Crime or art?

One under appreciated art form is graffiti. It can be done on almost any surface from buildings to trucks to a canvas. But, there's been a lot of controversy dealing with graffiti and one question that's always brought up is...is it a crime or art? Some people would argue that it's only a form of vandalism and it destroys public property. Others agree that's it's a crime to some extent, but that it isn't a serious or violent problem because some graffiti reflects a positive message and isn't hurting anyone. Today, graffiti is still being done on walls, trucks, etc. but it's also being moved onto canvas.

I've added two videos that are a little long, but worth watching. First is a video from Fox 13 News at Nine. We hear from different taggers in Salt Lake City about their reasons for tagging. The video also includes how some kids are learning how to tag legally.



Second, a video made for the CSUN's MOSAIC program. It shows graffiti artists, including youths working to promote graffiti as a legit art form. Also depicted in this video is a group that's known as "Walls to Canvas."

Painting: My recent escape from reality

For some reason, I've never really been a HUGE fan of painting. I mean I enjoy looking at paintings. I like painting, but I've personally never pursued in it. I've recently gone to a couple art museums including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the De Young, and the Legion of Honor. And what's the biggest type of artwork on display in the exhibits? PAINTINGS!

During these hectic stressful times, I find myself trying to get away from reality by trying this widely used medium. For the last couple of weeks (when I find time), I've been working on this painting...
I'm not even close to finishing it. I used watercolor. I'm not sure what my theme is or what I'm trying to communicate with the viewer. I've just been throwing random things in as I go, either what I'm thinking or feeling at that moment. Hopefully it turns out better then it looks right now in the process.

Making ordinary things, extraordinary.

When learning how to draw or paint, many people start off with still life. The art of still life dates back to hundreds of centuries ago, but it's still widely used today. Many famous still life drawings and paintings were done between the Renaissance Era to the present. Different artists take different approaches towards still life artwork, it all depends on the style of the artist.

This is my style...








A pot, an iron and the back of a candle holder.









A shoe, a pumpkin and a coffee mug.











A crushed Rockstar can.

Blocked from creativity

Ever had to write a paper and didn't know exactly where to start?

Ever had to write a story and half way through didn't know where you were going with it?

What about painting a masterpiece and all of a sudden losing that inspiration to continue?

Many creative people, like artists, run into this problem a lot. It's been known by many names, but the most common is artist's block or creative block.

Trying to come up with ideas, loss of inspiration, not liking the outcome of your work, being too critical of your work are various challenges artist's run into constantly.

If you really get down to it, there is no real solution to this problem but many people try coming up with steps to overcome it.

For example, Suzanne Falter-Barnes offers her Coaching Creativity: 7 Lessons for Artists.

The success is within that artist, the creative flow just needs some guidance or inspiration to help bring out the success to it's full potential.

For some artists, it could take hours or days to overcome this problem. Others, it may take months, even years. How to Beat Artist's Block is different for every artist.

Where do I fit in the bigger picture?

I like to think that my blog is unique or original, however that isn't the case.

This blog, like hundreds of others, is tackling a very similar theme. In a whole, they are all artist's blogs. But, there are many different kinds within that category including fashion artists, graffiti artists, painters, photographers, and many others. To check out some of these blogs by various types of artists you can click here.

I guess most artists with blogs are looking for a way to attract potential art buyers to their work by putting it up online. Others maybe trying to attract buyers by providing an insight into their artwork which creates a deeper relationship with the buyer and the artist.

I think it's hilarious that there is even a site that exists that explains why every artist NEEDS a blog to be successful nowadays. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with an artist that starts a blog just to try selling their work by displaying it on the Internet.

Even for myself, I think it would be awesome if I could some recognition from some rich art buyer to give me millions of dollars for my artwork.

But, I would like to think that there are some artists out there that use artistic blogs for there own personal fulfillment, for there own individual accomplishments.

This is where my blog comes in. A blog community that doesn't really feel like they NEED to sell their work, just so long as they can say they set a personal goal and accomplished that goal.

Giving life to the spirit of animation

Everyone loves cartoons, if you don't you should definitely go see a doctor. Well generally, most people have or still do watch cartoons. I know in my case, cartoons are still a big part of what's on my television set.

When I was younger, I constantly told my parents I was going to be an artist when I grew up. It wasn't about until age thirteen that I narrowed it down to....cartooning.

I got a lot of inspiration for cartooning from Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert. I found his cartoon strips both humorous and easy for someone to practice on their own cartoons, someone like me.

Recently, my cartoons are mostly doodles in class or whenever i'm bored. Doodling cartoons is one of my biggest habits. Hopefully I find more time for my cartoons, but for now here's some of those lovely doddles.

Actually human

Even with my recently set goal of drawing daily or weekly, I've still been struggling to find the time to do so.

For the last couple days, I've been carrying around a small sketchbook. I haven't exactly been thrilled with my recent doodling, but I've decided to post one photo from my new sketchbook. I present Tupac Shakur, drawing him while sitting in my car listening to one of his songs and suddenly feeling inspired to draw.
The next two drawings are from the drawing 1 class I took two semesters ago because I still work on those from time to time.

I've choosen these pictures because the most challenging thing for me to draw is real people. For some reason, the human form and facial features is very difficult for me to perfect. These drawings are of a woman and a man who modeled for the class.

Before the final modeling pieces, we had to make various sketches of different angles. However, the drawings only took around two hours to complete. Sounds like a lot time, but to an artist that's just simply not enough.
I still try working on old pieces, but I want to move away from that and start thinking of new ideas.

This last drawing is a self-portrait. You might ask yourself, why is it upside down? I choose to put this drawing upside down because that's the way i drew it and it doesn't exactly look right to me unless it's this way.
Next time, I'll show a different version of the human form and facial features... cartoon style! =)

The Beginning

Ello,

My name is Natalie. Although, many people refer to me as Nat.

This is my first blog ever, so I ask to please not criticize me too much. First off, I'm writing this for my Journalism class at Skyline College. And I've decided to make art and write about it, it's as simple as that. I'm looking to put my effort into informing my readers of my recent transition back into drawing.

I've stopped and started drawing again about three times in my short life. I guess I have no real excuse, except for of course the lack of time and energy that everyone seems to have nowadays. I wouldn't go as far to say that I have special or any expertise in art, however it is of great interest to me.

I've been drawing ever since I was a kid. I attended art classes at a studio for about 3 years starting from the age of 12. I stopped when i was 15 because I was getting more serious about soccer. I picked it up again in high school by taking art 1 and 2. I took a couple art classes at Skyline including art appreciation and drawing 1. I'm currently taking Art History of the Renaissance Era, which is also a reason I feel inspired to start drawing again.

For my readers, I intend to write about my reason to dedicating some of my time, either weekly or daily to drawing. I also want to write about what I draw, what inspired me to draw whatever it is that I have chosen to draw, and the process of each drawing. I'm hoping along with my writing, I could also provide some photos of my artwork for your visual pleasure. Ta-da. Enjoy!