Make the time to do what you love

Detail from new 5 x 7 colored pencil piece

on Ampersand Pastelbord

Worked on this the other day while waiting for my son at his guitar lesson. In the car. :) 

Some of you seem surprised that I draw in the car. I guess it is a little strange. I'm just weird like that. ;) And something that I can NOT stand is waiting with nothing to do. I hate it. I feel like that's such a time waster. And I feel like time is such a limited resource you know? Of course you do. We live in a busy world with hectic lives.

So I'm going to tell you guys how I do it. And why. First with the how:

I work small. I prefer working small. I don't know why I just do. I'm sure one day I'll get tired of working small, but right now I'm happy where I'm at. Working small, and with just pencils, makes it very easy to take on the go. Above is what I always take when I know I'm going to be sitting in the car for at least ten minutes. An envelope of photos I want to draw, a small box of colored pencils in the colors I think I'll use, a small sketchbook (mine's 6 x 6), and my 5 x 7 work in progress (protected in a clear bag). 

 

And here it is all stacked up. Not too big right? Since I'm usually bringing my four year old's bag of things to do too I stick it in there and we are good to go. And then while littlest Cook is busy playing his Leapster, I get to draw for a few minutes. Works like a charm. 

Now to the why? Because. . . well, see the pic below. :) 

Because I, we, need to make the time to do what we love.  And if that means drawing for ten minutes at a time in the car then so be it. :) Photo courtesy of namaste cafe.

So, how do you make time to do what you love?

Making Progress

work in progress 

5 x 7 inch colored pencil on Ampersand Pastelbord

Slow but steady wins the race right? That shirt took me for dang ever. And his face caused me much angst. I think because of the angle of his head, and his features are tiny. Super hard. But I love how it's looking so far. Also, Tigger has been the funnest thing to draw yet. So much color!

In other news, have you guys seen the new cover art for the Harry Potter books?! So much awesomeness. I loved the originals, but I love these too.

 

Must. Have. Them.

My husband will be so glad he just cleared out some of our bookcases, so I can replace those empty spaces with these new lovelies.  ;)

Do Or Do Not

 work in progress 

colored pencil on Ampersand Pastelbord

5" x 7" 

My colored pencils were calling my name the other day. So I hearkened to their siren call and whipped those babies out and started on this new little piece of my son playing. 

I'm hoping that I'm not jinxing myself by posting this WIP because all the other colored pencil pieces on pastelboard I've posted as WIP's remain unfinished. But this one is very close to my heart right now, especially since my little one has been sick lately, so I'm sure I'll finish it.  I will finish this and I can't wait to show you guys. :) 

Which brings me to this: 

  

Wondering about the picture above? That's one of my favorite necklaces that I wear all the time, especially when I'm feeling like I suck at just about everything. Just putting it on makes me feel better, it's my talisman against negativity, and it gives me courage. It empowers me with positive thinking and belief in myself. 

One of my least favorite phrases ever is this, "I can't." 

People ask me how I learned to paint, how I make the time. I tell them you could do it too, if you want it bad enough. And what do they say to me?

"I can't" 

People ask me about why I run, and what the furthest distance is I've gone. I tell them 13.2 miles but if my knees would allow it I'd run 26.2. I tell them you could do it too, if you want it bad enough. And what do they say to me?

"I can't"

People tell me that they want to start selling their work, and entering shows, but they don't know how, or they think they're not good enough, or it's just too hard. They say: 

"I can't" 

Want to know what I can't do?

I can't make a perfect pie crust. 

I can't ever, ever, ever, keep up with the laundry. 

I can't organize my closets and cupboards as well as my sister in law (love you Laura!!)

I can't drive on the freeway without music that's too loud and losing my temper at least once. 

I can't go a day without chocolate. 

I know what you're thinking. "But you just said that you hate the phrase 'I can't' yet here you are going on and on about all the stuff you can't do! Hypocrite!"

Now let me tell you about my 'I can't' list. 

Why can't I do those things? 

Because I don't want to badly enough. 

It is perfectly fine to say 'I can't do' something if you simply don't care all that much about doing it in the first place. 

My mom makes the Best Pie Crust In The Whole World. And I'd be willing to arm wrestle anybody over that title. I don't need to, or want to make pie crust as good as her. Not today anyway. As long as we have clean clothes to wear I'm okay with never keeping up with the laundry. I'd rather be painting, or playing with my kids. And the last three don't really need an explanation, it's enough for me to say I don't want to badly enough. 

Some things keep us from our heart's greatest desires. Some of those are things that are out of our control, like my problematic knees. But most of them come from within us. We put limitations on ourselves, we say we can't do something before we've even made the attempt. We don't want it badly enough, because wanting something that badly would force us to make changes in our lives and get us out of our comfort zones.

The next time you start to reach for something that is just beyond your grasp and seems too hard, too impossible, tell yourself this: 

Do or do not, there is no try. 

Making the attempt = doing. 

Do, make the attempt. Believe that you can. And you will, one day. 

Happy Motivational Monday everybody! :)

You can get one of these cool necklaces too, right here. 

A closer look at the WIP, colored pencil on pastelbord

colored pencil portrait (of my handsome oldest son. . . sshhh, don't tell him I said so, "EMBARRASSING Mom!!") 

work in progress on Ampersand Pastelbord

5" x 7"

Here's a closer look at my colored pencil piece I showed you the other day (the one I worked on while waiting in the car for my kids to get out of school).

I'm really happy with how it's coming along. I always forget how much fun it is to push pencil around on paper (ahem, or board as is the case here) and watch colors begin to glow and the face start to come to life layer upon layer.

Art is really kind of like magic right?

