Category: DIY Art School

Choosing Art Supplies

Posted on by

My first attempts at watercolor painting didn’t look great. The pencil drawings were fine, my technique wasn’t terrible, but my art supplies weren’t very good. I had bought cheap art supplies, and the result was a washed-out looking painting.

I asked Kathy Decker for advice. She recommended the paints that she uses and let me try them. They resulted in brighter colors while using less paint. I was shocked at the difference. It was more expensive initially, but years later I am still using the same tubes of paint.

Da Vinci Paints

 

My next major art supply purchase was brushes. The inexpensive brushes wouldn’t keep a fine point, which made it difficult to do detail work. They also kept shedding bristles into the wet paint on my paintings. Once again, I asked Kathy Decker for recommendations. I love my new brushes. I use an inexpensive brush for washes, and it does sometimes shed, but I can deal with that.

Blick Master Synthetic Round Brushes

Now my children use the cheap brushes and paint for their art projects. I have some inexpensive travel watercolors, too. They are handy when I travel, but the colors aren’t vibrant.

Kathy gave me a palette that she didn’t need. I like that I can keep damp sponges in it and close it and keep my paint wet. I use a mason jar for water and paper towels to blot at things.

Alvin Co. Heritage Paint Pallette

My husband offered to buy me some large sheets of Arches watercolor paper as a gift. I learned to ruler cut it into smaller pieces so it lasts a long time. It’s really nice paper.

Arches Natural White Watercolor Paper

I like white art erasers and Ticonderoga pencils. I use a brush pen sometimes for ink work. I like sharpie extra-fine tipped pens to draw cartoons. If I’m practicing with brush and ink, I use Speedball Super Black Waterproof India Ink and an inexpensive palette.

For a long time, I painted sitting on or next to the treadmill in my room. It wasn’t very comfortable. I saw a nice, inexpensive art desk on craigslist, and we drove to Eugene and bought it. It has drawers and shelves and is the perfect height and size. I can draw or paint for a long time and my feet don’t fall asleep. I love it.

Matt bought a nice light for my desk a month ago. It’s great for night time or cloudy days. It’s not as bright as the sunlight through the window in the middle of the day. At those times, I can’t even tell that it’s on. Otherwise, it’s wonderful. It’s nice to point it in the direction I need so that my hands don’t leave shadows that get in the way.

My Craiglist Drafting Table

At some point, I would like to get some nice colored pencils. I have some watercolor pencils, but there aren’t many colors and they aren’t good for when I want to sketch outside in iffy weather. Maybe I’ll get some for my birthday?

Art books and dvds are a separate category. I think if I start talking about my books, I’ll run on for pages and pages or just list titles. Both of which would probably be boring. I do love art books, though. I love reading about artists I admire and seeing their work. I want to know all about their education and process and inspiration. Full color photos of the art is the best. Why doesn’t Stephen Cartwright have an art book yet? I keep emailing Usborne books, but so far, nothing.

What art supplies do you love? What ways have you found to keep costs low without sacrificing quality? What art supplies didn’t you love? Do you have any great art book recommendations? Please let me know!

Finding Motivation

Posted on by

I used to be really great at sticking to a schedule. Lately, this hasn’t worked as well. My days keep throwing me curve balls. I have too much to do and not enough day to do it all, and so often I’m just tired.

On bad days, I sometimes hear a whiny voice in my head saying “But I don’t want to!” How do you keep going when you just don’t feel like doing anything?

Different things work on different days. Some days, I can offer myself a reward for getting started. As I’ve said before, peanut butter sandwiches, naps, phone calls… whatever works. Once I get started, it’s fun enough that I can keep going.

Other days, I make the tasks to do smaller. I only copy a corner of the painting or do a thumbnail to expand on later. Maybe I cut out some of the tasks altogether on really bad days.

Remembering my goals and dreams is motivating. I imagine writing and illustrating a book that I want to read over and over. I imagine creating a world that seems like it really should exist somewhere. I imagine painting a picture of my children that I want to hang on my wall and make prints of to send to all my family and friends.

