I have just finished reading a piece called, Beware of Your Inner Whining Artist, by Mark McGuinness. Anyone can be a W A. There are lots of reasons to be one. BUT---why waste the time? Instead, start work on a piece you have a good feeling about. Never mind that at some point, probably sooner than later, the Awful Thought comes along:
"Oh. What is the matter with this? Why did I ever start this? It's so ugly. A two-year-old could do this! What a waste of time this was." I do it all the time. If I paid much attention to it, I'd have a trash can full of Starts, and no Finished Work.
I used to get really discouraged, but finally (usually), would start working through the mess. Eventually the art as I had envisioned it, would begin to show itself. Oh joy! Keep on! Look what it's doing now--it's going to be okay.
That's why I liked the piece by Mr. McGuinness. Because positivity---which could also be called persistence---is the only thing that will help the artwork to turn out well. Whining certainly won't. It takes awhile to learn this, and there can be a surprise relapse any time, so I have to remember to be ready just in case.
The classic book cover illustration I recently completed for the Maine Illustrators Collective show, The Classics ReImagined, is the first I've ever done. I worked in pastel, which I hardly ever do, especially when it comes to horses, and the style is different from my usual work. That it is framed and enroute to the show, means that I do like it. I won't know until the other Collective members, and the public, see it, whether it appeals to anyone. That's the way it goes. I will hope. Go to http://wwwmaineillustratorscollective.org for more about the Show, and to see their blog.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Friday, October 30, 2009
New! A re-imagined classic book cover illustration!
I'm excited. For the first time I have attempted a Real Illustration, not just to see what might be possible, but with an actual purpose in mind. The Maine Illustrators Collective will hold a show at the Freeport Library through the month of November. The title of the show is, The Classics Re-Imagined. What better time could there be, to create an original book-cover illustration of one of my all-time favorites, "Thunderhead", by Mary O'Hara.
In a day or so I will post the illustration on this blog, but for now I just wanted to contribute SOMETHING pertinent, because I haven't written a word since the middle of September. With Fryeburg Fair to get ready for, be present at for its 8-day run, and then to get organized here at home again, who would guess time would fly so fast!
Now to get even more organized, and probably so completely that I will most likely scare myself. Then I'll be back to post again!
In a day or so I will post the illustration on this blog, but for now I just wanted to contribute SOMETHING pertinent, because I haven't written a word since the middle of September. With Fryeburg Fair to get ready for, be present at for its 8-day run, and then to get organized here at home again, who would guess time would fly so fast!
Now to get even more organized, and probably so completely that I will most likely scare myself. Then I'll be back to post again!
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Equine Art, Fryeburg Fair, and Writing
In two weeks my equine and other animal art, done in pencil, and also the pastel paintings, must be finished for inclusion in the art exhibit (Agricultural Exhibition hall) at Fryeburg Fair. The work is coming along well. It's great to see such fine weather this month. Here in Maine, we're finally getting our summer, which was totally rained out. Summer in September. May it last right into November. That seems fair, and it has happened before; why not again?
Every year I look forward to Fryeburg Fair. For the past 8 years I've had my artwork in Space 107 of the Craft Center. It is to be there again., so there's lots of art to prepare and to pack for setup on October 1st and 2nd.
For many years before I ever displayed my work, I knew Fryeburg Fair was the ultimate place in Maine, during the first week of October, for photographing animals, especially the draft horses. There will be time for that this year too, though I will mostly be found at Space 107. Maybe I'll see you there too.
The first draft of my novel for ages 8 through 12, is finished and I'm now working on revisions. This book is a lot of fun! I look forward to concentrating on it after the fair.
Every year I look forward to Fryeburg Fair. For the past 8 years I've had my artwork in Space 107 of the Craft Center. It is to be there again., so there's lots of art to prepare and to pack for setup on October 1st and 2nd.
