Starting Out

I've been dabbling in mixed media with some friends for the past year and I love learning how paint moves and how colors mix.  I'm still ending up with muddy colors, mostly due to my impatience to get the next layer on, but for the most part I like what I have created. Here is a recent creation:

I like how it turned out but I feel like I am just copying other mixed media at this point.  I felt bad about this until I read a book called "Steal Like an Artist" by Austin Kieon.  My take away from the book was to study things you love and emulate them and in the process of emulating you will learn the things you need to know to develop your own style.  So for now I will continue to play and learn to duplicate effects that I see in the hope that at some point I'll start to apply these effects to my own unique art.

So, the first part of my journey is to develop some basic drawing skills and to learn to use different color mediums.  My drawing skills are dismal but I picked up a copy of "Drawing From the Right Side of the Brain", a classic book for people who feel they have no drawing skills or would like to improve their skills.  I've made improvements already so I'm on my way in that department.  

I've also been picking up different paints, inks and paint modifiers (glaze and such).  My head is spinning with possibilities and things I want to try. I'm finding that I am jumping from thing to thing before I have truly learned how to get the best out of each medium.  I have to find some discipline! 

With this first blog post I am starting the process of organizing my learning. The first thing I'm starting with is Index Card a Day.  I'm going to use this 61 day exercise in creativity to focus on some different color mediums.  My plan is to work with one medium for a week at time and see what I can do with it.  I'll use these experiments as the background for collages, drawings or lettering practice.  Today's discovery was that I can produce hand-lettering if I really focus, take my time and PRACTICE!


Today is the start of ICAD and here is my first entry for it.  A simple, easy index card using water color pencils (I used them like regular colored pencils) and Pitt India Ink artist pens






For the next 6 days I plan to explore the use of the watercolor pencils.  I think I check out some tutorials online and then try the techniques I see.  What will I learn this week and how will I apply it in the future? We'll see!