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I'm in a bit of a fix this week, as I'm occupied by a different project. It's a big project, so part of me wanted to turn these weekly doodles into progress reports, but that kind of defeats the purpose. In some ways it's exciting to share what we're working on, but I've also learned to try and keep my mouth shut until ambitious endeavours have come to fruition.
Part of me wants to write an entire post about the practice of pitching, or speculative work. It's something that artists of all mediums have to deal with at some point in their life, so I think it's an important thing to think about. However, I figured it might be a bit too much "shop-talk" for its own post, so I'll put it here instead.
I'm sure we've all heard it before, but sometimes coming up with a creative idea is as difficult as any other test of skill. Maybe you've heard the stories about writers staring at blank pages, artists gazing over white canvas, or musicians droning through random noise. There are times that the pursuit of an idea can feel impossibly unsurmountable, but then there are times when the dam bursts, and the rush is beyond euphoric.
Something as simple as a line can be so enticing sometimes. Of course many things are made up of lines, but we tend to look at the forest instead of the trees. Part of the reason I love doing doodles with pen is that it forces you to think about the lines you're making as you place ink on the paper.
This week is all about enabling creativity, as it's been a central focus for me in recent times. It can often be seen as a way to procrastinate or delay the start of a project, but ensuring that creativity has an opportunity to grow might be the most important part of the process.
Since starting this thing I've managed to finish off three sketch books, and I'm about to run out of space in another. Most had already been started, so it's not like I started on a blank slate, but it seems like some kind of accomplishment. I suppose the accumulation of results can often feel like success, even if there's little to no value in the literal substance of the outcomes. So this week I've been thinking about success and how we determine whether or not we have been successful.
Tap tap tap.
Cleverness is a social plague that often does more damage than good. We forget about kindness and positivity when we're too busy trying to out savvy the next person. Perhaps it's a symptom of social media and unlimited connectivity, but I think we can do something about it with a conscious choice.
As much as giving credit to commercial television for anything productive seems like an incredible error in judgement, I saw about two seconds of a talent show that inspired this week's train of thought. I can't remember what show it was exactly, but there were a bunch of celebrity judges who were commenting on the performance of some dude standing on a stage. The only thing I really picked up as I continued surfing channels, was the enormity of sincerity and earnest belief in the words these people were saying.
Every now and then I get a bit of feedback about something I've been working on and it makes me think a bit about how others perceive what I only know from the inside. I love getting feedback, but it always amazes me how often the focus is put on the final product instead of the process. It's why I know I'm a bit more obsessed with process than end results, but there are some interesting points to consider.
Oh boy oh boy oh boy. What a week it has been to get those creative juices flowing. In a lot of ways it's been a week of ignoring any attempts at creativity and focusing on other things to let it naturally arise. It doesn't always work, but it feels good either way.
Almost didn't end up with a post this week as it's been a great day of hanging with my family, seeing some great art, and eating some delicious food. Sometimes the real world comes knocking and I'm always up to shift focus when the opportunity presents itself.
Sometimes you just have to draw some dumb stuff to fill in space where some graphics might be needed. I've been updating my portfolio lately, so there are only a few doodles this week, which are all intended to be filler.
It's one thing to try and create an abstraction of something physical/with tactile form, but what about the rest. After all, the real appeal of abstraction has to be its attempt to represent the intangible and ethereal elements of existence. Or even, the simple things in life that we are unable to see, but experience every day.
I don't think I'll ever stop being surprised at how wonderful a little bit of change can be. Whenever I'm in a funk and can't seem to find my way out, just changing up some simple details can make everything bright again. So it is that this week I have something a little different to show you, after last week's disappointing lack of content.
Don't get too excited (as I know we all are), but this is being posted late for a reason.
I've been listening to a lot of pop music lately, which always manages to take me to an atmosphere ready to be filled with productive activity. I don't know the why or how of it all, but that's what I love about music in general; as it always finishes off any state of mind with smooth edges and tight limits.
Whenever Easter rolls around I thank the good gracious creator that she showed me the light and steered me into work that doesn't require baking tens of thousands of hot cross buns on Good Friday. Instead, I've had a pretty chilled out weekend of holidays, and seeing as I have little to do with the big JC, it's an excuse to turn down the noise and relax for four days.
This week the doodles have created a direct link between the two halves of this blog - art and gaming. In fact, it's nice to have a reason to think about the link between the two, but I suspect this won't be exactly what most people think of when relating art to games.
This will no doubt be short and sweet as the previous week has been full of personal commitments. Turns out it's real easy to get sapped of energy when your focus is drawn elsewhere, even when it consists of the best use of time.
