Tag Archives: inspiration

Looking at the Bigger Picture

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The picture above started with a small sketch.

EPSON MFP image

 

As you can see, the lines are messier, and the detail unclear.  That’s what the problem with working small is.

So partially, it’s my lack of physical stability that’s making me work so small.  Also, having the long, tired out, idea that small pictures would sell better, and damn…..presto, I would be making a living as an artist.  I have sold a couple, but mostly greeting cards below a reasonable wage to make them.

So, the quandary is: Do I try once again to tie myself in pretzels to find something that sells?  Or do I stay the path and do my the work I enjoy doing and people seem to like, even when they’re not buyers?

I can’t put the love and details into something as small as a 5×7.  Here are some examples.

This:

EPSON MFP image

 

Became this:

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This:

EPSON MFP image

 

Became this:

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True, there have been a couple of small ones that sold on EBay:

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So, the question is, do I sell out or do I keep authentic?  Since no one seems to be buying when I try to sell out….

I do have the ability to sit and brace my hand at larger than 5×7, and and get into those tasty details I love so much.

So, one last try at getting small:

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Soon to come to a larger picture near you.

And this from last week.

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And What I Mean by That is..

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I guess I didn’t make that very clear.  I certainly would have understood what I meant, and I”m me.  Start with what you know, indeed.

What I mean, is that when starting out a piece of artwork, there are some areas that you already know how you’re going to handle them.   For instance, in the new drawing above, I knew how I was going to draw the people.  Started there.  Which gave me an idea of how to handle the branch, which gave me an idea of how to handle the middle ground, and so forth, so on, and blah, blah, blah, etc.

The drawing may look a little weird the way it looks here.  It’s a small drawing, that the WordPress format blew up in size.  Every little stroke of the pencil is visible here, whereas it really looks muted.

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Just a personal note about my life at the moment, my tremor has gotten to the point that I can no longer control the pencil well enough to stand at my easel to draw.  So, I’ve made a different approach, working smaller and in a way to brace my hand better.  True, it’s a little dull doing small pieces, but I tell myself if there’s something I really like, when I figure out how to do it, I’ll make a statement piece out of it.  Also, I’ll have a lot of little accent pieces.  See if that’s any better for sales.

But thinking about it, I wondered what of the drawings I have already would make a good accent piece.  My first choice is an unassuming sketch of mine which I am now naming “Mind Games”.  That’s firstly because it resembles the intricate working of a person’s mind and also, I was listening to John Lennon a lot when I drew it.  Okay, to refresh your memory:

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Yes, it needs a little tweaking, but with figures of children added to it, I think it would me a damn good huge, huge, I’m telling you, piece.

But there are others that I think would make a good statement piece.  For instance, this:

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It’s actually a nameless little piece that I did as a label for a friend’s line of natural products.  But can you see this 5 feet, by 5?

And then there’s this:

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My old logo, Cheshire Cat like.

Going back to my small, paradise works:

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Now, I’ve gotten so many statement piece ideas, I can’t make up my mind.  Mind?  Mind Games again?

I’m going to bed.

 

 

Bricks

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A little background info….

I’ve been away for a while, in case you haven’t noticed. I needed some time to reflect, think about where I’ve been, where I’m going and most importantly, where I am.

And it all comes down to bricks…well, sort of.

When I first really got going working in colored pencil, I lived in Greenwich, CT. Somehow, and for what reason I can’t figure out, I became drawn to drawing (Ha) buildings with bricks. I sweated tears over each individual rectangle, making sure it was perfect.

Then I landed quite happily but totally unexpectedly in Manhattan. Again, loads and loads of bricks to be drawn! I still was sweating over each and every single detail.

 

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So, then due to circumstances which are beyond explaining.  I landed in Queens, a little community called Sunnyside.  And much to my delight, I found bricks!  By now, I was taking those little rectangles in stride.

GUARDIANS, BY ROXANNE BALDWIN

Then after 20 years of ups and downs and all arounds in NYC, I ended up back in Connecticut in a small city called Danbury.  It’s as a large of a city as I want to deal with for a while.

And whaddya think I found there?  My first picture there, bricks.

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And bricks and cats.

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After this much needed break, guess what I start with?

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And a familiar door.  Yes, I know it’s October, I started this pic in May.

“Inspiration Exists….

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But it has to find you working”…Pablo Picasso.

Who am I to argue with Picasso?  He had a prolific output, he knew what he was talking about.

However, I have to admit it now, I’m more stuck than I realized.

I have had a tumultuous year, I’ve been about as stable as a wind sock in a hurricane.  I’ve slipped into doing drawings from my imagination, and cheating by filling in with decorative patterns.  For me, that’s not good.

In giving myself some serious thought, I have to get back to drawing of real objects, either from life or photograph.  As I did in the past, with some of my best work…such as this from longer ago than I want to admit.

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Maybe I should take a sketch pad to a local park and do a REAL drawing of one of the beautiful, stark, winter landscapes around here.

Or maybe I should just draw this guy from last summer, who walked by my window, on a visit back to Queens.

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I don’t know what the er, fudge, I’m doing

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Fudge is a nice euphemism, isn’t it?  Instead of harsh profanity, you get a remembrance of chocolate delight, maybe days in the kitchen as a child, helping with the stirring of candy, sun shining through the curtains….I went off on a tangent I guess.

Picasso (at least I think it was Picasso), said “Inspiration can strike, but it has to find you working” although that maybe a paraphrase.  So, I’m working on my art, hoping for a great lightening stroke from my muse.  Or whatever.

Thing is, working full time, I don’t get the chance to sit in my usual dreamy reveries from whence (yes, I said whence).  I also don’t know how I ended up typing in italics or how to stop.  Anyone here a Windows 8 expert?
 
So, just to be doing something, I’m working on an idea I’ve had since high school…yes, I had to go that far back to find something that excited me.  So far, it’s in the sketch stage, and I’m calling it “Floral Overload”.  So, here’s the start:
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