End of Project Thoughts

Well, that’s it then. The end of my Art a Day project.

It’s been one whole year. Sometimes it felt like it would never end, but today it feels like I only started the project yesterday. Cliché, but true.

What have I gained from this project?

First, lack of concern over creating a masterpiece. This may seem kind of silly, but having to draw something every single day for 365 days means that not every one of those pictures is going to be a masterpiece. And depending on how the day went, I really didn’t care what the final product was. In a lot of ways, it is a relief as an artist to just not care, but to do the work and feel satisfied no matter what.

Other days I came up with some beautiful things that I am very proud of.

So, did I answer the question that I started this project with? Does art come from inspiration only or can you push through roadblocks in the mind and create regardless of whether or not you are inspired?

I would say it’s both.

Some days I surprised myself with things I created. Was this my imagination? Some days I forced myself to draw things even though I had nothing in my brain. But I still created something.

I will never be entirely happy with anything I create. I think that’s the nature of being an artist. Any kind of artist. That desire to go beyond your limits and bring to life what you keep in your head. It will never be perfect, but that lack of perfection only makes you keep trying.

The second thing I gained was confidence in my own will power. Or maybe my OCD? Either way, I was able to draw every day for a year, whether it was truly based on my strength of character or some strange habit I felt compelled to do. It definitely was not easy, but it wasn’t so difficult either and I do recommend this challenge for any artist in whatever art form they choose to express themselves with, whether it be visual art, performance art, writing, etc.

Now. Where to go from here?

I probably won’t be drawing every day, but I will definitely be drawing more than I ever did before I started this project.

I have several new projects in mind that this art a day project prepared me for and I can’t wait to share them with you all but it will take me some time to get my ideas in order.

Thank you so much to everyone who looked at my work, gave me suggestions for art when I had no ideas, and who supported me for this year.

Now, you can go and look through all 52 weeks to see what I’ve been working on, but I thought I’d share my favorites from this whole project below:

(Fairy. Saturday 9/21/13. Start- 5:00 pm. End- 8:16 pm. Colored Pencil.)

(Flower Children. Sunday 9/22/13. Start- 11:12 am. End- 6:15 pm. Colored Pencil and Sharpie.)

(La Llorona. Wednesday 9/26/13. Start- 8:12 pm. End- 12:46 am. Colored Pencil and Sharpie. Thanks to Pepe for the idea!)

(“Evolution- We did it wrong”. This is actually a rehash of something I’ve already done. I just wanted to try a block style thing. Friday, 10/4/13. Start- 4:36 pm. End- 5:44 pm. Sharpie.)

(“Winter” Totally inspired by Alphonse Mucha and Led Zeppelin. Thanks to Jen for the idea of drawing the four seasons! The color is ok, but I liked it better when it was just black and white. Sunday, 10/6/13. Start- 10:30 am. End- 6:18 pm. Colored pencil and Sharpie.)

(“Sommer” Tuesday, 10/8/13. Start- 8:45 am. End- 10:01 pm. Sharpie and Pencil.)

(“Trip to the Moon”. Inspired by the 1902 Le Voyage dans la lune by Georges Méliès. Thursday, 10/10/13. Start- 5:05 pm. End- 7:31 pm. Pencil and Sharpie.)

(“Wolf”. Sunday 10/13/13. Start- 6:00 pm. End- 10:26 pm. Sharpie. I started out this week thinking I was going to be drawing animals all week I guess.)

(“Parfum Rusalka”. Sunday 10/27/13. Start- 3:47 pm. End- 5:57 pm. Sharpie.)

(“Eating Flowers”. Sunday 11/3/13. Start- 7:32 pm. End- 9:43 pm. Pencil and Sharpie. My favorite from this week! I didn’t realize how long it takes to do pointillism though.)

(“Bicicletas Perfectas”. Wednesday 11/13/13. Start- 2:39 pm. End- 10:28 pm. Sharpie.)

(“Negative Koi”. Friday 11/22/13. Start- 2:42 pm. End- 10:43 pm. Sharpie.)

(“Oni Box”. Monday 11/25/13. Start – 3:06 pm. End – 10:29 pm. Sharpie.)

(“Fan art- Wonder Woman”. Tuesday 11/26/13. Start- 2:34 pm. End- 1:19 am. Sharpie. Comics are awesome.)

(“Fan art – Batman”. Wednesday 11/27/13. Start- 1:08 pm. End- 11:19 pm. Sharpie.)

(“Harley”. Thursday 12/5/13. Start- 12:45 pm. End- 2:58 pm. Sharpie. My fave this week.)

(“Empress”. Friday 12/6/13. Start- 7:18 pm. End- 9:08 pm. Colored Pencil and Sharpie.)

(“Mother Goose takes 5”. Sunday 12/22/13. Start- 2:40 pm. End- 3:16 pm. Pen.)

