On being a self taught artist.

What it means to be a self taught artist?

Being and doing your thing sometimes feels like you could be a failure,

no one is there to tell you you are doing it well or wrong or how could it be done

better, you are just guided by your instincts and experience.

And there is that little voice inside asking, is that good enough?

After years of being one of the so called self taught artist,

 I´ve learned that fear and doubt only means you 

don´t trust your inner guidance and what you have learned already.  

Doubt is the main problem when you feel you are 

not enough or that you haven´t get to were you should or that 

others are better than you. I would add that we are expecting from 

the world the applause we think we should be getting!

The real gain that walking your own path could give, is knowledge.

The gains of true knowledge are silent.

Everybody in every study field is self taught, either you are alone in your

home or in a class at school, you are the only one grabbing what you need at 

this moment for your journey, you are the one who decides what and how to 

use it, if it goes deep or superficial, depends on you alone, but we can blame

it on talent, our parents, not having the money or time, etc...

When we do so, we are only hiding in the comfort place we´ve been for

years ´cause effort has a price we are still not willing to pay.

 Schools help but are not the teacher, you are.

"When the student is ready the teacher will appear"  

When you are ready to learn something, you will teach your self that, 

you will pay more attention to that until you learn it. Or you will find

the perfect situation to help you see the needed lesson for this 

applies to life as well.

When you´ve learned a certain thing, it doesn´t mean you are better than

the rest, the proof is that anyone can learn the same thing and even get better

than you, we see in the world many proofs of that, to know it and accept it

 makes us humble, knowledge is infinite, it only stops growing when 

you stop but keeps growing when you add more to it.

Learn from all, knowledge is universal, learn from people, form movies, from

a song, books, from your deep meditations, knowledge does not belong to a single

person, it is of who wants to tap in to it, don´t take it personal if someone "steals" 

your ideas, they are not yours alone or else no one could ever know that same

thing ever again anymore.  That is not what we can see in the history of the world.

Different people in different times of history have "discovered" the same things

claiming it´s their inventions, math is not an invention, it´s only a discovery

and part of who we are, that goes for everything we can call knowledge,

it´s only a discovery of the universal truths and you would be more honest

and happier if you accept this.

I´ve been doing an experiment at my studio, I am always trying to learn new

things by trying them, I made studies of other artist I like, I even took some 

online workshops with some, painted a lot of different styles using them as

inspiration to teach my self new paths, new ways of doing things with paint

and ideas, one painting can be a great teacher if you dig it and discover their

hidden teachings.

Don´t be afraid to make studies of other artists so you can learn but know 

that this process can take a while to be absorbed, being an artist is not making big 

hits of art that will be in the number one charts lists as the best painting of the 

moment, being an artist means that you are in a constant learning path 

and 

that 

you 

love it, 

the struggles, the hard days, the challenges are only the way of life of the artist,

it´s how life is helping you improve and grow, if you overcome those 

challenges, you undoubtedly grow, that is the true gain, not the applause

of the world, that doesn´t help you at all to grow, it only feeds your sweet

 indulged ego and it helps for a while but is not what makes us grow.

And yes, anyone can grow if they put the effort it takes.

Why would you stay in the comfort of the known when 

you can discover the unknown?

As they say, no pain, no gain but I say also play!

Work hard but make sure you are enjoying it, it is exciting to have a

goal and helps us have a direction but remember to enjoy the process and

play a lot, playing also teaches if you look for the lessons, they are everywhere!

Is my goal to paint better portraits but some are a huge challenge, it is 

hard work and one that requires a deep concentration and no playing so I 

help my self rest from them by having playful time with my paints too and so

I use my art journal or whatever paper I find to paint fun stuff or just express 

my self, this helps me keep going with the more elaborated works, those give 

me much joy when they are done and hanging in a wall, they remind me about 

my progress and how I´ve been disciplined which is my reward, that´s why 

I paint them, to see my self in those paintings, how I went over laziness, how 

I made time and gave effort, how I challenged my self and how I went for more.

Never settle.  You deserve to be more. 

Your path is unique and beautiful, dare to walk it.

*All works are done with acrylics on paper.

Now I leave you with some tips that have helped me grow and might help you too,

these may be used in other areas of life as well:

Have a goal
Use discipline to get there
Combine discipline with playful time
Work and rest

Have a goal:  What do you want or would like to achieve?
Use this to develop a plan on how and when.

Use discipline to get there:  Keep adding to it, a little every day or every 

two days or three days but keep adding to it, make discipline a habit.

Combine discipline with playful time:  Not every day has to be hard work,

add playful time to your schedule, some days just play and rest, read or 

take a walk, cook or just breath while watching the sunset, those things
also inspire us and teach us in many ways.

Work and rest:  I try to work early in the mornings, I am super fresh and rested

and excited to achieve my goal, I work a few hours then rest or change into 

play mode, then I come back to the discipline or work refreshed again, this way
it doesn´t feel so heavy.

Add your own tips...

Thank you for being here, 

I hope this helps you some how in your 

own journey.

GuardarGuardar

The month of love.

        

Hello sweets! It´s been a while I know, I miss you and I am back to share the news!

I´ve grown so much since I first started this blog, 15 years now!  At the beginning I didn´t know much about blogging and I know I still have a lot to learn but it´s been fun and very interesting to me and I thank you for being part of this journey, I will always be grateful to you!

What´s new?

My studio is smaller so I had to learn to be practical and focused on what I really wanted to do and being in a small place helped me because I can´t have a bunch of stuff I don´t use just waiting there, so I cleaned up a lot of my art supplies. 

New paintings!

