Inktober Video

I finished the Inktober Challenge and set up this video as a way to show them to everyone. I hope you enjoy it.

Inktober So Far

I think I mentioned in an earlier post that I am participating in an online art challenge called Inktober. Well a few days in, I noticed that some of the other artists were listing themes. I found the theme listing and decided to play along. I actually like this better because it challenges me to work within a theme and to express an idea that is not my own. I mentioned earlier that I decided to “channel” some of my earliest influences the car artists of the 60s and 70s. I am also taking a slightly different tack with these pieces in that I am working with symmetry by creating half a face and duplicating it, then flipping it, occasionally breaking the symmetry buy adding elements to one side of the others. I am having a blast with this technique.

Here are the Pieces I have done for Inktober so far, by theme. I’d love to know what you think of these.

Day One: Poisonous	Day Two: Tranquil	Day Three: Roasted	Day Four: Spell
Day Five: Chicken	Day Six: Drooling	Day Seven: Exhausted	Day Eight: Star
Day Nine: Precious	Day Ten: Flowing	Day Eleven: Cruel	Day Twelve: Whale
Day Thirteen: Guarded	Day Fourteen: Clock	Day Fifteen: Weak	Day Sixteen: Angular

Having Fun and Growing Creatively

As you all know, one of the things I encourage is creating every day. Well for the last 9 days or so, I have been participating in a challenge called Inktober. It’s basically just a challenge to create something each day. Well I got in and really didn’t completely understand the challenge until about five days in when I found the official prompt list. A prompt list is a list of challenges meant to stretch you further. Well, once I found the list, I decided to catch up and play along. Yesterday after a very busy few weeks, I took a creative day and aside from the two sessions I worked on for my masters class, I decided to schedule a day of creative fun, where I played catch up. I now have all nine days done so far. It will now be much easier to stay caught up.

They really don’t take me a lot of time and I’m setting my own parameters. I’ve decided to call my series, The Faces of Inktober, and as such I am making stylized pieces based on the influence I am currently exploring, as mentioned earlier, the car artists of the 60s and 70s. These parameters force me to work on only one thing and finding ways to make the prompt fit my theme. That makes me get even more creative and the parameter of doing only a face and a simple background, keeps me in something I can do in a manageable amount of time. It’s really stretching me and I’m having fun. Further I have decided to do most of my pieces in symmetry. As such I am drawing a very detailed “half face” and then manipulating the art in photoshop to make the completed piece.

Today’s word was precious. Now my first thought was a portrait of my grandson, but I’m not a great realist, so I decided to go with my first instinct instead. Gollum from The Lord of the Rings, because he called the ring his “precious.” This fit much better with the style in which I am working, and it was fun. When I finish the challenge, I am planning on making a video called The Faces of Inktober. Watch for it in early November on my Youtube channel. How do you challenge yourself to grow and to be more creative.

Amazing Art…

This guy can do more with a couple ball point pens than I can do with a full studio. Let this video inspire you. My only wish is that he would have demonstrated his technique in the clip.

Unbelievable Views of Starry Night

Okay someone took my all time favorite painting and made it into an immersive painting video. If you’ve ever wanted to walk that little street or just see one of the world’s greatest works of art in a new way, this is for you.

Embracing Limitations

One thing I become aware of from time to time is that I spend a lot of time writing about the arts on here but not as much time making art. Today I wanted to change that. We’re having a family vacation soon, a couple of days at the beach and I have to admit the closer it gets the more my mind goes there. We’re going to Maryland, a place known for it’s crabs, so I decided to create a crab. Now I could draw a crab with some effort, but I didn’t want to do that. Instead I wanted to test my skills. I wanted to deal with some limitations. I decided to do the piece in Photoshop using only a few tools. Mostly the circle and/or oval tool and some effects. It was an interesting attempt.

Sometimes working with limitations can stretch your creativity. Try it, impose a limitation on your work and see how what you can come up with.

Tim Bengel Dreams Big!

I loved this little video clip of an artist who has an amazing and different technique. You need to see what he does.

Do what you do. Do it well and…
Dream Big!

Cool Art Technique

This artist gets some really cool textures using a spinning canvas, poured paint, and paint a squeegee. Th paint appears to be acrylic, possibly with some sort of flow medium, though that is not listed on the video’s information. Really cool stuff.

The Anamorphic Art of Bernard Pras

Artist Bernard Pras makes the most amazing portraits. They are room sized assemblages made from all sorts of objects stacked, hung and arranged in such a way that from one particular vantage point assembles into an amazing portrait.

Check them out for yourself here.

Okay Some Art Is Just Too Cool

Art comes in many forms. Check this one out…