South Side
Tue, May 18, 2010 at 08:00AM "Whatever amuses, serves to kill time, to lull the faculties, and to banish reflection.
Whatever entertains, usually awakens the understanding or gratifies the fancy.
Whatever diverts, is lively in its nature, and sometimes tumultuous in its effects."
- George Crabbe
9.5x12" clairefontaine watercolor paper, in pitt pen, watercolor
As I looked at this drawing, I toyed with the idea of color. It was a fork in the creative road. To use a blackjack analogy, should I hit or stand? With a poem, you can keep a version, play around with words, go back. You can fast forward backward. With photoshop, you can Revert. But here, there's only moving forward. With the possibility of screwing it up. Ultimately, you have to believe that either way, it is OK.
More building doodles in Fish Eye.
What do you do when you get to the fork in the road? How do you decide what to do?
Notes...
- Hanna shares a thought-provoking Introverted and Creative Go Together with lots of solid links to learn more about this concept. A lot of things make more sense to me now
- Sarah Giannobile's colorful artwork makes me smile, especially the doodle-inspired Jupiter Street
- From Web Designer Wall, a tutorial on creating watercolor effects in Photoshop
- The Top 20 Uses for Wordle from The Clever Sheep
- Eden's colorful Matryoshka doll drawings at Draw, Doodle + Decorate
Reader Comments (14)
The fork in the road almost ALWAYS points toward color.....but then I get to another fork which says blue or yellow, green or red, purple or pink!!! There are always forks on the roads I travel!!! BTW, I love this whole series! They are so beautiful and creative! Wonderful and interesting detail!! I say....Frame them and Hang them so you can enjoy them!!!
Oh, I LOVE this! So beautiful.
As a naturally impatient and impulsive sort, it's only lately I've learned when I come to a fork, an intersection, that often the best thing to do is ... wait.
Beautiful work (with or without the color).
Eden, For me the biggest decision is definitely B&W or color, I hadn't considered the additional fork but clearly that faces us repeatedly!
Chel, Thank you as always for the positive support.
Jeanine, I fully agree that a fork is a creative decision point, a point to take the time to consider options. With non-art forks (what a strange sentence this is), I analyze too much and often don't take any action. Analysis paralysis. Fortunately it doesn't happen when I'm doing art:)
~ Tammy
I know whatcha mean w/ color... sometimes it could add so much, but then again, the simple black and white can also be so powerful... so, I have my cake and eat it too by scanning that bad boy into my computer and print it out as my b&w... I mean, its not EXACTLY the same, but pretty stinkin close (I also do this sometimes w/ my students' drawings before they color them in... b/c who knows what could happen w/ a kinder and a crayon!!!) ~Lindsay
Whenever I reach a fork in the road, I always take a deep breath and ask my angels for guidance and an answer right before I go to sleep at night. Generally, sometime during the course of the next morning a direction pops into mind, and it usually is the perfect answer to my creativity question.
BTW, Tammy. I know how much you enjoy photography. You MUST stop by and visit Beverly Ash Gilbert's blog (http://beverlygilbert.blogspot.com/2010/05/red-monday.html). Her captures are magnificent, and this week she's doing a week of color. Monday it was red, today it's blue, etc. I know you'll LOVE it!!!! Hugs, Terri xoxo
always love your art and appreciate the wonderful links!!
Lindsay, I usually scan/photograph the B&W art before adding color, and certainly that graphic could then be used for something else. I hadn't considered that benefit!!! Photographing the kinder kid art before coloring would also serve to document their process. I love including the kids in their workspace, doing their creative thing.
Terri, You are absolutely right, Beverly's photography is just beautiful. I am participating in Curious Girl's color week as well but not finding luck in matching my color finds to the day they are due. I could go back and use existing photos but I know that is not the point.
Trish, As always, thank you for the positive feedback and kind words!
~ Tammy
Love your cityscapes! Anytime I can totally visualize the end result, its a green light, when I can't it's leave it alone.
Deb
Wow this really looks awesome and magical! I like your choice of colors, I think it looks better in color because of the shades you did :) So pretty!
I LOVE that city scape Tammy!
I have to say that I love every single one you've done so far... but this may be my favourite!
at forks I tend to go with intuition but I confess I am often held back out of fear of 'wrecking' something by going further.
This is a beautiful cityscape..you certainly made the right choice with it. But I think whatever you chose would have been the right choice....speaking as someone who gets the "analysis paralysis" mentioned in an earlier comment. I would have been stuck for days/weeks/months trying to make the "perfect" choice and thereby not doing anything at all.
Beautiful work...Your blog is great
Deb (fellow gypsy lover), Thank you for your kind words. I think you've summed up my methodology - when I can envision, I move forward. I need to see the path that will get me to the desired results.
Michelle, Thank you for your kind words. Love the word "magical"! I just get lost in color, hard to stop with just one.
Liberty, Your feedback is always so lovely. I think we have to do more than one of something, so that with the second, we can take the risk to mess it up!
mwquilt, That is how I "decorate" my house, via analysis paralysis, thus not moving forward on any front. Somehow with art I can make quick decisions but with the house I cannot! Thank you for your positive feedback.
~ Tammy
Tammy - Just love your cityscape drawings/paintings. Honestly it is very effective both in color and sans color - just gives a different flavor or feel to it. That is a great idea to scan/photograph the piece before adding color so that you can have both. The colors in this piece just flow so well and the image is really captivating and magical.
Always a pleasure to visit your blog and see your artwork! - Mary