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I overheard someone say “I’m just not that creative”. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard that and how many times that statement has made me cringe. That statement to me is like someone scratching a fork on a chalkboard. It is just not true no matter who says it.

You might have heard that man has the ability to either create or destroy. I would say that it is our ability to create or create a state of destruction. Even with the statement “I am not creative” you are creating. You are creating a destructive mindset that limits like a cage. You are also creating a lie to someone else that you are not creative.

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Todays Saturday Morning “Feats of Excellence” Video was shown to me by my friend Luke. It is of a young man playing the ukulele. I never new a ukulele could do such a thing. It goes to prove its not the tool, it’s how you use it that counts.

Check it out

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I got a chance to listen to Steve Pavlina’s new podcast on “creative self expression“. He is a guy putting himself out there. I admire his ability to post novels on his blog and then make these very informative podcast.

This latest one is right in my area of interest but I don’t have to add anything to what he said…. for tonight. I’m still thinking about what he said.

“Your own creativity is the very mechanism by which you’ll achieve everything else you could possibly want.”

Check out the audio during your lunch break.

Welcome to “Saturday Morning Feats of Excellence”. It’s just for fun. I won’t promise the latest viral videos in this segment, but I will promise it’s still excellent.

Today’s video is “Daft Hands” by FrEckleStudios

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Ah, I see you are getting a head start on the assignment I gave you. You weren’t supposed to read this until tomorrow! But since you are so eager, you might be the one person who doesn’t need to read this at all. But, just in case, I will continue.

There are many times I have heard “I will pursue that goal when…” . After that “when”, you can insert a million different things.

…when I graduate
…when I have my bills paid off
…when things settle down
…when I get married
…when the kids are grown
…when I retire

I am sure you could think of one you could say right now. The problem with any of these statements is that we are being naive in thinking that someday will be better than today. There will always be things to keep us busy, or at least keeping us thinking that now is not a good time to pursue our dreams. Read the rest of this entry »

When you start drawing you might start to ask yourself “what is wrong with this drawing”. Most likely as a beginning artist you are not thinking about composition, line weight, balance, or any other helpful concepts. You are having trouble truly seeing and are making use of the symbols in your head. I will try to clarify symbols..

Our brains are very powerful, but they also make many shortcuts to be able to make decisions very quickly. One of the ways it does this is by using symbols. Symbols take all our understanding of a certain type of object and simplifies it into one easy to understand form. People have made use of this in street signs, warning signs, logo’s etc… Anything where we need quick easy information in picture form. This is great for everyday life, but it works against us when we try to accurately draw something we see. Read the rest of this entry »

I heard someone say the other day that their “creative juices weren’t flowing”. Have you ever said or felt like that. I sure have. Thats a normal feeling for any creative person. Some days you just don’t feel like it.

Well, just because everybody experiences it doesn’t mean that is a feeling you should act on and not go about the business of creating. So what are you supposed to do if your “creative juices” aren’t flowing or you don’t feel like it?

You show up.

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Over these past couple years as I’ve been learning to draw without a teacher, I’ve found many useful forums for learning from other artists and getting questions answered. Check These guys out.

http://www.tsofa.com/forum.php - There is tons of good instruction on this site along with some phenomenal artists. You should definitely check this place out.

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/ - The main site seems to have an emphasis on concept art for movies and video games but this site was where I found out about the wonderful world of atelier schools for art

http://forums.cgsociety.org/ -this sites main emphasis is on computer generated graphics and 3d modeling but there are some great forums here for beginning artists and for figure drawing projects

http://www.drawingboard.org/index.php - This is a place to post daily drawings and sketches. There is some instruction on this site, but not as much as the others, but still its a good one to check out.

This site has only been online a couple days and Ive been loving the response Ive gotten so far. Thank you so much.

Well, you gotta start with the basics right?

About a year ago I got a copy of the Academy of Realist Art “How to draw the Figure” DVD. In it is a demonstration of how to sharpen a pencil. Well you might say “Hey, I know how to sharpen a pencil. I learned that in elementary school!”

The way you learned to sharpen your pencil in elementary school is fine if your just learning your ABC’s or writing a term paper. But whether your just starting to learn to draw or are an accomplished artists you need to take time at the beginning to set up your tools correctly.

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A woman I work with was talking about her little girl who recently said,

“Mom! When a butterfly goes into it’s cocoon, what happens to all its legs?”

Wouldn’t we all gain some insight if we listened closer to children? That question reminded me of the sacrifice involved with change even if it’s for the better. A butterfly goes from the larvae caterpillar stage to the cocoon, to struggling out of the cocoon, to being a butterfly without a second thought. That’s it’s nature.

Humans going through change, on the other hand, are prone to vacillate and want to stay in the stage they are in. We might say “Why should we give up these legs? If we didn’t have them we wouldn’t be able to walk as well.” or “Why should we leave our cocoon, we are safe here and it’s too dangerous out in the open.” And you know what? We have that choice.

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