CRITICISMS: LOVE EM OR IGNORE THEM?

Like I've said many times, artist's are constantly being critiqued. We critique each other, we critique behind people's backs, we try to give helpful information, or we can't see past the negative aspects. It happens to everyone. But how do you respond when you're being critiqued?

When you have been working isolated for a long period of time, you only have yourself to figure out some pretty important decisions. You have to be the one to power yourself up and motivate yourself that what you're doing is truly awesome. So what do you do when someone comes in and doesn't see what you see? I think there are two main options, love it and use the criticism to make you see what other people may be seeing, or ignore it and just do what makes you the happiest. Now how do you choose what is the best option?

It's always hard to hear a bad review on something you hold dear. Especially when you thought you were doing great. So after that rest period of accepting the critique and wallowing in it, do you change it? or do you press on? The best option is to get a second or third or fourth opinion, someone you trust will be honest and helpful.

So now either they disagree, or support the criticism. If they disagree with the bad review then at least you can blow it off as just one bad critique and continue on. But you do want to fix what could be something bad, so take it in pieces, try and see what they see and fix it in their eyes but keeping to your overall idea. If they support the bad review, you've got some figuring out to do. You want to fix whatever you've got wrong, but you also want to stay true to your master plan. Maybe step back and work on something completely different for a bit. This will allow you to have perspective and maybe you'll see what they saw and scrap it. OR use that anger to fuel what you want to do without anyone holding you back, who cares if you just keep the piece to yourself. OR you can take their critique and build off of it, do what they say, in the end it could turn out exactly what you wanted. It might just take a different path to get there. 

Either way, trust in your peers and friends. Know who the people are that you can really be honest with and will guild you. If you don't have a support group, then try and build one. Find people on the internet where you can show your work to and help them as well. 

What do you do when you get into this situation?

SNOW DAYS: KEEPING THE CREATIVE MOMENTUM

Since there has been this crazy snowy weather going on and it’s been hard for some people to get to work, I’ve been thinking… What do artists do to not stop their momentum? So I want to put this out there and see what you guys do when you find that you cannot make it to your studio?

I know a lot of people just stick to their sketchbooks when they can’t get in and work on a current piece. Others might just sit around and lose the creative flow they’ve got going. But it seems like there is something else we can do instead of just sit around and wait for the snow to melt.

Some of the things I thought of were:

- Really research your artistic lineage. It’s important to realize who inspires your artwork. But diving in a bit deeper and finding who inspires them and so on can really expand your current mindset.

- Watch an art documentary. Hopefully you’ve seen most of the ART21 videos. But have you seen “Lucien Freud: Painted Life” by BBC Two? Or “Degenerate Art” which is all about the Modern movement being attacked by Hitler? There are tons, and I mean TONS, of great art films out there that are inspiring.

- Copy a Master. Research what your favorite Renaissance Painter would do to improve. Copy his mindset and his pieces (or do mini versions in a sketchbook). Really study Ruben’s use of reds and how he uses them to his advantage. Get in their brain.

- Personal Advertising. Use the day to connect with people over the various sites you promote your work on. Maybe update your artist statements or the layout of your blog.

So what about actually creating things? What can us artists do to still create when we’re not in the studio? Well… how about trying these things out:

- Photoshop. If you draw or paint from pictures, get those pictures going and start making your upcoming compositions. Have you ever tried to image your work the size of a billboard? What about Photoshopping that mock-up and see how it’d work. You could use that as an upcoming project and even figure out what it could cost. With Photoshop, or really any advanced photo editing software, the ideas and opportunities are endless.

- Trying new mediums. Let’s say you’re an oil painter. Have you ever thought about your current collection includes a few tiny watercolors to complement? Smaller pieces in general are more intimate, so maybe connecting and getting your concept across in a more sensitive manner?

These are just a few things I do whenever I can’t get to my studio. Share what you guys do and maybe we can get a real awesome list going!!

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WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU HAVE AN ARTIST'S BLOCK

Majority of us have experienced an Artist’s Block. It’s the worst feeling when you have absolutely no ideas or inspiration. It’s the lowest time of an artist’s career and life. The other day, my friend asked me what I do when I have no inspiration or clue of what to create. Here are some things to try out (what’ve you got to lose?):

- Check your sketchbooks. That’s the whole idea of them right? To write down ideas and things that inspire you so that you are always in the creating mood. Even if you don’t remember why you have a to-go menu of a pizza place you went to three years ago glued into your sketchbook, it has the possibility to spark something.

- Google things. Remember that one time you went to the MoMA and saw an exhibit on Futurism? It might not have been inspiring then, but it could be now!

- Go to a museum (even if it’s a local museum and not the Louvre). Take your time and really break down the paintings you are drawn to. Maybe the brushwork will stand out? Or the color palette? (If you don’t feel like leaving the house, check out Google Art Project)

- Try painting in the style you’ve always hated. If you HATE abstract, try it out. While you’re working or after when you look back, you’ll realize you actually can appreciate parts of it, or why you love painting in another style.

- Talk about it. Accept that you’re stuck and talk to you’re friends (especially you’re non-artist friends, cause they always give random and out of the box ideas of what to create). Go see what you’re artist friends are creating (but don’t get down on the fact that they’re creating and inspired and you’re not). Being in the studio whether it is your studio or someone else’s will start to get your creative juices flowing.

- Go back in time. Remember that crazy art history teacher you had? Remember how they were so boring and tedious about the work that you barely paid attention? But, you kept the books so later on if you felt like reading all about the Baroque period you could? Well hopefully that is true, because art history is the basis of all art. So go back to your roots and be in awe of that gorgeous Caravaggio painting you loved.

- Read any book. There are tons of random art books out there. Go buy WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution (edited by Cornelia Butler and Lisa Gabrielle Mark, Co-published by The MIT Press) or go buy a comic book for all it matters. You could be inspired by the style or the one pose the Black Widow is doing or the issues they bring up.

Whatever you do: don’t get down on yourself and start thinking that you can’t get any good ideas because you suck as an artist. Everyone has these moments of pause. Just take advantage of the quiet to really see art in a new way. I hope my ideas are helpful, and feel free to leave a comment of what helps you get through an artist’s block!!