(“Little Mermaid”. Wednesday 12/25/13. Start- 11:16 am. End- 4:11 pm. Pen.)

(“Manpunzel”. Friday 12/27/13. Start – 8:50 pm. End – 10:20 pm. Pen.)

(“Snow White”. Monday 12/30/13. Start – 8:30 pm. End – 10:47 pm. Pen.)

(“Tam Lin”. Tuesday 12/31/13. Start – 10:32 pm. End – 12:34 am. Pen.)

(“The Four Clever Brothers”. Wednesday 1/1/14. Start – 9:30 am. End – 1: 56 pm. Pen.)

(“Star Money”. Monday 1/6/14. Start – 2:32 pm. End – 8:53 pm. Pen.)

(“Kasa Obake”. Wednesday 1/8/14. Start – 2:37 pm. End – 2:59 pm. Pen.)

(“AD Design”. Saturday 1/19/14)

(“Tribal”. Tuesday 1/14/14. Pen.)

(“Evil Queen”. Wednesday 1/15/14. Pen.)

(“Dragon”. Saturday 1/18/14. Pen.)

(“Moe Cigarette Ad”. Sunday 2/2/14. Pen and Sharpie.)

(“Anime”. Sat. 2/8/14. Pen.)

(“La gitana”. Thursday 2/20/14. Pen. I drew this one at a show. Inspired by the dancers and musicians.)

(“La Mer”. Friday 2/21/14. Pen.)

(“Colossus”. Thursday 3/6/14. Pen.)

(“Colossus of the Lake”. Friday 3/7/14. Pen.)

(“From the garden”. Wednesday 4/9/14. Pen, Sharpie, and Colored Pencil.)

(“Bacchus.” Friday 4/18/14. Pen.)

(“Sad Queen”. Thursday 7/17/14. Pencil.)

(“Clarke Girl”. Friday 7/18/14. Pencil.)

(“Mata Hari”. Saturday 7/19/14. Pencil.)

(“Captured”. Tuesday 7/22/14. Pencil.)

(“Revenge”. Wednesday 7/23/14. Pencil.)

(“Venus in Furs.” Monday 7/27/14. Pen.)

(“Sky Woman”. Tuesday 7/29/14. Pen. Interpretation of a Native American Creation story.)

(“Moe portrait.” Friday 8/15/14. Pen.)

(“Rylan”. Saturday 8/16/14. Pen.)

(“Foot Drawing.” Sunday 8/17/14. Pencil. Yes. I drew this with my foot.)

(“Deco Mermaid”. Saturday 8/30/14. Pen.)

(“Egyptian Lovers”. Saturday 9/6/14. Pen.)

(“Out of my way”. Saturday 9/13/14. Pen.)

La Cartomancie

I’ve been so busy with my Art a Day project I haven’t had a chance to post much finished work, so I thought I’d put this one up.

This is a special piece for a few friends of mine.

The request was for me to draw a Rom Fortune teller.

Lately, I’ve been working with ink, and doing black and white as opposed to a lot of color, so I really got to explore some fine detail work in pen, which I truly enjoyed.

I’m actually thinking about taking this style and turning it into an animation (eventually…)

(“La Cartomancie”)

Belly Dance…as inspiration for other art forms

(Zoe Jakes and Rachel Brice, photographed by Pixie Vision Productions and drawn in pencil by me (as practice for drawing faces and intricate detail))

Ah, Belly Dance. So many things come to mind when you hear that word. It means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. I don’t want to get into the dance itself (as that would be an entirely different blog and there are already many excellent belly dance bloggers in the world), but rather, how belly dance has inspired my own artwork.

This past year almost every single one of my pieces has been inspired by belly dance (and before you go thinking, wow, that’s kind of weird, please note that I’ve been belly dancing since I was sixteen, and it is one of my day jobs).

All the women and men (yes, men) that I’ve met through dance are beautiful and strong. On stage, they perform with passion and grace, some pushing the boundaries of the dance and others keeping traditions alive and reminding belly dancers why they dance in the first place.

This strength and independence I see on stage is always the spirit behind the figures in my artwork.

Costuming is another inspiring aspect of belly dance. The costuming in belly dance is unbelievable, especially in Tribal fusion belly dance, as it is a fusion of many dance styles. This means dancers could take costuming pieces from almost any culture they wished to form something new and interesting. I’ve seen astounding use of colors, jewels, headpieces and crowns, and makeup.

The intricate jewelry I find particularly fascinating. The photo at the top of this post is one that I did about five years ago, as practice drawing faces and jewelry. All credit should go to Pixie Vision Productions, and the two models, Zoe Jakes and Rachel Brice.

Looking at the piece now, I can see what needs improvement. Nothing is ever perfect.

But this piece taught me a lot about detail. The way these ladies decorate themselves is extraordinary and it was a privilege to try to recreate all the buttons, feathers, flowers, crystals, etc. that they were wearing for that shoot.

