May Skill Building '14: People, Animals, Objects

I'm in a bit of a rush today, but I wanted to get these skill building sketches posted. Interestingly enough, I heard it mentioned recently that some people think you should never post any of your "bad" artwork online. I have mixed feelings about this opinion. Obviously, these skill building sketches are not my finest work, but they do sometimes end up being a sizable amount of what I create over the weeks and months. Since I want this blog to be accurate to my artistic process, I've continued to feature them once a month. (And so far, none of you have complained. ;-)) Also, if you're constantly worrying about whether your art is "good enough" to post, people will get to see very little of your work. You should be careful, of course, to do your best on each piece, but as you improve, today's best won't be good enough any more. Plus, I think it's kind of cool to see people grow in their skill level. It reminds you that they're human, too. :-)

onward and upward,

Bethany

Painting: Guiding Chaos

Today I decided to share a little bit about my painting process. I realized a few weeks ago that there is very specific method, dare I say, style, to how I paint. I've talked a little bit about my process in the past, but now I want to go into a little more depth about my painting philosophy.

Painting, for me, is more about guiding chaotic forces than it is meticulously putting in each tiny detail myself. In college, I discovered, quite by accident, how fascinating the paint became when I watered it down and let it run together on the canvas, The colors, textures, and patterns that formed added more depth and beauty to my image than I could have ever put there myself. I began incorporating this technique into my pieces, going back to add structure and details to the forms and subtracting what I didn't want after the paint had dried.

There are some projects that I can't use this method on and I have to be more controlling with my brush strokes. And when I do chose to go with a more chaotic approach, it's a bit nerve-wracking to step back and let the paint do it's thing. Sometimes the colors don't look right, or I get lines where I don't want them to be. But those are the things I can change later and the happy accidents are well worth the risk.  

As with all approaches to painting, there is a danger of falling into repetition and mediocrity. I sometimes worry that, if I rely too much on this technique, my paintings will become predictable. That is the double edged sword of style; what can set you apart from others can also keep you from growing. But, so long as I am aware of this danger, I can keep pushing myself to experiment and try new things. Although 3 years of experience have made me competent enough to try bigger, more challenging paintings, they have by no means made me a master at this craft. I hope to continue improving and allow my method to improve with me.

Thanks for letting me share some of my thoughts about painting. I'm thinking of taking the advice of my friend Lauren and writing a few reflective posts about my works from college. Stay tuned for more about that!

onward and upward,

Bethany

April '14 Sketchbook

This month's sketches ended up more mixed media-ish than usual. They also ended up being more colorful, which is never a bad thing in my book.

On an unrelated note, I'm thinking about doing a little blog renovation and possibly changing the name. Not sure about all those details yet, but I'll keep you posted.

onward and upward,

Bethany

Snippets: A Pocket Anthology of Images and Oddity

Well folks, the fateful day has arrived. All thirty of  my Snippets illustrations are finished and ready to share! I am so excited to have reached this milestone and so, so thankful to everyone who helped me by sending me sentences and offering encouragement and inspiration. You guys are awesome!! ^_^ Also, even though I reached my goal of thirty illustrations, I had several leftover sentences that I really want to work with, as well as a bunch that people sent me after I reached my goal. So, I've decided to make Snippets an on going project. I'll be taking it at a much slower, more relaxed pace, but expect to see more of these weird little images in the future!

And now, on to the drawings!

P. S. I'm also going to post all my the Snippet illustrations on their own separate page. Just look up at the top of  my blog for the title "Snippets", next to the "Home" tab.

onward and upward,

Bethany

April Skill Building: Poses

Since I'm trying to finish up Snippets, my skill building routine has been somewhat neglected. Hopefully that project will be done soon (only 5 illustrations left to go! ^_^) and I can get back into a regular drawing habit. Till then, here are a few basic poses.

onward and upward,

Beth

Snippets: A Pocket Anthology of Images and Oddity (part 2)

I am sooo excited about sharing the second part of this project! ^_^ It's been quite the journey working on these images and I would be lying if I said it was all sunshine and bunnies. Truth be told, these last ten illustrations were pretty challenging and I definitely considered giving up the rest of the project a few times. But, I wanted to push myself to complete something bigger. I'm pretty good at nailing down the small stuff, but when given a larger project, I tend to run out of steam and leave it unfinished. One of my long term goals for this year is to finish more things so they don't hang over my head for months, making me feel guilty.

Alright, enough ramble. On to the artwork!

onward and upward!

Beth

March Sketchbook '14

Wow, March is pretty much over already! Time goes by so quickly. Anyway, here are this month's sketches.  

onward and upward,

Bethany