For many years before I ever displayed my work, I knew Fryeburg Fair was the ultimate place in Maine, during the first week of October, for photographing animals, especially the draft horses. There will be time for that this year too, though I will mostly be found at Space 107. Maybe I'll see you there too.
The first draft of my novel for ages 8 through 12, is finished and I'm now working on revisions. This book is a lot of fun! I look forward to concentrating on it after the fair.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Pat Wooldridge's Equine Art and MEIC In Full Force
Yes, they are. In full force, that is. I'm so happy to have learned of the Maine Illustrators Collective, and to be able to offer my equine art as a part of their shows. I've mentioned in other posts, that I am doing dogs as well, now, so will plan on adding those as the need arises.
AND, it looks as if summer is here at last, which only adds to the ambition I"m feeling as I work on artwork for two State fairs---Windsor and Fryeburg. Lovell Arts and Artisans Fair, held last Saturday, August 15, turned out well for so many of us. The weather was nice, and I was pleased with my profits for the day. It was great, seeing my regular customers as well as new faces.
Isn't it great to finally (!) see decent summer weather! It's enough to build real enthusiasm and inspiration for painting, isn't it? (Heat or no heat. There are ways around that. Open the windows at night, close them in the morning, and the shades too, so the house stays cool). Then, work. Work some more. See some good results from all that effort.
With all this motivation going on, I must end my post and go do what I say I do before it's too late today to do it. There.
Do have the best of all possible days.
AND, it looks as if summer is here at last, which only adds to the ambition I"m feeling as I work on artwork for two State fairs---Windsor and Fryeburg. Lovell Arts and Artisans Fair, held last Saturday, August 15, turned out well for so many of us. The weather was nice, and I was pleased with my profits for the day. It was great, seeing my regular customers as well as new faces.
Isn't it great to finally (!) see decent summer weather! It's enough to build real enthusiasm and inspiration for painting, isn't it? (Heat or no heat. There are ways around that. Open the windows at night, close them in the morning, and the shades too, so the house stays cool). Then, work. Work some more. See some good results from all that effort.
With all this motivation going on, I must end my post and go do what I say I do before it's too late today to do it. There.
Do have the best of all possible days.
Monday, July 20, 2009
'Comments' feature now working
It looks like my blogsite will now accept readers' comments. A friend has just notified me she has fixed this problem! So...do please leave comments. If you would contact me at hckclb@gwi.net, I will answer your comments if you would like.
Another sunny day. Take advantage of it, everyone, to the best of your ability. For me, it's time to be thinking about the small watercolor paintings I'll do for the Lovell Art Fair, Aug. 15, and also to put out for sale in my booth at Fryeburg Fair.
Most definitely I must get going again with seascapes in oil ! There is a wonderful reason for this! I am truly enthusiastic at aiming to get back into seascapes. Enthusiasm is sometimes its own reward. In this case my second reward will be my efforts to follow the sea in oils, a venture begun during the years I lived in Kennebunkport, and never, ever forgotten.
My horse and dog art will not be forsaken. I will continue with it as well, full steam ahead.
Another sunny day. Take advantage of it, everyone, to the best of your ability. For me, it's time to be thinking about the small watercolor paintings I'll do for the Lovell Art Fair, Aug. 15, and also to put out for sale in my booth at Fryeburg Fair.
Most definitely I must get going again with seascapes in oil ! There is a wonderful reason for this! I am truly enthusiastic at aiming to get back into seascapes. Enthusiasm is sometimes its own reward. In this case my second reward will be my efforts to follow the sea in oils, a venture begun during the years I lived in Kennebunkport, and never, ever forgotten.
My horse and dog art will not be forsaken. I will continue with it as well, full steam ahead.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Today:Equine art blog; working on why readers are unsuccessful in commenting on my blog.
I would talk about Equine art and the Working Artist exhibit in Kennebunk, but first of all, my apologies to anyone/everyone who has attempted to post a comment to my blog. I have been at a loss as to what to do, have tried changing a setting or two; that didn't work. Now to get in touch with Google. I'm sure they can resolve it. I am really sorry for the inconvenience to all!
