Detail shot of abstract piece in progress.
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And after the serious work of trying to capture a likeness, time for a touch of whimsy!
My abstract art is an ode to imperfectionism and play. It’s what I create from the mindspace of a 4-year-old, to help me GET INTO the mindspace of a 4-year-old!

For too many years I was paralyzed by perfectionism, unable to create, or find any joy in creating, because I was convinced everything I did sucked.

My route out of this excruciating trap was to allow myself to be 4 again–to make messes, let loose, and PLAY!

I was wound so tight, though, that I’d forgotten HOW to play! So I developed a set of ground rules or guidelines–concepts to remember to help me let go of the perfectionism and “you suck!” gremlins that constantly threatened to shut me down again.

These guidelines sprang from the image of a 4-year-old child playing in a sandbox.

THAT, I realized, was what I needed: a creative sandbox! I needed to play with my art, my writing, my music, as if I were a little kid playing in a sandbox!

Those initial guidelines evolved into the ten “rules” of my Creative Sandbox Manifesto, which you can read all about at http://bit.ly/1RQSvCO

You’ll also find a poster there of my manifesto, hand-lettered (imperfectly!) by me.
Download it, print it out, and hang it on your wall where you can see it every day.
Then go get creating!

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Face #16. After a painting by J R Dunster, of portrait-artist.org. Pencil on paper.
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I don’t know what they are, but they’re clearly having fun!
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Face #15. Drawn freehand, attempting to copy a drawing at portrait-artist.org. I didn’t capture the likeness, but I’m happy that it looks human. ?

Drawing is about training the eye to see what’s there, and the hand to create marks that express what the eye sees. Of the two, right now the seeing part feels the most challenging. Seeing faces–really seeing shapes and proportions and values–is hard!

But the way to get better at something is to do it. You will not do it expertly at first, because you haven’t done it long enough to become an expert!! Or as I like to say, we need the crap to fertilize the good stuff. ?

Don’t worry if it’s not as good as you want it to be yet. Just do your thing, and you will get better with time.
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