Nicole Cadet Fantasy Art

From Part Time Painter

On being creatively diverse...

The last few months have been fairly quiet on the art front. I haven't disappeared completely, but the painting has definitely been on the back burner as I work 9-15hour days in the day job. But despite of a lack of interest in painting (i.e. I'm not painting every spare minute), I've discovered some new creative outlets that are helping to re-invigorate my love of art.

Each week I trundle off to my SCA - Society for Creative Anachronism meetings (a medieval recreation group) , where we learn about life in the past. We explore how people lived during the medieval to 1600 AD time period, learning about weaponry and fighting, clothing, arts, sciences, history and a host of related skills. One of the skills I have been learning is clothes making (we don't do costuming - we make clothes). Now I am a little domestically challenged - probably more from laziness than any real lack of co-ordination, but medieval tailoring can be as simple or as complex as you make it.

So what can you learn from costume/ garb/ clothes making and how does this help the art?

• You have a greater understanding of costumes so when you go to paint or sketch a costume, because you know how it is constructed, you can work out how it's going to sit, look and feel. It also makes you obsess over historical paintings, looking at seams, linings and blackwork!
  
• You increase your dexterity. Hand-sewing and embroidery require precision, repetition and patience.
  
• You learn about patterns and motifs - not just costume patterns, but embroidery patterns, fabric patterns, printing blocks, culture and time period specific motifs, colour symbology and a great range of visual references that you can incorporate into your art
• Costumes can be used for reference shoots (maybe you can claim them as business expenses)
• Hand sewing/ embroidery/ knitting can be very soothing tasks (when you're not having to unpick!) So you have an added bonus of relaxation
• Sewing groups can give you social opportunities. It's fun to sit with a group of ladies (and men on occasion) and chat about anything and everything while being creative
  
• You get exposed to some magnificent artwork as you go trawling through reference sites on particular time periods and clothing pieces
• You learn about natural dyes and pigments that can also be used for painting
  
• it's still using your creative muscles
• it gives you a sense of accomplishment wearing something you've created

Essentially what I am trying to say is when your time is scarce and you just don't feel like picking up a paintbrush, there are many other creative outlets that you can explore. There's no need to feel guilty because you aren't painting, rather you should be exploring as many different creative outlets as you can. Not only can it give your creativity a boost, it can also be a chance to make new friends, relax and recharge the batteries.

Copied from my Part Time Painter blog...

Recycling in the art studio - mistakes in watercolours

You've sketched out a watercolour painting, you've slaved over it for a while, and then your cat/ child/ dog/ {insert unpredictable being} had brushed by and made a mess all over it. What to do? What to do? (Well what to do that doesn't involve strangling said being!)... here's some ideas so that you don't just throw away that painting.

1. Lift the colour
Using a damp tissues, cotton bud, or water loaded paint brush, gently apply clean water to the paint to be removed and blot off with a clean tissue or cloth. Some colours like Veridian green or Pthalo blue have high staining ratings and will never come clean.

Look up the watercolour's maker site for details about light fast and staining qualities.

2. Incorporate the mistake into the painting.
Some mistakes can't really be masked, like a fluorescent pink mark across a regency lady's white chemise. But many times you'll find that with some creative thinking, that black streak in the sky could be a bird, or that red spot in the grass becomes a ladybug. Put the painting aside if you can't think of anything at the time, you may be surprised that the 'mistake' isn't as big as you think it is when you come back.

3. Fix the problem with another art medium
Change media and turn it into an acrylic painting. Try ink, charcoals, coloured pencils
Kinuko Craft is an amazing artist who paints oils over watercolours - see here techniques here The Art of Kinuko Y. Craft


4. Prime over the top of the piece of paper and use as a ground for another painting/ drawing
No reason to throw away good paper! Use if for experimentation! The Sentinel is acrylics on watercolour paper.

5. Cut it up and use it for a collage or assemblage piece.

6. Flip the paper over and paint on the back (this will depend on how buckled the paper is and how heavy you are with the washes.)

7. Scan the painting and fix it digitally.
Ok you're not going to have the original, but it may be the beginning of a beautiful new painting. My piece Contemplation was rescued after I made a number of errors in the watercolours. I've now started working digitally in a way that allows me to use scraps of sketches as the basis for paintings like Teal

8. Cut out unpainted sections and use them for small artworks such as ACEO cards or OSWA paintings. ACEO's are 2.5" x 3.5", while OSWA normally are around 4 x 6".

How to avoid bringing more work home! Separating the day job from your work at home.
http://parttimepainter.blogspot.com/2008/03/separating-day-job-from-art-job.html

I forgot.... new post about organisation tricks - the to-do lists this week - what are the benefits of a to-do list, how do you implement them, do they work, and are there any secrets to using them effectively. A really long post since I've been practising a range of strategies the last few weeks.

http://parttimepainter.blogspot.com/2008/03/organisation-1-todo-lists-and-part-time.html

Image from Penny Arcade t-shirt ... sums up my thoughts on how some people treat the internet :)

New blog on how to recognise the different types of critique - snarks, trolls, fauns, and critics. (Everything is personal opinion so take with a grain of salt).

http://parttimepainter.blogspot.com/2008/02/online-critisism-trolls-fauns-snarks.html

New post! This one's about Style!



http://parttimepainter.blogspot.com/2008/02/style-guide-how-do-i-get-one.html

The first in a series of posts on ‘shortcuts’ - This one is about ‘taking inspiration from other artists’.
P.S. This isn't about ripping off other artists either - that's what bad artists do! It's about learning tips and techniques from other artists and growing as an artist through copying, analysing and acknowledging resources...

Read more here:
http://parttimepainter.blogspot.com/2008/02/artist-shortcut-1-copying-great-artists.html

Am still yet to do my monthly website update... but I've officially been given my promotion on work... starts in a month's time (8 months and  4 days after I applied for the job :D )

Be on the lookout for some ideas on art journals, relaxation techniques for boosting creativity and general well being including meditation and acupuncture, and some more organisational tips :)

New posts up at Part Time Painter :) Yes, yes, eventually I'll get around to working out feeds... but until then...

Confidence & the part time painter - 7 tips for improving your confidence as an artist (and just in general)
http://parttimepainter.blogspot.com/2008/02/confidence-and-part-time-artist-7-tips.html

Artist block 1: Experimentation. How to beat artist block, by trying new things and using your creative energies for other things.
http://parttimepainter.blogspot.com/2008/02/fighting-artist-block-1-experimentation.html

Well I'm stuck at home today... I'm feeling much better than I was this morning. I've been feeling 'off' for about a week, Friday I had a half day, today I just gave up. Stumbling around at 2am to find sinus tablets is no fun, especially when you're supposed to get up at 6am to go to work. But I decided that I might as well do something that's been on my 'to-do' list.

Introducing... http://parttimepainter.blogspot.com/  - I know, I need to make it pretty, but I really don't feel like doing graphics today.

What makes it different to my lj? Well, it's going to be focused on more than just my art ;) It's about me as a 'Part time artists' (I don't think I can feed content from there to here, I must go have a read)

• productivity - balancing time, life and art
• creativity - how you keep your 'muse' in check
• being a microbusiness - will I have a life and keep my sanity?
• being an online artist - galleries, products, marketing oh my!
  
• reducing stress - yes, having multiple hats can be stressful!
  
• reviews of books, products, websites, tips & tricks related to art and creativity
• any other related tid bits

I've also just joined http://www.pixelbrush.net/forum/ a digital community... not quite as intimidating as CG Society or GFX I hope!