Even Homework can be Creepy

When I was in college, one of the first things we learned to do was to draw the human skull. It is imperative for every successful representational artist to know the ins and outs of the human bone and muscle structure. We were given a homework assignment to draw the human skull using dramatic lighting and to really push our values.

My drawing was a straight-on view of an open mouthed skull with extreme lighting from one side. It gave me fantastic lights and shadows to work with, and ended up being more of a spooky finished piece of art than a tightly rendered studio study. The next day all the students hung their drawings up for our professor to scrutinize. All the other students and even the professor seemed a little taken aback at the creepiness of my drawing.

After class, I took my drawing home and showed it to my roommates (they were always curious to see what project I was working on). They all just stared at it with open mouths and didn't say a thing. Later, one roommate that was particularly close to me said, "You know Dena, I never thought that you would ever draw something like that. It just doesn't seem to fit with your personality. Is that the kind of art you are going to do?"

I started laughing and told her that it was simply an assignment for class. She relaxed a great deal after I explained the assignment and how it was a study of light and shadow on a human skull, and not some inner disturbance that I had been harboring for years!

Original Artwork is a Family Treasure

My grandparents were very simple farmers. They raised eleven children in a small farmhouse in Utah. Even though they didn't have a lot of money, my grandmother went with her sister to the art show of a local artist and each of them purchased a painting for $100 (which was a lot of money for them at the time). That painting hung in my grandmother's home for most of my mother's life and all of mine. When my grandparents passed away, they didn't leave an official will behind, so the eleven children drew names for each item they wished to inherit.

Most of the daughters put their names in for their mother's jewelry, the sons put their names in for their father's guns. Can you guess which item every single one of the eleven children wanted more than any other? The single original painting that had hung in their home for most of their lives.

Original artwork is something that will be cherished for generations to come. We grow attached to original paintings in a way that just doesn't happen with a print. Reproductions simply don't match up to original artworks. Originals can be handed down as heirlooms, and cherished by those who inherit them.

Autumn in Wisconsin's Farmland

Since this may be our last autumn in Wisconsin, I told my husband that I wanted to get some photographs of the local farms outside of the city limits. The weather on Saturday was surprisingly nice, so we headed out to the country. One of the things I love the most about Wisconsin is the beautiful autumn days. The colors are so exquisite that they simply take my breath away. I don't believe that there is a better time of year than the fall. I am overwhelmed with happiness every time I step out my door.

I love the contrast in this photos between the light cornfields and the vibrant blue sky with the bright red barn creating a wonderful focal point. Perhaps I'll get my act together and actually paint one of these little farms!

Paint What You Know or What You See?

Red Barn - 16 x 20

Oil on Canvas

$900

Copyright of Dena McMurdie 2009

If you are a serious artist or are around serious artists often, you have most likely heard the saying, "Paint what you see, not what you know". Artists such as Richard Schmid explain this to mean that you should paint or draw the shapes, colors, values, and edges that you see, rather than the actual objects themselves. It takes great concentration, but you should look past the object that you are painting, like a portrait, until you no longer see an eye, nose, or lips, and concentrate on finding correct shapes of color, making them the right value, and getting them in the right place. Theoretically, if you are able to accomplish this goal with each brushstroke, your painting will look right because you didn't focus on painting a person's face. However, there may be more to getting your painting to look right than simplifying.

In college, I had a professor that repeatedly said, "Paint what you know, not what you THINK you see, until the happy day when you know what you see. Then, you can paint what you WANT to see." Often, we are faced with difficult areas to draw. Problems with foreshortening, and perspective can especially cause problems if they are drawn exactly as they appear to an untrained eye. For instance, you may look at a human eye and think that it looks exactly like the outline of a football. But if you have studied characteristics of the human eye, you will know that it is NOT the shape of a football. In this case, you will take what you know, and apply it to what you see, hopefully coming up with the correct shape for your eye. If you do that enough, you will learn to observe more carefully the shapes that you are trying to replicate. Once you know what you see, then you can paint what you see, or what you want to see. Sometimes, even if you know what you are seeing, it will just look wrong once it is put into paint or on paper. In those instances, you can make slight adjustments to your drawing to make it look right, thus painting what you want to see.

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Varied Interests: Am I All Alone?

Including my love of creating fine art, I have several hobbies and interests that I pursue. At times I feel a little overwhelmed and confused at which interest should be dominating the majority of my time. I've read several articles and books that all say the same thing:

Choose your course, and then follow it. Don't stray off your path. Pick ONE interest and pursue that until the day you die.

This is great advice I'm sure, but what about those of us that have two major interests, or three, or four? Unless I am mistaken, I am not alone in posing this question. I've wrestled with this dilemma for quite some time and have finally come to a personal conclusion. While most artists seem to be content in painting their landscapes or still life for the duration of their lives, I have a desire to explore many subjects and different styles of painting.

When you look at history, you will see that not all the great artists spent every last minute of their lives creating art. Leonardo DaVinci is an obvious candidate for my point. He spent large quantities of time dedicated to meditation, science, and invention. Michelangelo Buonaroti is another artist that was also an inventor. Mark Twain didn't write novels his entire life. He was a travel writer, a journalist, a publisher, a riverboat pilot, and printer. If these men can have varied interests, then so can I.

Having a second interest or "hobby" can also foster creativity for your main interest. Often I wonder how some artists go about creating the same style of artwork with the same subject matter for years on end without suffering from extreme boredom. A hobby will change your pace of thought, frame of mind, and re-rout your creative process. Whenever I come back to my artwork after working on one of my hobbies for a while, I feel refreshed and enlivened. I can see my work with new eyes and new energy.