After checking all my settings, reading info from Google Help, I don't see why your comments should not get through. Please do give it another try. If I get more of those Mail Subsystem Delays/Failure notices, I will find more resources and get this corrected.
Meanwhile, feel free to e-mail me at hckclb@gwi.net with your comments on what you have read in my blogs. I will answer all that do actually have to do with the blog subjects. (No ads or offers of work-from-home; get-rich-quite-fast; free computers,etc. In short, no mass-mail, please.)
It has got to be frustrating to send comments that never make it through. I feel for us all!
I want to answer you!
Meanwhile #Two: what an ideal day to work on the stuff I just talked about. It sure beats mowing the lawn in the rain, which is what I would be doing if I went out there now. I love trying to find a solution to our (well, MY) technical difficulty here. I will love it more when I succeed.
Yesterday, a little trip to a therapeutic riding facility in my area, for a short question/answer session with the owner and program director, also one of the occupational therapists. Their answers were very helpful. I need this information so that my novel for middle-grade readers will be credible. The lessons I watched afterward were so interesting and truly uplifting--
I love seeing the students interact with the horses, both when they are grooming and when they are riding. The whole process gives the riders so much joy!
On the way home there was time to take a few photos of barns. We are having a very late haying season here---too much rain throughout June, not enough sunny days in a row (at least 3 are needed, from the time hay is mowed to the time it's baled, to allow the hay to dry properly.If it is not completely dry when baled, once it's been in the barn awhile, spontaneous combustion can occur, destroying everything in many cases. It isn't worth it to take the chance.)
But, though I would love to see good haying conditions, I have to say the tall grasses were pretty in their range of colors from pale green to light gold, with here and there some red-topped grass
(seedheads, probably---Oh No). Sprinkled through, and sometimes in thick clumps near the road, were black-eyed Susans, daisies and purple vetch, which is a sort of vining plant with oval, elongated leaves and a graceful arc of small purple, thin petals. I love purple vetch.
All of this made for good long-shots with lots of meadow in the foreground, the barns far back, and closest of all, the random clumps of flowers in all those colors. A beautiful foreground, even if it all ought to be dry, baled, and stored by now. Got some good closeup shots of the barns, too.
The moods of the seasons affect the barns' appearance of course. Winter shows them stark, with good shadows in early morning or at about 1p.m., when shadows on snow turn purple for awhile.
In early spring they still look stark, but with the interest of new grass beginning to show green among the tan longer grasses and patches of snow.
Autumn puts them among trees with fall colors, and the skies are amazing, especially in October and November, in shades of steel blue, bright blue, with variations of grey from deep blue-grey to lighter, to cream.
After checking all my settings, reading info from Google Help, I don't see why your comments should not get through. Please do give it another try. If I get more of those Mail Subsystem Delays/Failure notices, I will find more resources and get this corrected.
Meanwhile, feel free to e-mail me at hckclb@gwi.net with your comments on what you have read in my blogs. I will answer all that do actually have to do with the blog subjects. (No ads or offers of work-from-home; get-rich-quite-fast; free computers,etc. In short, no mass-mail, please.)
It has got to be frustrating to send comments that never make it through. I feel for us all!
I want to answer you!
Meanwhile #Two: what an ideal day to work on the stuff I just talked about. It sure beats mowing the lawn in the rain, which is what I would be doing if I went out there now. I love trying to find a solution to our (well, MY) technical difficulty here. I will love it more when I succeed.
Yesterday, a little trip to a therapeutic riding facility in my area, for a short question/answer session with the owner and program director, also one of the occupational therapists. Their answers were very helpful. I need this information so that my novel for middle-grade readers will be credible. The lessons I watched afterward were so interesting and truly uplifting--
I love seeing the students interact with the horses, both when they are grooming and when they are riding. The whole process gives the riders so much joy!