On bad days, I tell myself my growth spurt theory over and over. “It’s hard today because I’m just about to hit a growth spurt,” I tell myself. “If I push through and keep going, my work is going to get so much better. I can’t give up before then.”
I remind myself that the times in the past where I stopped practicing I didn’t feel any better. Quitting didn’t help. In fact, it made things worse because the guilt didn’t go away. Once I whip through the practice for the day, the burden lifts, and I can move forward with confidence. And maybe the momentum of finishing something will help me get even more things done.

I set a time and a small task. At 10:00, I’ll do this small exercise. I set everything out on the bed in little piles and set a time for each pile. When the time comes, I try to talk myself into doing the first pile. Just really quickly. It doesn’t have to be my best work. If I just manage to do something, that’s enough. And, if the first task goes well, sometimes I can tack on a second or third and readjust my schedule.

There are some things that I want to add to my schedule that haven’t happened yet. I think of them often and try to talk myself into them. Right now, things are busy and my motivation is just barely covering what I’m already doing.

But, I’m biding my time. Certain times of year are great for schedule building. Everyone else is starting new things too and there just seems to be extra motivation in the air. There is a feeling that the time is right now. The start of the school year or the new year or the summer. The first day of spring or fall or winter. Birthdays, anniversaries, small holidays.

I once read an article that said that people are more likely to quit smoking if they set a date. If it works for something that difficult, surely it can work for something small. And I think it works better if there is some meaning attached to the date. And if it doesn’t work the first time, I’ll keep trying. You don’t fail until you quit trying.

I like to write a date next to my practice work. Having a long chain of unbroken days is motivating. I don’t want to break the chain. But then, occasionally, I do. That’s really demotivating. So, as soon as possible, I make up for the missed days and date them as though I had done them on time. “It didn’t happen,” I tell myself. “See? No missed days.” And then I’m motivated again. Looking back, I have no idea which days I missed. It didn’t happen.

Having a website like this is motivating because of the accountability. Even though not many people check it, the idea of disappointing the people who do is motivating. It’s like breaking the chain of unbroken days, but in a public setting where I can’t pretend it didn’t happen. I can’t fool the site stats by back-dating my posts.

Sometimes, after looking at work I admire, I feel like giving up. “I’ll never be that good. Why am I even trying?” I remind myself I’ll never know if I give up. I remind myself that they are them and I am me and it isn’t a competition. And then I try to trick myself into practicing anyway.

In “Howl’s Moving Castle” by Diana Wynne Jones, the wizard Howl says, “I’m a coward. Only way I can do something this frightening is to tell myself I’m not doing it!” Sometimes this works for me, too. I set everything out, and when I have a moment where I’m not doing something else, I’ll tell myself, “Well, I guess I might as well do this, just for right now.”

Perhaps this seems strange to read about. I don’t know. It works for me. Sometimes. Some of my friends admire my self-discipline. I feel a little like an impostor, because it’s not really self-discipline. It doesn’t feel like it anyways. It feels like I’m flying by the seat of my pants, frantically trying to figure out what will work this time before the day is over, in between all the other things I need to do each day.

Maybe I’ll get that regular schedule back someday. I’d like to. I’m not going to wait to practice writing and painting and drawing for that day. And so, I’ll just keep doing my best each day.

Do you have a hard time motivating yourself to get things done? What works for you? How do you add new things to your day? How do you stick to a schedule?

Don't Miss A Single Post!

Type your email address below and friendly elves will let you know via email when Summer creates new content.

Join 129 other subscribers

Dealing with Critics

Posted on by

Last week I talked about mentors. Mentors are wonderful people who find the good in the work you do, even when you can’t see it. They are positive and encouraging. They believe in you and your potential, and that is remarkably motivating.

Critics are the opposite of mentors. Critics only point out what you did wrong. They can be negative and discouraging and demotivating. You thrive under the care of a mentor. You struggle to survive after an encounter with a critic.

