Okay, I need to apologize. I missed another deadline for posting. This time, I wasn’t overwhelmed with holiday preparations or down with the flu, nor did I just up and forget. I honestly was at a loss for something to write about. But I can’t keep using that excuse, so I’ll just explain what kind of whirlwinds have been wrecking my mind lately.
I’m still learning things from ‘Blue Period’, as well as reading books about acrylic painting and watercolor, and watching YouTube videos from Sketchbook Skool. Basically, I’ve immersed myself in art education. I have learned a hell of a lot, trying to make up for decades of neglect. I am also trying to build myself up to a daily art habit – one sketchbook page, or one drawing, or one painting per day. And all the while, different types of information concerning art are whirling around my head like dry leaves in a dust devil. For instance, I learned today that if you’re not sure what kinds of painting you’d like to produce, you should collect one dozen (images of) paintings that you really like and analyze them for commonality and overall theme. The things that stand out the most to you will be your artistic ‘voice’. I can’t say I ever thought of it like that – it’s fascinating. But I also feel that it’s time to stop studying and start doing.
Taking a stroll through Google, I can’t say that there’s any one art style I prefer so far. There are things, however, that I’m not too fond of: portraits, extreme expressionism, barns, animals, most abstract art, most ‘fantasy’ art. I’ll figure it out, I guess. Seeing that I haven’t painted anything in a dozen years, I don’t really have an opinion worth anything at the moment.
On the writing front, I’ve been making painfully slow progress. A lot of that has to do with my hyper focus on artwork, but some of it is Resistance. The book The War of Art has a lot to say on the subject of Resistance. In brief, the closer a writer gets to actually making headway in a script, the harder the Resistance fights back. I have found this to be true in a general way, but there’s more to it than that. Sometimes the work itself will stop you, because you’re going in the wrong direction. I had that happen last year with a science-fiction novel I was working on. It happened not once, but several times. Once, because I was taking a minor character in a completely unnecessary direction, once because I added a character I didn’t need (who just gummed up the work), and finally, because the story had changed completely and needed to be rewritten entirely. I got the hint, finally, and shelved the project. I’ll get back to it. Later.
Currently, things seem to be in a quivering stasis – not so much a creative block, as a kind of anticipation. It feels a bit like the night before a big race – I know I’m ready, I’ve done everything I can, now all I can do is wait. Does that make sense? Right now, I’m focused on artwork, but my writing feels rested up and ready to charge into the fray. The next few weeks should be interesting.
So, maybe this blog is mis-titled. Instead of ‘Clueless’, maybe it should be something like ‘Poised’ or ‘Starting Gun’. Only one difficulty – when I started writing this, I was clueless. My head was in a whirl, I couldn’t focus, I desperately wanted to do something and had nothing to do. Kind of like the night before a big race. Hmmm.
Therefore, in the same mode as the night before a race, maybe what I should actually be doing is getting some rest, stretch a bit, and get to my position. Deep breath, relax, let the gun release you. There is nothing else I can do for now. To attempt to run around like a headless chicken, trying to ‘make things happen’, would be counter-productive at best – damaging at worst. Sometimes the best thing to do is nothing.
I will do my best to get the next blog out on time, and hopefully I’ll have good things to report soon. This one has been fairly personal. Let me know if you prefer that or my normal broad view snarkiness. Be well.
bcd