On the way home there was time to take a few photos of barns. We are having a very late haying season here---too much rain throughout June, not enough sunny days in a row (at least 3 are needed, from the time hay is mowed to the time it's baled, to allow the hay to dry properly.If it is not completely dry when baled, once it's been in the barn awhile, spontaneous combustion can occur, destroying everything in many cases. It isn't worth it to take the chance.)
But, though I would love to see good haying conditions, I have to say the tall grasses were pretty in their range of colors from pale green to light gold, with here and there some red-topped grass
(seedheads, probably---Oh No). Sprinkled through, and sometimes in thick clumps near the road, were black-eyed Susans, daisies and purple vetch, which is a sort of vining plant with oval, elongated leaves and a graceful arc of small purple, thin petals. I love purple vetch.
All of this made for good long-shots with lots of meadow in the foreground, the barns far back, and closest of all, the random clumps of flowers in all those colors. A beautiful foreground, even if it all ought to be dry, baled, and stored by now. Got some good closeup shots of the barns, too.
The moods of the seasons affect the barns' appearance of course. Winter shows them stark, with good shadows in early morning or at about 1p.m., when shadows on snow turn purple for awhile.
In early spring they still look stark, but with the interest of new grass beginning to show green among the tan longer grasses and patches of snow.
Autumn puts them among trees with fall colors, and the skies are amazing, especially in October and November, in shades of steel blue, bright blue, with variations of grey from deep blue-grey to lighter, to cream.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Sunny Days = High Energy Level
Whether the sun is out or NOT (mostly NOT, this summer,) there has had to be a high energy level. Work is ongoing, getting ready for the Artists & Artisans Show, August 15, in Lovell, Maine (New Suncook School); also for Fryeburg Fair, October 4-11, Fryeburg, Maine.
Reference photos, sketches and nice new clean paper have taken over the place of framed original art and prints, which now are hanging in the Dyer Library, Saco, through this month.
I'll finish two commissioned pieces before starting anything else. And the last chapters of the novel for middle-grade readers are critiqued and on their way back, so then I'll revise the first half of the book, and get it sent---then work on the chapters just coming back, get them into shape, whatever that shape has to be, and out they go again. Then, out goes the whole book for a final critique. Then, one more revision, following any suggestions sent by the instructor.
It's great to have the whole thing filed on the computer. Everything is so much easier than it would otherwise be! I love working on this book, and not only because the computer is involved. Along with all of the challenges, and probably somewhat because of them, this is a fun story to write. How fortunate that I have this nice course to take, so I can learn as I go, make corrections, and come closer all the time to getting it right. I can't wait to get these chapters back! While waiting, in between drawing sessions, I'll work on a short story.
So, see? Whether the sun shines or the rain falls, energy comes from somewhere, and things get done. I can't imagine what the alternative would lead to!
Reference photos, sketches and nice new clean paper have taken over the place of framed original art and prints, which now are hanging in the Dyer Library, Saco, through this month.
I'll finish two commissioned pieces before starting anything else. And the last chapters of the novel for middle-grade readers are critiqued and on their way back, so then I'll revise the first half of the book, and get it sent---then work on the chapters just coming back, get them into shape, whatever that shape has to be, and out they go again. Then, out goes the whole book for a final critique. Then, one more revision, following any suggestions sent by the instructor.
It's great to have the whole thing filed on the computer. Everything is so much easier than it would otherwise be! I love working on this book, and not only because the computer is involved. Along with all of the challenges, and probably somewhat because of them, this is a fun story to write. How fortunate that I have this nice course to take, so I can learn as I go, make corrections, and come closer all the time to getting it right. I can't wait to get these chapters back! While waiting, in between drawing sessions, I'll work on a short story.
So, see? Whether the sun shines or the rain falls, energy comes from somewhere, and things get done. I can't imagine what the alternative would lead to!
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