Happy Mellow Sunday, Steemians!
Here's a little background music to set the tone for your reading:
It is a gorgeous spring morning here. Winter is finally, definitely over and the dawn chorus of birds has become impossible to sleep through. The whole ecosystem is ecstatic about sunshine!
Except me. Well, that's not exactly true. I am thrilled about the sunshine and itching to get the seedlings planted in our community garden. But I am so freakin' busy getting work done for an upcoming solo show that I feel chained to my work table. And creativity dries up like a - like a - blister in the sun (why is that the only analogy I can come up?) when you put that kind of pressure on it.
At times like this, when I've lost my creative flow, the negative voices start in.
You call yourself an artist? You're just a poser. What makes you think you're an artist? You never even went to art school.
This last thought - that I didn't get a degree in art - is a great thing to flog myself with when I want to feel miserable. But it is also an excellent motivator to learn the things I think I missed out on.
And since this is Bookmark Sunday, (duh-da-duuhh!) I present a selection of items I have bookmarked to teach myself to be a better artist. If you are an artist yourself, there might be an exercise in here to help you too. If you're not an artist (but really we all are), why not try out a little creative exercise to build some new neural networks?
Either way, I hope there's something here for you.
Bookmark 20: The Know It All Guide To Color Psychology In Marketing + The Best Hex Chart
This guide offers an introduction to the basics of colour theory but also goes into human responses to colour and even talks about gender preferences of colour. Lots to learn here and the information is sometimes surprising. Why do people hate orange so much?
Bookmark 21: How to Draw Plants
When I was a kid and we had to go to library class in school, sometimes we'd get to watch a video of this guy drawing illustrations to go along with a story that he would tell us. I feel that same fascination watching these videos. I'm not always a fan of how-to's when it comes to art, but this one has been helpful.
Bookmark 22: Handprint
If you can get past the formatting and sheer volume of excellent information, there is a lot to learn about design and colour. Very in depth.
Bookmark 23: Creative Strength Training
The link will take you to a book by Jane Dunnewold which I have never read so cannot comment on. It does look like an excellent book. What I really like is the idea of working at our creativity. Or maybe it's playing at our creativity. Whichever. I like the idea of using prompts and new mediums and generally shaking things up to see what happens. In fact, that is probably my life modus operandi, but let's talk about that another time. : )
Happy Sunday.