Yes! I´ve been absorbed by creating, but what is new right? this time I wanted to try new things, dare a bit more, loosen  a lot more and experiment and have fun at the same time.  At the beginning of the year I had that clear in my mind but not the how, so I just kept painting, doing and trying, that´s been my path, my way, my school but somehow I feel more comfortable now.  That doesn´t mean that I don´t struggle anymore, it´s just different.

                

          

                

Sometimes you aren´t clear about what you are looking for, specially when it´s about creating.

That`s how it is supposed to be!  Yes, you are walking a new path and something that hasn´t been created yet is taking shape, go there with all you have.

Trust

Use patience 

Experiment

Play

Enjoy

To me, art is a playground, a wonderful tool to expand, nurture my soul and grow.  I apply what I learn in my art in other areas of my life but everything has it´s time and it´s own process so it is important to be patient. Our society is in a rush, we are currently living as if there is not enough time, food and supplies!  Please notice how you have implemented that same feeling in your life and take a step back and breath!  We´ll get were we want one painting at a time and never let anyone tell you you should be there already, specially your self!  We are our greatest critics and pushers, at least I am, I want to be painting the things I see in my mind but now I know it´s a life time process and I am happy with it, it means you get to keep learning forever and trying new things all the time, how boring would life be if we wouldn´t be able to do this! Agree?

            

                   

               

I hope this is inspiring, soon will share more news, if you haven´t yet listened to my music you can take a peek here, soon my new album will be released, that´s what I´ve been doing all this time too, music is the part of me many haven´t yet seen but I am slowly changing that. So much to do, so much to enjoy, so much to love in this lifetime, grateful.

                   

People say 

there is a month of love 

but I wouldn´t survive a day without it,

I can´t find a day without it,

there are morning notes

 feathers and awakenings,

there are fireflies and stars

travels in sleep,

there is joy in the rainbow 

and laughter in children,

so much to breath, 

so much to be.

To be,

consciously conscious,

growing to get there,

to impersonal,

reach the truth beneath

find the real.

Blessings!

Silent heart /a new art journal class

I have been quiet...  I am a wild forest trying to become civilization, some branches and trunks are harder to remove and there are days when the rain is so intense,  I forget there is a sun above it all, drowning the foundations of my castle.  It´s hard to see your castle, you are building it from the inside out, it morphs as you evolve.  There is no other way to go through life but through change and change brings doubt and excitement, hope and uncertainty, gain and loss but is harder to stay in the same place, it´s actually, impossible for our nature is to evolve.

Art is my boat, were I hide and unfold, my discipline and playground, were I become, were I get lost and also were I am found.  I am so thankful I found this path or better said, my true self. For some is as if they already know since birth who they are, for me, it has been a struggle to shape my self but at the end, I am always satisfied with who I´ve become, I just know there is more.

Let us be guided by the wisdom of reason and by 

the truth of the heart towards our best possibility. 

Now let´s move on to the fun part of this post!

I am sharing a new art journal tutorial with you, I hope you 

enjoy the fun tips I have discovered in my studio, this page is 

very simple, just as I am and want to become even more, learn

to appreciate the simple is important to me, it helps me develop

humility which is the path to love.

First tip!  I am starting to use one or two colors mixed with guesso 

to start my pages, you can add textures with the guesso if wanted

and be aware of the white of the guesso to achieve your desired color.

Then I drew very thin lines of my design with a vegetable charcoal, 

to be covered with paint, I didn´t used fixative but you could!

I started to paint my negative with some contrasting color, the 

negative is the opposite of your subject, let´s say the background and all that

that surrounds your subject and the positive is your actual object, notice I am

doodling with the paint, another discovery for me!  Instead of covering all, this way

you will have lots of texture!

Now, here is another fun tip for your studio!  Make a scrapper brush

out of recycle items!

I love scrapers and I know I can buy them in all kinds of shapes but

I also love recycling and all that has to do with DIY, (do it your self!) Yeeey! ;)

Check the photos to make it easier to understand!

Here is what I did to make my own scraper brush:

1. Removed the hairs from an old, cheap brush
2. Recycle or not an old cleaning scraper and cut it to size to fit the brush
3. Stick it inside the brush and close tightly
4. Practice with it to see how it works
5. Use to write cool, unique words with paint
6. Use to paint
7. Make more in different sizes
8. Add marks and cuts to the scrapper to have more possibilities, teeth, squares, etc.

Now, that is one way to paint words and it´s a lot of fun,

the writing bellow was made with an old "useless" brush, you know, 

the kind you left there, all covered in paint and forgot about it

´til the next day?  Well, I saved them and waited for an idea 

for them and today, I used one to paint letters just as with the scrapper but the

hairs are so hard they leave texture all around the letters, I love it!

Quick video writing the words!

To end, I added more paint around the letters, again, working

the negative of the work, the same was done in the other page

but with different colors, both pages have the same colors, 

only, they are used differently on each page, changing the negative

and positive, one great way to work on two pages at the same time, 

something I love to do but is a little challenging.

I hope you enjoyed the tips and tutorial

shared with you with much love!

* Inspiration *

Sneak a peek into my art journal 

work!

Photos of my students work in class!  Slowly, making progress, it´s

awesome to be able to share in a live class, we all learn so much! 

I am gaining a better understanding of your need and doubts, how to share

and how everyone is different and understands differently!

Just one more thing has to be said...

it´s ok to grab my ideas and share them on your own sites but 

please understand,  this are my own creation and I hope you 

acknowledge that when you share them! I know this

 it´s hard to control and actually I don´t want to,

all I ask is for you to put your self in my shoes for a minute and try to 

understand that I am also trying to make something with all this and I am 

doing the best I can and it takes a lot of work and effort to do all this, please

be wiser,

and bigger, 

make your self and

the world better!

It is true that integrity alone won't make you a leader, but without integrity you will never be one.

                                                                                        Zig Ziglar