AEDM 2011 Is Still Stretching Me This Year

As I continue with  Art Every Day Month 2011 I am continuing to try and STRETCH myself a bit. I have been working with my iPad exclusively the last few days. I should get back to my website, but after uploading all of those art pieces, I was feeling like I needed a break. I am still working at trying to make the the iPad apps that I am using to feel a little more comfortable and not like I have to think about everything that I do, every brushstroke etc. Thinking about "how to do something" after being able to just "DO IT" with traditional media is kind of frustrating for me and sometimes I put the new stuff down because it "hurts my head" trying to figure it all out and I long for the old traditional mediums. 

BUT...I try and remember how I felt when I first started using Photoshop and I thought, I will NEVER understand this program. Then I began teaching it, so anything is possible I tell myself. So...my focus the last three days was iPad using two of my favorite apps, ArtRage and ArtStudio. I was able to get them to mimic some traditional media that I am used to using. The sketching technique was a bit hard to get used to, but the results are coming together after much trial and error at tonight's Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School-Grand Rapids. If you are interested, you might have one in your area...it is loads of fun. Burlesque meets art, sketching burlesque models for three hours and then live burlesque. Look it up on the internet, there are many groups all over the country.

©InnerSpirit/Diane M. McKnight

©InnerSpirit/Diane M. McKnight

Days 11, 12, and 13

The first painting was just created with me playing in ArtRage with the brushstrokes and I ended up liking how it turned out. The second spiral effect painting is just in the beginning stages and it is a small segment in the middle of a bigger painting the I am working on in ArtStudio, but I thought I would show what I am doing as it evolves.

©InnerSpirit/Diane M. McKnight

©InnerSpirit/Diane M. McKnight

©InnerSpirit/Diane M. McKnight

Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School

There are several sketches here of varying lengths of time. I thought I would put a fun "themed" sketch in here, since it is rather out of my normal realm to do the little "contests" that the Dr. Sketchy group offers for free drinks and prizes. But I did one tonight because I saw something that I thought could work. They usually ask the audience to make suggestions for "themes" to draw the model doing. Then they pick one out of "the box". This theme was "draw the model as a monster". I had to have a little fun while I was plugging away at learning my little iPad. AND...I could have won a drink, but no luck, I had to buy my own wine tonight. Maybe next time though. :)

©InnerSpirit/Diane M. McKnight

I would like to add a disclaimer to these iPad drawings: The artist creating these is still adjusting to creating sketches that mimic pencil drawings and any shading, line work and general rudimentary qualities of these drawings should be overlooked in the estimation of said artists true abilities. That said, it is a process, and it is getting better as I go. You have to start somewhere, and I can only get better.

Do you have any art mediums, projects or other things in life that you sometimes find very daunting to tackle? Are you trying to figure out how to start? Please share your stories of "firsts" or "trial and error" on something that was difficult for you. I would love to hear what challenges others are facing.

Blessings and Love,
D.

Using Art Explorations To Relax My Anxiety

Feminine Mystique ©InnerSpirit

Creative Play With Technology

I have been playing for the past year and a half with the various art and painting apps that have come out for the iPhone. Every time something new comes out I have downloaded it and played to see which of the apps out there work the best, are the most versatile, and which ones can be combined by importing and exporting into each other to create further creative options, etc. I have been creating drawings and paintings on the iPhone for a while now, as I have been testing these new apps out. Up until now, I have posted most of these art explorations on my InnerSpirit facebook page in a photo album called "iPhone and iPad experiments" (see the link to the right of this post) if you would like to check out more of the artwork I am working on at this time. 

It has really been a lot of fun playing around with these apps and it has been therapeutic for me at the same time. Since I have not had a lot of time this past year, doing small projects such as these, have really helped me to feel creative without having to make a really long time commitment to a larger scale art project. I have also found that these new art apps have gotten me to explore and to play a bit more than normal and in the process, I think that I have gotten some pretty cool art out of the deal, along with helping to maintain my own sanity in a very trying time professionally and personally.

Untitled Work In-Progress ©Innerspirit

My Tax Refund Treat To Myself

I recently bought an iPad so that I could work with a little larger canvas (well, in reality, the canvas SIZE is not actually bigger since it is the same pixel dimensions in both the iPhone 4 and the iPad 2, but I don't have to enlarge it and reduce it as frequently in the iPad 2 as I do in the iPhone 4, so it FEELS larger). I also purchased the iPad 2 to explore using it for art therapy interventions with my hospice patients since I don't have a long visit time for setting up and tearing down of traditional media. I am in the process of getting together some initial interventions that will meet the goals of my patients using this medium, so it is a new adventure all the way around. 

I thought it might be interesting to post some of my iPad/iPhone work here on my blog and future updates on how things are going with my patients as I introduce some of these apps to them. I usually draw on the screen with my fingers, but I purchased a Pogo Sketch Stylus and two different Nomad Brushes (a long hair and short hair) to give my patients some personal preference options in addition to the fingerpainting option).

The first art piece on this page is titled "Feminine Mystique" and it was created on the iPad 2 in two different apps. I love the mystery of this female figure and it's apparent vulnerability . The second art piece is a "work in progress", so it is untitled currently. I imported a photo that I took on my iphone into one of the art apps and created and added some textures to it. I have recently moved this art into another app and I am currently adding some handrawn effects to it that I will post in another blog...stay tuned for more of this second one as it evolves.

Do you have any new art experiments you are working on? I would love to hear about them.

Much Love And Blessings,

D.