The most important artistic advice I ever taught my son was that mistakes aren't the end of a piece. They can be opportunities to try something new and previously unthought of. As a young budding artist he would be frustrated and sometimes heartbroken when he "messed" up on his artistic creation which was usually for a school project. He was not a lover of anything scholastic so being creative in his school projects was usually a great way for him to connect with the assignment. However one mistake after working so hard on something almost had the power to derail him. I had to work really hard to convince him that "mistakes are opportunities"

I'm happy to say he's grown into a very talented artist with awesome creative problem solving skills.

The reason I bring this up is as a parent we put so much effort into nurturing, encouraging and inspiring our kids to try their hardest, be the best they can and to be proud of themselves.

I just forget to apply some of that tutelage to myself.

I'm a chronic re-doer. I'm constantly painting over major parts of paintings that I can't quite get to work. I start out each piece with a vision but the vision and direction often changes. Sometimes because of "mistakes".

This painting is a perfect example:

Which started out like this

Decided to do a little "sketching" on board. Well... to be precise there was a lot of painting involved too

What do you do when you're in a bit of a creative slump,

You're annoyed at your spouse for ......well just annoying you on purpose

and you have a bunch of pieces that you really should work on and try to finish

but no motivation to do so

Well you doodle

Hello Mr. rapidograph pen

So again I've been a very neglectful blogger. However it's not because I've been too busy or haven't been working on my art. I've actually been pretty prolific on the creative end. My only excuse is I haven't been able to force myself to sit down and organize/write/post anything interesting.



So here's a wee bit of what I've been up to -
First off there was Mr. Cardinal. He just looked too nice and I couldn't put my finger on what wasn't working. Finally after retrying with a slightly different approach (colored cardstock, ink and paint) I had my eureka moment. It's the eyes. Now just to be precise I knew it was the eyes I just didn't know what to do about it.

Here's also some of my other experiments

The last experiment reunited me with my white ink

I've been having fun with that stuff!

I've also been working on this big guy.

I think I'm close to being done. Sometimes the hardest part is knowing when to stop.

Granted I've changed my mind and redone parts of this piece so many times......

I crave whatever wildlife comes to my backyard. Now just so you know I live in suburbia.....somewhat urban suburbia so my wildlife is limited to bunnies, squirrels, birds and an occasional hawk. The baby bunnies absolutely kill me they're soooo cute. I posted an adorable video of one on my Instagram (check it out - acwaltz)

My latest joy is putting out black sunflower seeds in a terra cotta plate (one of those ones that you put under your pots so water doesn't get all over your deck). Well anyway the squirrels come (these are the most spoiled squirrels ever!), the sparrows come, the morning doves come, the robins come, the bluejays come (they're bullies btw - I tend to yell at them when they get too obnoxious), sometimes nasty grackles (they're also big bullies and I yell them away too) but my favorites are the Cardinals. We have a family of cardinals that appear on my deck. The male was the first to brave the new unknown Waltz buffet. Soon came his wife. She tends to be a bit shyer. Well apparently now I'm totally in with the whole family cuz now the kids are coming to visit!

Anyway.......the point of this whole random story I just went on about is Cardinals are gorgeous and so inspiring. As if I didn't like them a ton already I got a great video of the daddy feeding his kid (also on my Instagram)

Now in typical Amy fashion my plan of action in creating always changes. I tried to do a portion of this piece in ink but I hated how it looked. I also (as I've mentioned in previous posts) sometimes really struggle with the pen as my tool. I'm much happier and more comfortable with a paintbrush.

Why you ask would I then continue to torture myself with pens?

Answer - I can get a really fine line with a rapidograph pen. I mean a REALLY FINE line. It's empowering.

And not all my pen and ink projects are adventures in frustration. Some work out great. It's the ones that don't that really irk me and tweek my crazytrain button.

Anywayyyyyy

Here's what I have so far.

Now here's part of the journey

I've been a neglectful blogger...sorry

But I've been busy so now I have a lot to share -yah!



First off  remember this little sunflower sketch that I wanted to put on board?

Well I finally got my butt in gear and got down to business.

I tried to document the steps as much as possible cuz that's what I'd be interested in looking at if I was reading this blog

Just sayin

I also pulled this piece out of limbo land and went to town on it

For some reason it makes me think of Mardi Gras

And the last pic I'll leave you with is one of my baby crossing the finish line of a 5k.

Just FYI the little twerp didnt train or anything - just went out and ran a little over 3 miles in 26 minutes.

Grrrrrr.......oh to be young