Before my children were born, I sang in several different choirs. I didn’t have any real vocal training, but I received compliments on how well I was able to hear and sing my part. I felt comfortable and confident with my voice.

After my children were born, I spent over a decade hearing “stop singing, Mom!” and “Mom, don’t sing!” every time I sang around my school-age children. I continued singing and laughed and pretended it didn’t bother me. It bothered me.

Now that my oldest children are old enough to babysit their siblings, I’ve started singing in the choir at church. Do I sing as well as I used to? I don’t know. People sitting by me have complimented me on how well I hear and sing my part again, but I don’t feel as confident. I go home and worry that I’m not singing well enough. I’ve lost some of the joy I used to feel in singing. I hope it comes back.

That is not the only thing my pint-sized critics have attacked. (And yes, I love them anyway.) As I mentioned in an earlier post, I draw a picture of a family member every day. This put my sketch book in view of my children, and children can be casually cruel. They haven’t fully developed empathy.

When I started out, critical comments were commonplace. Laughter. “Mom, that looks bad.” “Mom, that’s silly. What’s it supposed to be?” “Can I see what you drew? Oh.” My writing received criticism too. Luckily, I learned from my singing experience how to better handle critics. Through trial and error, I have discovered how to handle critical comments and keep my confidence.

[supsystic-slider id=1 position=”center”]

If life freely hands you critics, what is the best way to deal with them? (And the answer is not make criticade. That’s not really a thing.) I’m not sure about the best way, but I’ll share what’s worked for me.

First, acknowledge that it hurt. You don’t have to laugh or agree with your critic. Why add insult to injury? If the critic is a child, they may need to hear that what they said is hurtful. This can be a teaching moment. Play it by ear.

Second, see if there is anything helpful in the comment. Did they say that something specific looked wrong or out of place? Make a mental note to come back to that when you’re feeling more objective. Was there nothing helpful? Time to move on.

Third, be your own mentor. Find something you did well. Look for something you are happy with. Be pleased that you took time to create something.

Recognize that the more you practice, the better you’ll get. Overcoming all the doubts and fears to create anything at all is difficult. To continue to persist in the face of your own inner critic isn’t easy. External critics just add to the difficulty level. Over time, you’ll be able to take a moment to look back and see how far you’ve come. Allow yourself to feel happy that you are growing and improving.

Finally, recommit to moving forward. Don’t let a critical comment take away your joy. Don’t let the harsh words steal what you’ve worked so hard for. Look forward to your next project. What will it be? What will you do? What will you learn? Leave the criticism in the past where it belongs.

Is there anything you can say to a critic without being unkind?

You can say “ouch!”

You can politely say that you’re still learning, and that you’ll get better.

You can thank them for their feedback and ask what they like about the work. (This can be risky, but rewarding.)

You can ask about their work and what they do differently.

You can change the subject.

You can say, “I see. Very interesting,” with a weird accent and pretend that you are someone much braver than you are. Sometimes being silly makes it all seem not so bad or important. Find your own brand of silly and run with it.

Even when other people aren’t nice to you, you can be nice to you, and you can be nice to them. Dwelling on the negative or returning negative for negative will leave a bitter feeling in your heart long after the moment is over. It doesn’t help.

People are complex. It’s difficult to know why someone said something unkind, and sometimes they don’t even know. A lot of the time it has nothing to do with you or your work. Acknowledge the hurt, take what’s helpful, leave the rest, and find joy in the good you do. Look forward with joy.

Have you received any criticism that hurt? What did you do? How did you move forward?

Finding a Mentor

Posted on by

When I was younger, it seemed easy to find a mentor. Teachers at school and church, relatives, kind neighbors, there were a lot of people to look up to and I had a lot to learn. Now that I’m older, there are still a lot of people to look up to and a lot to learn, but I don’t have a lot of time, and the things I want to know are more specific. It’s easy to miss the structured support and feedback found in a traditional classroom.

But even outside of school, in the middle of a whirlwind grown up schedule full of the usual responsibilities, I have been able to find mentors. There is a saying, “when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” I’m not sure that the saying completely reflects the reality, but it does have some truth. I don’t think that they just appear, I think there is some searching involved, and some willingness to reach out and ask for help. But there are kind, talented people in this world, willing to answer questions and teach people around them.