The important thing is to find a balance between your main interest and your hobbies. Hobbies are fun and inspiring, but whatever you are most passionate about should be what you pursue the most.

Where is all the Originality?

Last night my husband and I rented a video that we had been wanting to see for a while. We got about twenty minutes into the film when we turned it off. The jokes were horrible, the acting was mediocre at best, and the story was non-existent. As I returned the movie today, I thought to myself, "Why is it so impossible to find a good movie these days? Everything is filled with either sex, violence, or offensive language."

I can't help but wonder where our society is if all we can produce are the same kinds of degrading entertainment. Does nobody have morals anymore? What happened to originality? Where did that go? Are these pathetic movies really all that Hollywood's great creative minds have to offer? Are there honestly no better ideas out there?

When I daydream (which is quite often), I dream that my artwork will be remembered throughout history. I dream that I will create original and monumental works of art that will inspire and uplift people for generations to come. So often I find that artists tend to create something that will "make a statement" or go for the "shock effect". Sure, these types of artwork might get you publicity NOW, but what about 10 years from now? What about after you die? You must consider what type of legacy you want to leave behind. Do you want to be one of the thousands of artists that will die unknown and unappreciated because they spent their lifetime trying to create the next Big Shocker? If you are like me, the shock effect is not something you aspire for, it is something that you avoid. I only work and aspire to leave a legacy behind me that is influential and will make the world a more lovely place to live.

With my own artwork, I seek to create anything that is virtuous, lovely, of good report, or praiseworthy. By praiseworthy I don't mean that I want the praise of society, but rather, I want to know that my Father in Heaven is pleased with what I am doing. The purpose of my artwork is to uplift the soul and instill a feeling of peace and happiness in the heart of the viewer.

Five Minute Sketch From Life

Today I took a few minutes to sketch my daughter while she was watching a movie. Usually, I will try to add a little value to my forms during my sketch exercises, but children don't hold still very long. So this little drawing stayed fairly simple.

I've decided to try to do small, five minute sketches every day in hopes of improving my drawing skills. Drawing from life is the best way to accurately see forms, shapes, and values. You don't have to deal with lens distortion or value inaccuracy from your camera.

Create: A Video Clip by Dieter F. Uchtdorf

I found this video clip just by chance this morning. It was very inspiring to me and thought that I would share it with everyone. This is Dieter F. Uchtdorf speaking on the topic of "create". Enjoy!

Started a New Bust Today

It feels like I have been running around like a chicken with my head cut off these past few days, but I finally got a chance to sit down and work on creating a new bust of Joseph Smith. So here is the product of my labors from today - a bigger, and better rendition of this historic man's face. Obviously I have quite a bit of work left, so please do not judge too harshly yet. You may notice, however, that the proportions on this bust are far more accurate than on the miniature one I worked on a week ago. I will continue to post my progress as I move along.

Copying the Masters

I mentioned a couple of posts ago that I received "Alla Prima: Everything I Know About Painting" as a gift. I am impressed with Richard Schmid's enthusiasm for accuracy. One of my favorite quotes so far is this:

"Never knowingly leave anything wrong on your canvas"

What a wonderful statement! How often as artists, do we make a mistake or realize that something isn't working right but leave it there anyway? Whether it's laziness or a lack of knowing how to fix the problem, we have all done it from time to time.

The drawing in this post is a copy of one of the paintings in the book. One of the best ways to learn more about art is to copy from the masters. Of course, you can never sell a copy, but you will learn about the master's technique and problem solving skills.

Free Online Art Courses

I just read an article on Empty Easel about 25 different places to find free online art courses. The courses vary from painting and digital art to theater and art history. Be sure to check out what these courses have to offer. Many of them are from some of the top universities in the country. To read the full article and find the list of free courses, CLICK HERE.

I just received "Alla Prima: Everything I Know About Painting" by Richard Schmid in the mail the other day. This is a book that I have wanted to buy for a very LONG time. Finally, for my birthday, I was given this book as a gift. I am so excited to have it in my home. I have already read about half of it and have really enjoyed Richard's view of the artist and all the knowledge that he shares throughout the pages. Not to mention his beautiful artwork that decorates each page! The best place to purchase this book is from the Stove Prarie Press itself. It is far less expensive than trying to go through Ebay or another source. If this is a book that you are interested in purchasing, visit the Stove Prarie Press page for purchasing information.

Creating a Modeling Clay Bust

I created this small portrait of Joseph Smith the other day with the intentions of continuing on to create a full bust to be able to work from. However, I got to this point and began to realize that many of his features were over pronounced because of the small scale that I was working with. So, even though it resembles Joseph Smith, it won't quite do the trick when it comes to using the bust as reference for my painting. I have decided to throw this one back into the heap of clay and start over - larger this time. At least I got a little practice and a little better acquainted with his features!

Open Edition Prints Discontinued

Over the course of the past few years, I have offered open edition prints of several of my paintings. However, after much thought and consideration, I have decided to discontinue offering this option for my artwork. I feel that for my particular situation and style of art, open edition prints were not serving the purpose that I want. So now, I am going to focus solely on creating and selling my original paintings. If I do decide to try prints out again in the future, they will be limited editions through a major publishing and licensing company.

As I mentioned earlier, this decision came after much thought and consideration. I want my collectors to feel secure in the knowledge that they have purchased an original, one of a kind piece of art from me, and that there are no reproductions hanging on another person's wall.