005 art process

I'm currently in my prolific era. Or maybe my world-building era. I have a lot of things pinned down and am just in the process of completing them. When I was more heavily posting art on tiktok in 2020 and 2021 questions regarding my process, inspirations, and cures for ‘artist block’ would always come up, so here's some late answers.

Probably the most important part of my process are my sketchbooks. What I fill the pages with range from rough outlines, scratchy ideas on a whim, full-color spreads, plans for larger pieces, and notes to myself. I don't really see sketchbooks as finished pieces so a lot of my work is based on these ‘finished’ sketches, but sketchbooks allow a certain [je ne sais quoi] serial circlebacking that I enjoy. Sketchbooks allow me to have a differentiated reference log; things in my sketchbook have already run the gamut of my brain once so when I use them as a reference it's a double referenced concept. I have now trained myself to use sketchbooks daily so I almost never have an excuse NOT to do the bare minimum of sketching something on a page. And I've found that even on my most tired days, filled with non artistic things and responsibility, my push to sketch is often just what I need. Even when I thought I didn't want to.

This helps with ‘artist block’ too, even though I don't really believe in it as a concept because I'm not lame… Fighting ‘artists block’ is simple: you just have to make art. If that's too difficult then you most likely have too small of a definition of art and/or get too caught up in the thought of production. Expand your definition of art, relax a little and let art be art and you just be a human.

Moving right along ;0 references. As far as image references go I use pinterest, instagram, and my camera roll for varying reference collecting and mood funneling. Pinterest is a great resource, but I try to keep it pretty broad. I just collect a bunch of things that organically catch my eye. It's easy to get tunnel vision with these huge reference resources and get lost in the sauce. My camera roll is probably the most specific section of reference collecting. I have albums in it dedicated to specific artistic yearnings, some of my own work, and life documentation in it. I love my art museum pictures. Really good things I find on instagram, pinterest, vogue runway, twitter, or generally on the internet end up specifically logged in my camera roll. I used to put a lot of pressure on finding the ‘right’ reference, but I found that would often lead me astray from what I originally desired to create. Keeping it broad and overarching allows me to feel like I'm creating more authentic sketches, less of recreations. I’m no stranger to exact one-to-one recreations though. Occasionally I like being a human printer. Having no creative process takes some pressure out of the process sometimes. Visual references are weird, and sometimes I hate them, so it's very case by case for my inspiration. I also find a lot of references in nature (duh) through my own knowledge, encyclopedias, and observation. Music often aids in the process but I'm not sure if I specifically use songs as references. The line between references and inspirations is very gray, but for me inspirations are more of things that motivate me and references… you reference… 

Inspiration comes to me very easily. I stay generally inspired by seeing artists, my friends, and loved ones living life with and around me. I try to focus on aspects of life that keep my eye, but I don't really think I do anything that special other than pay attention to the world around me and learn about things. Nature is an infinite sink of inspiration for me. You just can't beat some of the flora, fauna, and natural processes. Like what the fuck is a volcano?!? MELTED rocks… in the sky— come on, that's fierce [watch Fire of Love]. Nature is so whimsical with its shapes and innerworkings, they are surreal realities. 

Ok so where do we go from inspiration and media hoarding??? I guess it kinda depends on what the end goal is. What I want the end to look like heavily affects how I start, dreaming of the end product is frequently the best way to find where I start. I use graphite and colored pencils to sketch, and just progressively add more detail. It's kinda just self explanatory. Like the goal is to end up with something on the page, so put stuff on the page. With painting there are some order of operations you can do for desired effects. And if you want good outlines I will do lines twice: before and after I've erased a sketch. I think the only actual advice for making art is that mistakes will always happen, and the best thing you can learn is how to deal with them in a way that doesn't make you stop.

Real questions that are 100% on topic i received:

How do you (if you do) deal with a project changing from the original vision/conception?

If something doesn't turn out exactly how I wanted it I try to edit it until I like it or make another. 

How did you go ginger I need to know?

My artistic process for this was first a sketch… then I was inspired by all the auburn haired people before me… then I bleached my hair and rinsed it out when it was ginger.

Do you sketch it out?

Yes. Sometimes no.

P.S. If you made it once you can just make it again.