When I reached a point that I had questions that were difficult to answer, and I needed help, I started looking for a mentor. I found two wonderful, helpful mentors. Will there be more in the future? I don’t know. Probably. I can’t imagine running out of questions.

So how did I find my mentors?

When I decided that I wanted to spend more time with art than just doodling in the margins of my notebooks, I thought about what I really wanted. I wanted to paint with watercolors. It was something that I had a little time for now that my children were older. It doesn’t take a lot of time for watercolor paint to dry, so I didn’t have to leave things out for curious children to find. I loved the delicate, lovely effect of a well done watercolor portrait.

I looked at classes, but they were expensive and far away. I checked out books, but I didn’t really know where to begin. It seemed overwhelming. I prayed for help. And then I got a Christmas card in the mail from Kathy Decker. She’d painted the picture herself, and then made it into Christmas cards.

Beautiful Watercolor by Kathy Decker

The picture was everything I wanted to learn about watercolor painting. Absolutely amazing. Why did she send me a card? I don’t really know. We go to church together, but I’m rather shy and mostly teach children’s classes, so I didn’t know her all that well. I think she’s a very kind person. She’s someone who does things like donate artwork to charity auctions. She is willing to spend time giving encouragement and advice to people who ask.

And, having seeing the Christmas card, I gathered my courage and asked. I asked for advice on how to paint like she did. She offered to teach me a few lessons. The lessons, and recommendations on supplies, got me started. Her advice and encouragement kept me going.

There were several times I wanted to give up, because I couldn’t make things work or I felt too busy to try. Her advice got me through the hard times. Several times, she came over to visit. She sat by me on the couch, praised my awful attempts, and gently pointed out where an angle was wrong here or I’d needed to let things dry more there before adding any more paint.

She told me stories of when she was learning to draw and paint, and of things her teachers told her. I quote her lessons all the time to my family and friends. I’ll probably include some here in the future. Maybe someday, I’ll paint like she does. Today is not that day, though…

Watercolor of my children that I painted last year

Around the same time, I started writing again. I wrote two novels. They were good, but not great. But, I wasn’t sure how to improve them, and my attempts seemed to make everything worse. I thought maybe I’d improve if I had more writing practice. I also thought it would help me write more regularly if I felt more accountable to write. So, I started this website.

After a year, I thought about the type of novels I wanted to write, and who my intended audience was. I wanted to write children’s fantasy. I researched what children like to read. I learned that they like tales of wonder and humor. I decided that my imagination did okay, but maybe my humor needed work.

And so I checked out books on humor. They said that I needed to practice. But I didn’t really know where to begin. How do you practice humor as a dedicated introvert?

The neighborhood walking group I joined stopped by an estate sale, and I bought a Far Side comic book. Oh. Comics.

I started reading through my old copies of Calvin and Hobbes and Rose is Rose. Six months earlier, when General Conference was approaching, I went looking for the General Conference activity packets that I had seen available for free on the internet in the past. I downloaded them and signed up for the free weekly activity page that the artist Arie Van De Graaff also kindly offers for free. Both the packets and activity pages are wonderful, by the way.

And so, as I was studying these comic books and trying to figure out where to begin, I got an email from Arie about the newest conference packets and mentioning that he had a book of comic strips available on Amazon. A remarkable coincidence.

I ordered it, of course. I ordered it through Amazon, but it came from Arie, signed, with a little picture drawn next to the signature. I replied to his next weekly activity page email to thank him. When he wrote back, I felt brave enough to ask some questions about drawing comics.

Signed title page from Mission DAZE by Arie Van De Graaff

After I drew a couple of comics, I felt brave enough to decide to include them on my website. He gave me some nice feedback. And when, in January, I resolved to get something published in 2018, I thought about my comics. I emailed Arie and asked for advice. He answered my many questions, and I was able to send in my work.

