The first couple of days back at work after a break are always tough; I’m lucky enough to enjoy my job and to have had serendipitously chill schedules the past two days to ease myself back into the routine, but still, I’m exhausted and glad that tomorrow is already Thursday.
Art has been slow going. I am currently working on two things, both of which are turning out objectively okay, but which I’m just feeling very blase about. I’m falling into that pitfall too, that I hear a lot of online artists talk about, where I’m starting to feel guilty about the length of time between my posts (specifically posting my art), and I feel like this is a slippery slope back into rushing through things just for the sake of having done. I’m no great shakes as an artist, obviously, but I’m worlds better when I take my time.
I’m going to keep plugging away at my illustrations, but the next few days are going to be spent mostly prepping files for upload to Redbubble, and then submitting my Redbubble shop for inclusion in The Bi+ Makers Market, which is being put on by the Bisexual Resource Center again this June.
Last year I found out about it literally a day or two too late to submit, and I swore to myself that I would make the deadline this year. While I don’t have an extensive history of completed works under my belt, I’m of the belief that you really only need a handful of pieces you’re proud of to start a shop, and I definitely have several that I’m excited to get up as prints.
While there is no guarantee I’ll get in, it doesn’t make sense not to apply. Even if it doesn’t result in a lot of sales, it gets my art in front of peoples’ eyes, and that could be useful for the future.
Months ago at this point, I was bitching about a failed attempt to get back into traditional (acrylic) painting. I was so determined to produce something that I rushed in without an idea and utterly ruined a canvas.
(I want to take a moment aside to say, jumping into something without a clear idea is not always a bad thing, especially if you keep an open mind and are looking to generate new ideas or experiment with new mediums or techniques. In my case, however, it was sheer impatience and was really nothing more than this manic urge to check “Do an acrylic painting!” off my Art To-Do List, and as a result really was just a waste of time and resources).
Recently though, I finished watching Our Flag Means Death, and it has utterly eaten my brain. I’m spending more time that I would care to admit on fan accounts, consuming fic and art, and over-all just being obsessive.
And I decided I want to try to paint Taika Watiti’s Blackbeard.
It is… a hell of a challenge, for someone who has trouble drawing from life, doesn’t generally draw men, is still new to painting, etc., but it is a subject matter I am excited about and I really, really want to give this a fair go, though I am utterly prepared to and sort of expecting to fail – which I think is the best attitude going into this endeavor – excited but pessimistic, ha ha. I expect to fail, but I’m excited to try. I can only be proven right or pleasantly surprised.
I’m also considering a number of other creative endeavors that I can’t speak about just yet (since there’s not a guarantee they will happen), but expect to hear more about some new silly little hobbies in the coming weeks.
I hope you are all well. Take care of yourselves and each other.
All Your Crooked Heart 