Posted on March 6, 2015
All you need! Really!!
Think about it… all you really need is a pencil and a bit of paper. It’s as simple as that. Art can happen anywhere and almost anytime.
Yeah, I know, not while holding a squirming little toddler or while trying to cook dinner. All our plans go up in flames when we try and do that.
But what about those little moments as you’re sitting at the park, soaking up sun at the beach or sitting in the waiting room of the dentists office. Art can happen anywhere and anytime and all it takes is a pencil and a bit of pencil.
My favorite is an average no nonsense #2, probably one we’ve picked up at the state fair, and a bit of paper or notebook I can toss down in the sand at the park when one of my kids wants a push on the swings.
The point is to be out there doing, using the skill and talent that you have and developing it further if you are able to. So many people say they can’t draw or have no talent but a huge part of it all is practice and developing the eye to see the line and knowing how to get what you see out there down on paper.
Grab a pencil, a piece of paper out of the computer,whatever works for you and head off to that perfect spot, McDonalds playland perhaps or the park down the block. The kids are happy and you’re free to be your artistic you.
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Updated on February 28, 2015
Art in a tight space
Nice carpet & Fines!!
Many years ago, when I was first starting out in the world as an artist, we had no money for a studio space or separate area to create an “art mess”. We lived in a two bedroom apartment with no studio style flooring and to be quite honest it was a challenge.
How do you do art – create and be free to create – in a small space, carpet on the floors, nice carpet, and fines and penalties looming over you if you drip or splatter even a little bit?
My solution: I switched from acrylic to watercolor.
Watercolor required less room and is easily doable on any table surface. If you’re able to purchase a length of gatorboard or make a table surface out of laminated plywood or simply primed plywood. Any of these options create an easy surface to tape your paintings to, prop them up against a couch or work flat on the floor. Voila! You now have an easy “work table” that is portable and more versatile.
What about the “Big Ones”
What happens when you have that great idea for a big artistic piece and a 7 ft piece of plywood or gatorboard table is a bit over the top?
There was a big show, my very first, and the entry limit was 6 ft. Of course that’s what I wanted – to push the limit and make a painting 6 ft. I taped trash bags to one of the walls and onto a bit of the floor in our little walk in storage closet. I sewed the canvas into a banner with a wooden dowel across the top and bottom. Put one nail at the top and bottom and primed and painted away.
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