I’ve always been detail oriented, but the detail that goes into costuming and creating a dance comes out in my visual art, and I have belly dance to thank for that, and the hundreds of belly dancers that are just amazing in what they create and perform.

This is just a short post (I could go on and on about the dance, what it means to me, and so on and so forth), but I just wanted to give a shout out to the art form that keeps inspiring me to create.

The Vagina Series

(18 x 24 Colored Pencil and Sharpie)

Last year I was commissioned to create a piece for the Vagina Monologues (as a donation).

I immediately felt the challenge of this. How and what was I going to draw…a vagina? (Insert giggles and shielding of eyes here.)

I was told that it didn’t necessarily have to be a real vagina. I could draw a metaphorical one- think fruit, or flowers, Georgia O’Keefe style.

I actually struggled with this for a while. I’m not sure if I am adequately able to express my feelings on this subject, but I’m going to try. In our society, the human body is not really something to be proud of. Seriously, if you look at advertisements, the body is either portrayed as something to want (something you need to look like, something you want to have, a sex symbol-which isn’t particularly a good thing in most cases), or the body is seen as something shameful, that you need to change (i.e. you are too fat, you need to do this and this to fix it, etc.)

Especially the female body, although we’ve heard this time and time again. I won’t go into huge detail on how females are portrayed in the media.

Even saying the word vagina or typing it, or any version of the word, makes a girl feel almost shameful. It’s just an anatomical term for a specific body part, but as women it’s something we are taught to be ashamed of (whether we are aware of it or not.)

Seriously. Try using the word vagina sometime without feeling some sense of guilt or embarrassment (or maybe I’m just weird because of being raised Catholic. Whatever. Everyone’s got issues.)

That’s why, when I thought about drawing the Vagina Monologues piece, I felt like drawing fruit or flowers would be a cop out. A vagina isn’t a flower and it’s not a fruit. It’s a body part.

There’s a particular story from Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues about a woman going to a “vagina workshop” (strange as that sounds), where everyone was asked to draw a picture of a vagina, or their vagina. I used this as the basis for my own piece and two others.

(“African Klimt” 18 x 24 Colored Pencil and Sharpie)

I call these my Vagina series, because a. they were inspired by the vagina monologues and b. their purpose is to express the female form in a strong, yet sensual way. These are four nude women, crouching against abstract backgrounds, either presenting themselves or masturbating (yes, yes, that is totally what they are doing, get the giggles out now.)

(“Red Headed Klimt” 18 x 24 Colored Pencil and Sharpie)

I suppose this is a rebellion against the idea that a female expressing any kind of sexuality is to be considered a slut. At least, I hope that is what is perceived in my artwork. The pieces to me express liberation, in that these women are the masters of their own sexual desire, and have the power to please themselves, where and when they choose by themselves, without someone else being necessary to bring about their pleasure (although that’s totally fine and awesome).

(“Poppies”18 x 24 Colored Pencil and Sharpie!

I say liberation also in the sense that, these women express freedom from societal constraint, from being tied to someone else to receive, and the freedom of intoxication with oneself (although that can be a dangerous thing. See “Poppies” above).

I realize that these pieces of artwork could be considered quite offensive to a lot of people.

I actually began a new piece, another commission and another donation, for an event called Shimmy for the Cure (a belly dance event to raise money for breast cancer prevention and awareness). My own grandmother battled (and won) against breast cancer, so in a small way, I feel like I can help with my artwork.

(“The Maiko” Unfinished. 11×14 Sharpie and Colored Pencil. The word Maiko literally translates to “dancing child” (mai = dance, ko = child), but is also referred to as “dancing girl”. A Maiko is an apprentice Geisha who must must undergo a period of training that generally takes 5 years, where she learns the various “gei” (arts) such as dancing, singing, music etc before she becomes a Geisha.)

I’m taking liberties here as far as cultural appropriation goes (I don’t mean to be offensive to Japanese culture at all.) I feel like this piece also gets to be included as part of my vagina series.

The Maiko is about expressing joy and shedding whatever it is that binds you. Her breasts are bare because she doesn’t care about her nudity. She is proud of her body and has no reason to hide it. It is not meant to be sexual (although an artist really doesn’t have control over how their artwork is perceived once they release it to the public).

There are certainly more moving pieces of artwork that have been inspired by those who have battled against breast cancer (and I suggest you check them out. There are even brilliant tattoos on women who have lost their breasts to cancer that are absolutely glorious.), but this is my contribution.

So, if you are offended, I can’t really apologize, as I’ve learned through this project that the naked woman’s body really isn’t something I should be ashamed of.

For more info on the Vagina Monologues, check out Eve Ensler’s book: http://www.eveensler.org/books/the-vagina-monologues/

For more info on Shimmy for the Cure, check out Irie Tribal’s website: http://www.irietribal.com/shimmy-for-the-cure.html