Thursday, 14 March 2013

Pet Project (A Video and What Went Wrong...)

Hey artybug =) I've been more prolific so far in the latter half of this week, yesterday I finished a project:
dat der behind Sweepiebum!

and today I made a video on it YAY =D if you just want the video, here it is...or if you want more info & advice (as it is just a fun video, not a tutorial video) continue the further reading underneath about it:


So A LOT of people tell me, once they've watched my videos 'you make it look so easy! I could not do that at all' - yeah I get that a LOT, but I truly believe it only ever looks that way on a video because (most often) it has been chopped and cropped! I STILL go through the same processes is my head 'is this working?', 'will that look rubbish?', 'what's missing here?' - that's why I did the 15 Minute Real-Time Art Journal Page Video, where I tried to talk through as much of the process as possible. 
So this Pet Project video seems really easy-breasy right? 
Nothing went wrong while doing this right? 
WRONG! 
Check out the still from the video below; this is where I painted all Sweepie's black bits, well black:
Well...it was the WORST thing I could have possibly done for this painting ---
Because I had already put the darkest colour down I spent the rest of the painting completely battling to make his features, shadows and light come forward. I used every kind of acrylic I had (I found glossy to be the best in the end btw, it added a bit more dimension), but this move could have completely ruined the painting. Did I let it? Hell no! Because I do not believe you can ever, EVER, ruin a piece of artwork to the point where it is impossible to make work again. Whatever you do, whatever mistakes you make, they are all tools to help you learn how to improve your work. Will I ever paint bulk black again? No, next time I'll build it up slowly. Am I sorry I did paint it bulk black, and probably got a lesser-version of the painting I could have ended up with? Not at all. I'm happy for every mistake I ever made in my art, this is why I'm sharing this in this post rather than focusing in more on Sweepiebum (sorry pup pup, you really are just the guinea pig today =( ), to try and share what I can in understanding that:
shedding your fear & making mistakes, makes you 100% a better artist!

Much love
Jennibellie (& Sweepie)

5 comments:

  1. Lovely! Both Sweepie and your picture of him. He is so cute!

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  2. Aw makes me miss my old puppy. I used to draw and paint her too n treasure those pics now, especially the pencil sketch I did when she was pregnant and sleeping a lot. Sweepie is so sweet. Your picture of him looks great, but yes, fair point regarding the blacking in and you and we will know better next time! Thanks Jenn xxx

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  3. Oh my gosh - that painting is just wonderful of Sweepie! I so appreciated your sharing of the full tale of the adventure to create it. It was fun to read your comments on that because just yesterday I was saying to a group of friends that, even our failures can become positives because we learn from them which ultimately makes our artful adventures that much easier in future. :-) Big hugs to you and Sweepie!

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  4. Sweepie looks so cute and you did a wonderful job! I hope to one day include a painting of my kitty and other pet in one of my journals.

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  5. Love Sweepie! You too Jenny! Wise words about making art!

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