Looks like the month of November has been creeping away from my. Or sprinting. Whichever. I've had a bit of a break from artmaking and art blogging again, as I spent a month on an overseas trip. I travelled to England, Scotland, Venice and Greece before coming back to Australia. I intended to pick up where I left off with the blog when I got back, but you'd be surprised how much there is to do when you come back after a whole month away. And, apart from that, being sick and jetlagged and not wanting to do any of it.
Now that I've recovered and gotten myself back into something of a routine, I'm ready to dust off the old blog again. This particular blog has been going for almost a year now. I haven't quite kept up with the four blog posts a month that I intended at the beginning, but there is still time to catch up. I think I need to write another twenty blog posts before the end of December to meet that goal, which is still very achievable.
I'd also like to start doing Youtube videos, detailing how I make my art. It's the sort of thing I'd like to watch other people do more, but I've been finding it hard to find videos of people just splashing around with paint. Art journalling Youtube channels seem to be the closest to the things I've been looking for, particularly videos by artists like The Frugal Crafter, Julie Fei-Fan Balzer and The Artistic Pagan. Hoping to find some other Youtube artists to add to my list of inspiration. I haven't tried putting together a how to or technique video yet, but that's something I'd like to have a go at too.
Despite the fact that I haven't been blogging in the two weeks since I've been back, I have made a little bit of art. I've also started to clean up my art space to make it easier to film. Little things like having a clear space will make it so much easier to just switch on a camera and start making art when I feel like it, rather than being daunted by the thought of setting everything up and putting it off.
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| "Rainbow Sulfur Crested Cockatoo", Coloured Pencil, Crayon and Ink |
This is something I drew not long after leaving home. It's a sulfur crested cockatoo with a colourful rainbow crest. I tried to make sure I bought all the art supplies I could possibly need with me, but at the end of the day I didn't use much. Could have got by with a mechanical pencil, eraser, black pen and about ten coloured pencils. Instead I had a big pencil case of pencils, brush tip markers, twistable crayons and other nonsense I just didn't need. You really notice that you have things you don't need when you're lugging them through airports and around the streets with you. I'll try to travel light in future. You can do a lot of things with very minimal supplies if you put your mind to it. There's no point saying "I might need those other things later" if you aren't going to sit down and find the time to make yourself use them.
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