Something to look forward to on your Mondays...

Ultimately the way I learn and hone my skills best is to study the masters that I admire most. That being said, I am committing to designating each Monday on my blog, "Master Monday".

Keep in mind that I will be looking at, thinking about and discussing both new and old masters.

To start this off, I will be talking about Durer on Monday. He is in the top 5 for his art and techniques, but he may be the artist I admire most for skill and originality in his own time.

If there are old or new masters that you'd love to talk about or if you ever disagree with my nominations, please don't hesitate to comment.

Also please remember that the 100th follower of my blog will win an 8x10" giclee of my work from my flickr gallery at http://www.flickr.com/photos/patricedeavila/

And as always you can tweet me @neotigress.

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As I grew older, I realized that it was much better to insist on the genuine forms of nature, for simplicity is the greatest adornment of art.
Albrecht Durer

Delivery Dread...

Its time for the part of making art that I dread the most. Delivery of a commission.

Nothing fills me with more dread and fear (except maybe the thought of stepping on a slug barefooted) than delivery of a commission.

What if they hate it?
What if they run screaming from the room?
What if they are merely disappointed or its not what they wanted?

This and a zillion more absurd thoughts run thru my head until the moment of unveiling.

And I'm coming up on another delivery this week. There is that cold dread in my stomach which is completely unfounded because EVERY SINGLE commission I've done has been loved, up to and including making the patron cry happy tears.

Thanks for indulging my moment of angst. What artistically makes you procrastinate, or fills you with fear and dread?


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The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is that one comes from a strong will, and the other from a strong won't. ~Henry Ward Beecher

Do you know Durer?. . .

Durer... I love to look at his work endlessly and I always learn something from his paintings and prints. He is the first artist known to have done pure landscapes. A master print maker, philosopher and artist.

His print of a rhino, created from an inaccurate verbal description was used in science text books into the last century.

As I mentioned in my post last week, one of the best ways to grow in your technique mastery as an artist, is to study artists that you admire. And to take the study of their works to another level, copy a work.

Durer was the son of a jeweler. He was meticulous in detail and skill. To remake one of his works teaches the artist that there is no corner cutting and pushes one to the next level of detail and observation.

The Wiki article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albrecht_D%C3%BCrer

If you know Durer, what work would you study? What artists are you compelled to study?

Next week's Artist: John Singer Sargent.

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"As I grew older, I realized that it was much better to insist on the genuine forms of nature, for simplicity is the greatest adornment of art."
Albrecht Durer

Giclee for you and me...

The above is the short version of what all the phoofahrah about Giclees' and the following wiki link is the long version http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giclee.

What I can say is that with the right printer, having your work printed in Giclee is absolutely AMAZING. Bold, crisp, vibrant and you can see the medium or brush strokes in the print. If you have been toying with the idea of getting prints of your work done, I highly recommend this medium and a shout out to my printer who is located in the metro Portand area, Durland Digital http://www.durlanddigital.com/ArtPrinting.htm

To see a gallery of my work available in giclee please go here http://www.flickr.com/photos/patricedeavila/sets/72157621422816519/

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We are simply a conduit for creativity. - unknown

You know you want one...

The 100th follower of my blog

will get a signed 8x10" giclee of any

one of my works (their choice) from . . .

http://www.flickr.com/photos/patricedeavila/

Tell a friend.

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The true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection.
::: Michelangelo :::

Coloring Outside the Lines...

When creating, sometimes we need to stretch and push ourselves outside all those "trite boxes" and "comfort zones".

I started work with another artist on a book project (hence the strange shape of this work). In order to achieve what looks like one combined image, but is in actuality 2 separate portraits, I went to Kinkos and did a color copy of the man's portrait on transparency and then overlaid the transparency on the female portrait.

The male had a background color in the yellow spectrum and the female had one in the teal/blue range. Then when I overlaid the male on the female, this amazing mix of colors and the magical middle point of the portrait where their faces almost line up happened.

Had I done two basic portraits for the book project and not been inspired to try the transparency experiment, this would not exist. Now whether its a viable piece of art that is a topic for another day. But it IS a great opportunity to build new techniques and ideas into my creative process.

What new techniques or experiments are you going to try?

(Please refer to my last post, that its only paper and some pigment... the worst thing that can happen is that you waste a piece of paper and learn great lessons in the process).

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The first stone was just tried in the spirit of experimentation. The opening of the stone was far more interesting than the drawing that I had done on it. -Andy Goldsworthy

Embracing Gleeful Calamity...

Don't fear your medium or your internal creativity.

I taught silk painting to 4th thru 6th grade students.  I found consistently, that the students were intimidated by the silk and "ruining it".   The first exercise I did with them was to have them throw their raw silk on the floor and jump up and down on it.

This loosened them up and showed them that a. the silk was quite hardy and still usable and b. there was always another pallet(silk) if that one was ruined.

When I spend in excess of $12 on one sheet of water color paper, or I have a stick of pastel in my hand that I spent $8 on, I find myself wanting to be that child, stiff and fearful of ruining my tools or wasting my supplies on unworthy/unsuccessful art.

Its only paper, it's only chalk and no art is unworthy... (besides those $12 sheets of paper are nearly indestructible).

Go boldly and jump up and down...

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Do not quench your inspiration and your imagination; do not become the slave of your model. 
Vincent Van Gogh