Clowns on the brain

If you are trying to improve your art and you're new and feeling that frustraton that your skills are not where you envision them to be, you need to try and find joy in the practice. Baby steps can be so helpful and even if it feels silly it's rewarding. Struggling with the face and its driving you mad? Ignore the other anatomy and work specifically on practicing faces! The rest you can build up to later. Got the face down? Lets try poses now! Don't care if the body anatomy sucks, get the poses down cause its whats frustrating you, and build from there etc. etc. etc.

Also remind yourself why you want to do this in the first place. Is it intolerable not being able to put the image you imagine to paper? Because it might look like garbage to you now but you MADE it. You put that idea to paper and was it fun to do it even if you struggled?

"The Source"

by Luo Li Rong

1. borrowing misery from future

2. carrying grief of the past

Fast forward to six weeks ago—I receive an email from her husband, explaining he broke the mug (lol) and asking if I’d be willing to take on a commission to replace it. He reiterates how she has arthritis but also shares she used to make pottery, herself, but can only really paint, now. I say of course! Come to find out, he wants a WHOLE SET of mugs to replace the broken one. Even better! I end up making the whole set twice (I wasn’t satisfied with the first attempt), but finally get them packed up and sent off across the country.

I just received the kindest message from the husband, saying “It is not often in today's world that someone does 100% of what they have promised,” thanking me profusely, and sharing that his wife is already happily using the new mugs.

You know what? I'm posting it again as it's own post to brag.

This confirms that there is a civilization older than the Sumerians that we have yet to find

Some people get existential dread from this

Source (non Aboriginal)

And a quote I picked out from a longer interview with an Aboriginal local elder about the area where he touched on the history