I'm taking a small break from working. Though my reason for taking a break is still bothering me now. I have a pain/cramp in my hand, and the typing that I thought wouldn't be so bad still hurts a bit. Though stopping every so often to work my hand around is less distracting. Besides that I can put my legs up, which helps with my knees.
Anyway, I was reading Smithsonian Q & A: American Art and Artists and I've only made it in the first few pages. I did start thinking about maybe studying Native American art a bit more. In high school I went through a period of researching my heritage. One thing that has stuck with me is the Cherokee language. I love the look of the letters and ended up only using them in one piece; the heritage self portrait assignment. I have a few words in my idea book and I really want to use them in a piece again. I think studying a bit more on Native American art or maybe just the culture in general would be beneficial.
I want to study art history more but I find myself so scattered on where I want to start. I can't just choose a starting point.
I also worry that my work is too autobiographical. I dwell too much on comments from other people. My photography teacher said my photos were too autobiographical. He wasn't referring to my drawings, but still I worry the same could apply. Sometimes my work is about me, sometimes my work is just an idea that I came up with and I'm most readily available model. Sometimes I think even my more personal work has some universal themes that other people could relate to.
1 comment:
Very insightful post. I've had hand problems too, in the past. Drinking lots of water works for me, also deep relaxation. I sometimes put an elastic band right below my elbow, which forces the large part of the arm muscle to work, instead of the tiny part in the wrist.
All artwork is autobiographical. Even straight realism, because we all show up in our art, one way or another--we cannot escape ourselves. Your pencil work is very sensitive and beautiful. Bravo!
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