Last weekend — only about week after I joined the studio collective — Atelier No 5 participated in Offene Ateliers Köln (Open Studios Cologne). The once-a-year event invites art studios throughout the city to open their doors and artists to share their work.
We held a reception on September 8, and despite having little to show given my move and limited time in the studio before the event, I was thrilled to sell two pieces (above, bottom left). While my personal art journals aren’t for sale, I was also proud to showcase several years’ worth and speak about the process of creating them (in German!).
This year for the Index Card a Day (ICAD) challenge, hosted by Tammy Garcia of Daisy Yellow, I decided to step way outside my comfort zone and tackle something I’ve always been interested in exploring: portraits.
The only index cards I had on hand were just 2×3″ (5×7.6 cm). I added collage, chose an reference image from Google, and tried my best to capture the light and shadow in a loose way while generally capturing the spirit of the model.
After nine portraits, I’m moving on to creative processes I enjoy more — but to be clear, I’m not leaving this project with shame or guilt for having not finished or wishing that I’d pursued something different. In fact, I feel proud that I not only tried something new, but I gave myselfpermission to walk away when it became something I had to do, not something I wanted to do. Year of ease, remember?
Here’s what I learned during this experience:
When starting out, make it simple. These cards were way too small, and I didn’t have the right brushes to paint something with such tiny detailed elements. If I make more portraits in the future, I’ll give myself more room to work with and make sure that I have brushes that will allow me to capture the level of precision that I need.
Even a short repeated attempt at something new will build new skills. I learned a lot during this process: open-mouthed smiles are hard to capture, layering diluted paint adds depth and detail, and I really love painting kids and dynamic shadows.
Prepare to make mistakes! I have a pile of portraits I started then abandoned, either because they were overworked or I wanted to start on them afresh.
Stepping outside your comfort zone to try One New Thing in one way gives you permission to not only make what you’ve committed to, but to expand in other ways as well. I’m curious about making tiny abstract works on the rest of these index cards and look forward to experimenting with new compositions and processes.
I have heard from a number of people over the course of my own creative journey who’ve said something along the lines of “I’m not an artist, but I’m interested in starting an art journal [or painting, or exploring collage]. Where do I begin?”
First up: yeah, actually, you are an artist.
Creating is innate; as a species, we’ve been expressing ourselves through dance, sculpture, music and painting for tens of thousands of years. You don’t need a degree to make art, and you don’t need to make “good” art to be an artist. All you need to do is start.
I wrote on My Peacetree — way back in 2011 — about the creative process:
The journey to creativity is not a static one: we must always be searching, pushing, moving, and striving forward. There is no end to be reached — there is only new discovery, exploration, growth, stretching, and learning […]
Art is something which must be practiced over and over again. It is only through this we can really make it our own.
As to where to start: What art makes you pause and stare? Go buy some of those materials — cheap ones are fine. Try them out. Make mistakes. Experiment.
Seek out other artists, look closely at their work, and pull elements of it that you love into your own. (Don’t steal others’ work, though! Incorporating colors and processes and materials is ok; duplicating work is not. And always, always credit artists where it’s due.)
What do you like about your art? Do more of that. What don’t you like about your work? Do less of that.
And above all else, don’t apologize for your work or for yourself. Take yourself seriously and others will, too.
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