Yes. Why yes it is.

Know what else is magic?

A quiet moment in my house when the kids have been home all week for spring break. I've just tucked them into bed and the only sounds remaining are the click of the dog's toes on my kitchen floor, and the dryer quietly tumbling a load of laundry down in the basement.

Just listen. . . Wait for it. . .

*crickets*

Le sigh. Who am I kidding? I miss those little voices! Except for when they argue. That I don't miss. :)Off to paint I go. I hope you all have a very Happy Easter weekend with your family. :))

From Within SOLD

From Within

6" x 6" watercolor SOLD

This is my friend Taylor. I loved the lighting in this painting. I loved how it emphasized Taylor's personality, how she has so much light and kindness from within that radiates out to others when she smiles. She's awesome and I loved painting her. :)) Thanks for volunteering to model for me!

It's nearly time for spring break around here (next week), and kiddos are running around my house more frequently since it's early out day every day this week at school. Painting time is precious and harder to find, and that's completely okay. I love having my boys home more.

But it does force me to make the most out of the time I do have. Here's a photo of what I did yesterday while waiting in the car to pick my boys up from school.

A new little colored pencil piece on Ampersand Pastelbord. I'm pretty happy with how it's coming along. I'll get a better shot of it for my next post so you can see it a little more clearly.

This brings me to two things I want to say today:

1. Make time to do what you love. The time is there, it might not be the 'ideal' time, but you can make it work if it's something that you LOVE doing.

And 2. Paint what you love, or what excites you. Don't let yourself think that there's only one subject, one way that you can paint. That's part of what makes us artists,  our constant striving, and reaching, and trying new things to stretch creatively and create work that moves people and makes them feel something, that makes us feel something. There are no absolutes in the life of an artist.

And in a totally unrelated note, I went and watched The Hunger Games movie and was completely blown away. I loved the books and the movie was the best book to movie adaptation I've ever seen. I'm more of a book person than a movie person, but this is a must see. Seriously. It's inspiring a new portrait (not a character from the movie, but the result of the feelings I had while watching it) that I am dying to get to work on. Here's a link to the best review, by my favorite author Maggie Stiefvater, that puts my exact feelings for this movie into words that I couldn't.

Have a great week everyone. See you Tuesday. :)) Huzzah!

Continuing Adventures With Pastelbord, colored pencil WIP

more work on this colored pencil portrat

11" x 14" on pastelbord

Is it just me or does it feel like Christmas is approaching at warp speed? I'm not even done with my Christmas shopping yet! AND we don't have any snow on the ground. . . and I live in Utah! Home of the 2002 Winter Olympics. And we are currently in a snow famine. Man, what a bummer.

But, it is still such a magical time isn't it? Every time I hear my boys talk about Santa, or watch them look at photos of past Christmases I get so excited. I LOVE Christmas time.

Of course I had planned all kinds of festive Christmas paintings, but haven't seemed to have the time to get to any of them, except the jingle bells. Which is fine by me, since I'd rather be decorating my Christmas tree and making treats with my family anyway. Chocolate covered salted caramels anyone? Oh, wait, they're all gone. Sorry! :)

I'm also working on a super secret commission that I don't dare post until after Christmas, since it's a gift. It's turning out nicely, I'm pretty happy with it. But constantly plagued by the fear that the next brushstroke I place will ruin it and I'll have to start over!

So, any extra positive vibes you may have, feel free to send em my way. :)

In between all of that I got this older colored pencil piece out and started working on it again. I always forget how much I enjoy working with colored pencils until I have one in my hand again. Very therapeutuic and meditative. And lots of fun.

So, I'm off my friends. Hope you're all having a wonderful Holiday season! And next time I make chocolate covered salted caramels I promise to save you one. . . Or at least take a picture of them. :)

Huzzah!

And if you're looking for a one of a kind Christmas gift I'm having a holiday sale on all the items in my Etsy shop until December 18. There's a variety of paintings and drawings, all originals. Just use this coupon code TTTEAM20 at checkout. :)

Pastelbord is a beautiful thing, new colored pencil work in progress

Untitiled colored pencil on pastelbord work in progress (detail)

Way back earlier this year when my computer got sick and had to be rushed to an electronic medic I took some time to experiment with my colored pencils.

I'd been hearing good things about using colored pencils on pastelbord (which is basically a sanded surface mounted on hard board), mainly that:

1. it's faster because of the sanded surface there is no need to layer color super lightly (which takes hours) 

2. colors appear brighter and more intense on pastelbord than on traditional paper 

3. there is a possibility of framing a piece painted* on pastelbord without glass.

Which meant of course that I had to rush to my local art supply store (Ogden Blue FTW!) and stock up. 

I came home SO excited I could hardly stand it! And as soon as I had some free time I laid out all my lovely pencils and got to work. 

And here's what I found: Numbers 1-2 were dead on.  

It was faster! Because the tooth of the sanded paper is able to hold much more color, much more quickly there is no need for laborious layer upon layer of colored pencil! Of course there is still some layering involved, but not nearly as much because the tooth of the surface fills up pretty quickly. Which means that you must be decisive and accurate about what colors you will layer early on.

So, basically I'm in love with colored pencil work on pastelbord. It is a beautiful thing. :)

Huzzah! See you next week everyone!

*colored pencil work, when done in a way that the entire surface is covered with pencil is often called 'painting' even though there is no paint or brushes involved.

P.S. I don't think I've taken the time lately to let all you guys know how much it means to me that you read my posts, look at my work, tell others about it, and say some very nice things to me and about me. Thank you, my friends, so much for your support and kindness, you rock in an all out glorious way. :))))