When my first comic was published in the New Era, right alongside one of his, he emailed me to congratulate me. Kathy Decker congratulated me too.

My cartoon in the September 2018 New Era Magazine next to a cartoon by Arie Van De Graaff.

Read more about my first published cartoon in this post.

Could I have done all of this without mentors? Maybe. It would have been harder. It would have taken a lot longer. It would have been much more discouraging. I am grateful for their kindness and encouragement. I am grateful for their good advice. The world is better because there are people in it willing to be mentors. It is worth looking for one. Or two.

What is your experience with mentors? Do you have one? How did you find them? How have they helped you? Do you need a mentor?

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Comparisons

Posted on by

[Please note that all images in this post are either by me or John Tenniel from his illustrations for Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass and taken from “Annotated Alice”. Tenniel’s illustrations are in the public domain…and better than mine.]

I love to read books and look at art. I love to read books about art. It is inspirational to see what others are doing and the way they solve problems. I observe, “This is how this person showed texture. That was how that person created a relatable character.”

Sometimes I just like to take it all in and try to enter the world they created. Or try to understand what the work is trying to tell me. Or what the author or artist was trying to say.

But sometimes there are bad days where I look at or read something wonderful and I think, “I could never do that. Why am I even trying?”

Tenniel’s “Annotated Alice” p. 184 and 185. Tenniel’s illustrations are on top and mine are on bottom. You can see more comparisons between his originals and my reproductions in the flipbook at the bottom of this post.

These are days where the distance between where I am and where I want to be seems immense. Impossible. Comparisons can be discouraging, especially on days where nothing I do seems to go well.

It may seem obvious that comparisons like this aren’t helpful. I am comparing the practice work I do at home while I’m learning to something someone did after they’d put all the practice time and learning time in.

I may be right, and the work I’m figuratively hitting myself with will always be beyond my skill. I may be wrong. In any case, it’s impossible to know right now.

I once read that comparisons are like climbing a mountain. When you look up, the top of the mountain seems so far away. But, you can get there, if you keep climbing.

I think that if you’re always looking up, it’s hard to appreciate where you are right now. On discouraging days, it might help to look back for a moment and see how far you’ve come. If you can get this far, why not a little farther? Just keep going. Better days will come.

What do you think? Do you sometimes have a problem with comparisons? What helps you when you feel discouraged?

[3d-flip-book mode=”fullscreen” urlparam=”fb3d-page” id=”3525″ title=”false”]

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Finding Ideas

Posted on by

Where do ideas come from? Everywhere. I just choose something and try to think of how to change it into something new. How could it be part of a funny story? A scary story? A happy story? Who would the story be about? How would different perspectives change the story?

Combining two unlike ideas always fascinated me. What would happen if the story of little red riding hood took place under the sea? What if the three little pigs story and the three bears story were combined?

From time to time, I’ll spend a few months generating twenty story ideas a day. I try not to be critical of the ideas, and usually the last few are the best ones, or at least the strangest. It gives me material to work from for a long time.

Is it the same process for writing comics? Pretty much. It’s just about picking an object or a situation and wondering how it would be funny.

For example, here’s my thought process for the cartoon I drew for this week. I began with asking what is funny about carrots? What do I know about carrots? Fact-checking comes later.

Bunnies eat them. They’re good for eyesight. They’re often sold in packages of mixed vegetables. Are bunnies funny? Are peas and beans and lima beans funny? What do I know about them? What if bunnies preferred peas? Or left all the peas on their plates after eating the carrots? Maybe they should stop buying mixed vegetables. Why did they buy them in the first place? What a waste. Maybe they need a pet that eats peas. What eats peas? Maybe they could turn them into some sort of pea soup fog. That sounds like a story idea. Hmmm.

I think I’ll go back to the mixed vegetable idea. I can see the vague outlines of a cartoon idea for that. I’ll sketch it out and see how it looks on paper.

Once done, I need to ask my husband what he thinks. Unfortunately, my sense of humor isn’t universal. Yay! He laughed. Now I can spend more time on it.

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.