Tag: Creating or Constructing

How is am I feeling right now

How am I feeling right now?

Right now, I am feeling at peace. I am done with a project I have worked on for the last several weeks, and I feel accomplished.  I don’t think what I am feeling is pride or proud. Just centered and on a plateau.

Hydrangea-0829204--Fall Walk, Bill Hendricks
Hydrangea-0829204—How am I feeling?

Yesterday, I drew a Tower Tarot Card from my Rider-Waite tarot deck while thinking about the past. The way I interpreted the card was that it singled a change. The change was not accompanied by good or bad. Just change, and I can accept that because of what I was feeling as well after 22 years of teaching and running and working in an art gallery for five years. I see it beginning in the fall and ending in late August. Thinking about it further, I realized that my birthday is tomorrow. With my website ArtChangesLives(Dot)Com reorganized, I am happy with the documentation of the artwork posted. I do… I feel accomplished and thankful.

Bill Hendricks/Shadowmason

Bill Hendricks Selfie
Bill Hendricks, August 27, 2024

 

New Work in Progress or A Continuation of my Autobiography?

“Every artist writes his own autobiography” ~ Havelock Ellis

Havelock Ellis (1859-1939) was a pioneer in the study of non-normative sexual practices. He is known for his objective study of homosexuality, which did not characterize it as a disease, immoral, or a crime. Ellis believed that “abnormal” expressions of sexuality were congenital and harmless. He advocated for the reform of laws that criminalized homosexual acts. (Source)

This drawing is in progress and titled Ribbons. It is mixed media... drawn chiefly with Pigma Sukura Pens
Ribbons, Mixed Media, Sakura Pigma Micron Pens, Hendricks©2024

I’m back in Minnesota, settling in, and back in my studio. The last few days have mostly been spent reorganizing and participating in a few meetings. I started a new drawing, pictured above, and am learning Armorpaint. It is a free, non-subscription piece of software to texture 3D models that competes with Substance Painter, another software purchased by Adobe and now available by subscription only. Don’t get me wrong, I think Adobe products are great, but the subscription model and their dominance within the design community are unhealthy for visual artists and designers.

A blimp created and the materials assigned in Blender
Created and the Materials Assigned in Blender

 

Living up to Expectations—My Own. :P

Art and Fear

What separates artists from ex-artists is that those who challenge their fears, continue; those who don’t, quit. Each step in the artmaking process puts that issue to the test.”
― David Bayles, Art and Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking

Besides my grant project, I have been finding all sorts of things to do and work on. Somewhere I read, start with the small, easy things. I like that idea.  

Fear of messing it up and fearing something does not up to my own expectations or how it will be judged, I think, confronts all artists.I read this book, Art and Fear, a long time ago. Milton Glaser, an artist I love, told me that is bullshit. Not so many words… but I got the idea so did my students.

Posting is one of my distractions, and so is creating this image. 

An image created by Bill Hendricks a photo of mine that I had fun creating.
Greeting Card — October 14, 2023 (My Distraction),          Hendricks©2023

 

 

István Orosz, as much fun as Escher

There are things I can imagine and I can draw. There are things I can imagine but I cannot draw. But, could I draw something that I cannot imagine? 
~ István Orosz Graphic designer, animated film director, author.

An illustration by István Orosz
István Orosz, https://istvanorosz.com/

Currently in the world of Bill : )

A few days ago, I started on a new project—3D Metaverse Installation.
Part of my October show at Second Life Endowment for the Arts.

Creation or Construction

 

The whole difference between construction and creation is exactly this: that a thing constructed can only be loved after it is constructed; but a thing created is loved before it exists. 

G.K. Chesterton’s “Are You Creating or Constructing?”
Drawing on Paper
Tumult, Mixed Media, Hendricks ©2021

This article came to me through a friend on LinkedIn that I respect very much, Chris Zuege. The article is by Robert Rose. Chris posts on LinkedIn often, and I always find his posts enlightening.  This resonated with me because the work I do is very off the cuff.  I often wonder as I am working and when it is done. Am I the tool or the creator? For me, this quote and article gave me an answer. I am the tool, and what I create was loved before it existed. 

I know it has been quite a while since I posted to this blog. The truth is that I was off learning. I studied color… read philosophy… learned more about  3D digital art. I will be posting more regularly again.  

Today’s post was important to me. First, to wish everyone a great holiday and an even more fabulous new year and then share my last drawing of 2021.  Its title is Tumult. It fits for 2021.