Okay, so yeah, I guess I do forget all about updating this journal (never was good about remembering that sort of thing really). Since it's been over a year since I last did this, I guess it goes without saying that a lot has gone on, both good and not so much, but hey, it all makes for me being me. Been working on about 12 different paintings / drawings, all in various stages of completion. I've always been like that though, working on a ton of stuff all at the same time, and because of that it takes forever to finish any of them.
Part of the problem is that I'm one of those poor sods who thinks in pictures. Not really something to complain about mind you but it does have some pitfalls. One of them is having an image pop into your head that you like so much that you absolutely, positively have to get out before you lose it, no matter if it's fully formed or not. While these can lead to some really good art, they can also lead to some real frustration while you're working one them. Everything's going along great, the piece is looking good, then blamo! you hit a brick wall as far as knowing what to do next. Or you get somewhere around the 3/4 finished point and it finally clicks as to what's been bothering you about the piece you started it. This usually necessitates a decent amount of re-working, which can be a good, but generally time consuming process.
Then there's the other great obstacle (and from a some of the journals I've read this year from artist that I follow, I'm in good company on this one), having your muse decide to take off for parts unknown. I know there really isn't any great solution for this one, and it's pretty universal for all of us creative types, but that still doesn't make it any more enjoyable when you're stuck in the middle of it. Usually just switch over to playing a lot of guitar while waiting for the muse to return (hell, this year I actually started recording songs for an album that I've wanted to do for years... which has it's own set of frustrations, especially when you're doing all the production, engineering, song writing and.. oh you get the idea).
Sometimes switching gears helps, sometimes it just takes time to sort out whatever sent ye olde muse packing in the first place. Often times when she does return, chock full of fresh inspiration, it leads to the whole re-working / change of path / ah crap I can do that better sort of thing on the unfinished pieces. Not always a bad thing, but still slows the whole works down.
Some of the things that were suggested in those previously mentioned journals have been really helpful at keeping the muse around more often than not. Switching up media seems to be one of the most frequent suggestion, so I figured why not give it a shot. After the last piece I posted, I wasn't 100% happy with the results I got using Photoshop. I did a lot of brush tweaking to try and make the results look and feel more like I was seeing in my mind, but there was still that "too slick" look about everything, where I was wanting more of an organic feel (yeah, I know, I don't want much). One of my friend suggested trying Paint Tool SAI (thanks
) which I'm finding I really love to work with. I've been doing a lot of sketching in it, as well as tweaking and making brush setting that mimic the regular media that I love to work with (and due to a serious lack of extra cash, can't always afford). So far, I've got it pretty much knocked to be able to do a good approximation of coloured pencils, and (with a few tweaks to the preset) Copic and Prismacolor markers. I also am getting a new set of Derwent Soft Coloured pencils and a sketch pad of various coloured pastel paper for Christmas (my mom learned ages ago that it's always safer to just take me shopping for any art related gifts...). Pity that they stopped making the old Design Spectracolor coloured pencils... I loved those damn things about 1000 time more than Prismacolor pencils. They blended so much better and just had a great feel to working with them, so I'm hoping the Derwent's will be closer to them, maybe. Either way, the switch in media will hopefully keep the muse happy and she'll keep the arty goodness happening in the coming year.
Sorry for being the long winded git that I sometimes am. Too many years of reading the king of the 1000 mile long (but grammatically correct) sentence, H. P. Lovecraft, has made a mark on how I write I guess. Either that or I should just update this journal more that once blue moon. Anyway, hope that you all have a really great Holiday, and a doubly good New Year!