life I think to ask a person who is expressing graphically some from inside, what she meant.
    That would be like seeing your brain in your underwear, haha :))
    have a good week!

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  6. Hwee: you and i sound very alike. :-)

    Jez, thank you! You're right - a blog is a visual diary. :-)

    SimJaTa... you work hard and it shows. Worrying about other peoples' opinions is nothing but a creativity and confidence crusher. Just keep painting my friend... xox

    Roberto... yes, my brain in my underwear... hehehee. Thank you for making me laugh. xox

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  7. This post has truly made my day today. So inspiring and motivating, but most of all, honest and encouraging. I still get anxious about whether or not my art is 'good enough,' but when going deeper into that question and that anxiety, I realise it's me, myself, that's putting that worry and that anxiety there in the first place. If it's making me happy, and it puts me in a good place, emotionally, mentally, creativity, even spiritually, then yes, it is 'good enough.' Whether or not anyone else feels the same way is not the reason I paint. I paint because it makes me whole inside. It makes me feel freer on so many levels. It puts me in touch with not only myself deep on the inside, but the universe as a whole, on the outside.

    This was truly wonderful to read today, Pauline. Thank you so much for sharing your very wise and honest thoughts, along with the great Beatles painting and the very cool abstract piece that I also love.

    I think you've inspired me in one more way, too - I think that tonight, I too shall have a glass (or two) of wine, and just go wherever the wine and the mood and the painting I'm 'working on' (or playing with) takes me.

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  8. Lovely thoughts, with talent and inspiration galore!
    Thank you for sharing... Enjoy those moments, artsty friends are priceless. ~xx

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  9. Seeing the layers of color and how you brought their features to life without "fine detail" is amazing to me. Your shading brings life to it!! Your writings about talent and perfectionism reminded me of a great book I read call Talent is Over Rated. That book really went into detail about the impact of the effort/practice over time.

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  10. LOL. I think I enjoyed that glass of wine almost as much as you did! If it makes you write, paint and doodle like you did in this post...have one on me! Cheers!

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  11. Always loved my Beatles! ;)
    And such whimsy and just plain fun in the second one!
    Our blog families are something special, that's for sure. So glad we crossed paths. ;)

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  12. Art and wine seem to go together quite well... like tea and art... or in my case delicious pear cider... last night it spurred me on to draw and paint like a person possessed... and I kind of think that the big head Paul is rather accurate as well...xx

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  13. I loved this post! And I loved meeting you in person even more. I was floored - but not really - that two hours flew by, just like that!

    I love your musings, and I too, think I enjoyed that glass of wine just as much as you did. Even if it's only 10:30am.

    Stéphanie : )
    xo

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  14. Hi Pauline,
    My favorite foursome! You did a great job on the watercolor. Paul's head big? Wasn't it always. Even so I love them all.
    I like your colorful abstract painting as well, full of fun and energy.
    I agree with you on the talent thing, talent takes years of practice. Very rarely in life does a genius just appear on the scene. It always do to practice, practice, practice.

    Join me on my blog link next week on lettering. I do like your handwriting and you seem less fearful about writing in journals than I am.
    I wrote about it on the blog but the link will be up next week.

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  15. I love your fabulous rendering of the Fab Four! And I love your doodling. When I "create", it is most often in doodle form and I may have mentioned this to you before, but I also seem drawn to birds and curlyques and flowers (and dots).
    In fact, all summer, whenever I find myself sitting on the deck at the river, I pull out my markers and start doodling. While there, a few dragonflies have found their way onto my pages.

    Hmmm, I haven't posted on my blog in like a million years (or 2 months!). Maybe I'll post some of my doodles.
    Because it's true what you say about practice. Over the summer, I have been noticing a change. and the more "progress" I see, the more I want to do it some more!!

    I do love coming to your blog Pauline, It feels a little like coming home! When I have been away for a few days and I get online when I return, yours is the first blog I check for updates.

    I hope we can meet someday for a 2 hour coffee if I we ever find ourselves in each others neighbourhoods!

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  16. Thank you all so much for the heartfelt comments. It always makes me happy to know i may have inspired someone out there. xox

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