Inspiration
Tapping into Creativity
As I get creative inspiration from outside sources, like the Design House, I thought this blog post by Sean Hodge of “12 Ways to Tap into and Endless Well of Creativity” gave really useful advice for any type of artist. Here they are listed in a nutshell with further explanation on the PSDTUTS (Photoshop Tutorials) blog. 1. Mine your subconscious and dreams 2. Keep a drawing journal and doodle regularly 3. Study artists you admire 4. Look at the natural world around you 5. Look to other disciplines 6. Look to art and design history 7. Experiment with combining concepts and styles 8. Shoot lots of pictures 9. Look at…
Sensory Art
Again, I should have saved all those rubber gloves! This is a another cool use for rubber gloves to help the visually impaired, as well as the sighted, to “get psychologically involved…” as Sheri Khayami, the founder of BlindArt, a British charity group, describes. This group find ways for people to appreciate art through the other four senses and not just relying on vision. Here’s a fantastic painting by artist Charles Wildbank, who happens to be deaf. I love the color and the hyper realism of his work, with expressive movement and clarity. Makes you just want to reach out and touch his work. You can almost smell the salted…
Arboretum in Peril
Egads, The U.S. National Arboretum is in peril and has lost most of its federal funding for 2009! I love this place. It’s where I find a lot of inspiration for drawing nature and gardening ideas. I’ve been taking my boys here since they were wee tots. It would be a shame if this gem of a 446-acre botanical park was to quietly close its gates. Presently, a lot of people don’t know about this natural wonder. It only receives 480,000 visitors a year while other arboretums and the more popular U.S. Botanical Gardens (on the Mall) attract upwards of 750,000 visitors. However, it is pristine and the largest track…
