Sunday, October 9, 2011

Top 5 benefits you get from doing art and some new fall pictures

I love autumn – especially October, before the pressures of holiday prep begins (except for Halloween, but that doesn't count because prep is minimal in comparison with the other holidays). October is a time for idealizing the season, taking walks on cool crisp fragrant days, daydreaming, and absorbing the colors, and then coming home and trying to reproduce them in pictures.

My favorite Prismacolor marker colors for fall: sienna brown, dark umber, light vermillion, mahogany red, Tuscan red, light olive, tulip yellow, and scarlet lake. Acquiring art supplies is one of the great pleasures of doing art. One of many.

My top five benefits of doing art:
  1. The feel of marker or pencil on the surface of good paper.
  2. Those sensual and imaginative color names. As a child I loved the names of my Crayolas - Violet Red, Pine Green, Cornflower, Midnight Blue.... and now I love the names of my paints, pencils, and markers even more.
  3. Getting in the "zone" and losing all track of time or sense of worry. You can also think of it as the state of being in moment.
  4. Related to #3 but a little different: the flow of creativity when ideas for lines and shapes and colors follow each other and magically build into a picture that has never existed before.
  5. The chance to share the result with others.
So now I will enjoy #5 and share a few of my newest pictures, inspired by my October walks....

Swirly leaves
Meeting a friend in the park
Finding the perfect pumpkin: I think this one is the most sincere pumpkin in the patch

By the way, those top five benefits of doing art art not definitive! Another day I would probably list five different benefits. Here I don't even touch on the therapeutic and health aspects of art. Thanks for visiting my blog!
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4 comments:

  1. Michael AnnOctober 9, 2011 at 9:43 PM

    I love the Swirly Leaves one! That is my new favorite, after Lace and Laundry. I would love that hanging in my room. I must talk to you about selling your art. Seriously.

    So do you sketch in pencil and go over it in marker, or do you just go for it with marker first?

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  2. Carol AppleOctober 9, 2011 at 9:59 PM

    Hi Michael Ann. For the pictures I do on Post-its I usually draw with marker. If I make a mistake I just turn the error into part of the picture. These are completely unplanned pictures. For the ones I do on an art cards or art paper, I sometimes use light pencil first and then use markers. For nicer paper drawings I have some concept of subject and composition in mind as I begin.

    As for selling, eventually I will make some originals available, but first I want to get some prints, possibly greeting and note cards made. Thanks so much for the encouragement!

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  3. Elizabeth YoungOctober 10, 2011 at 9:23 PM

    Thanks for sharing your lovely drawings with us Carol, there's something so uplifting about them! I enjoy hearing you speak about the process of creating your characters; they are so grounded in the seasons and everyday life - this is what makes them truly accessible I think. Keep up the good work!

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  4. ErinOctober 12, 2011 at 8:28 PM

    Carol,
    Your art is wonderful!! I love it. I found you via Michael Ann's blog! Thank you so much for sharing it!
    Blessings,
    ~Erin

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