Bex Hall

Bex Hall > feathered friends

feathered friends

The end of the challenge

Art challenge recap, part deux

The birds like to get together sometimes and spell things
“On occasion the birds like to get together and spell words.”

“Bird is the word” is today’s final 28 Feathered Friends art challenge prompt. Which leaves 72 days of The 100 Day Project and I’m uncertain what I’m going to do for the remainder of the time.

But, I’ve learned the answers to “What am I going to draw or create today?” appear as long as I don’t force it. The answers come where they will, not where I *will* it.

Some other things I experienced during this art challenge:

Showing up every day whether I felt like it or not, helped build my confidence. And sharing my work, whether I liked it or not, gave me accountability.

Some surprising things like The Secret Life of Birds showed up on the page. Some realistic drawings came out. Some not so good.

I listened to an interview on the Art Juice podcast with Gabriel Lipper and he talked about the Rule of 7s. If you do seven sketches, at least one of them is going to teach you something. And probably true with paintings too. We can’t land them all. There’s always a standout. One of the seven will certainly be better than the other six.

I like this concept very much and agree wholeheartedly. 

Having a daily prompt gave me the constraint I needed to focus and create. Parameters are conducive to creating.

Conversely, comparing my art to others is detrimental to my creativity. I love the quote by Jon Acuff, “Don’t compare your beginning to someone else’s middle.”

And last, creativity lies not in the done, but in the doing.

Let’s keep making art and see what happens.

Onward!

Bird is the word

Mama Robin and her baby

Just look at that face!

Mama and baby on my back porch

It wasn’t long after a Robin made her nest on our back porch before her babies appeared. Downy covered and gangly with big beaks and unwieldy smiles. The most beautiful babies ever. Just look at that face. 

This is my favorite photo of Mama Bird taking care of her fledgling, so I used it as reference for this sketch and today’s prompt in the 28 Feathered Friends art challenge.

Keep a look out this Spring for nest construction near you.

How do you know it’s done?

Sometimes you don’t, and that’s okay

Nesting Robin

A few years ago a Robin made our back porch her temporary home. I used one of the photos I shot as a reference for today’s prompt, “Nesting Bird.”

I sketched it with a Derwent water soluble pencil (light wash) instead of a regular, have-to-use-an-eraser-to-get-rid-of-the-lines kind.

After inking, I brushed water on the leftover pencil marks and they provided just the shading and softness I wanted.

I struggled with whether to add color; the reddish brown on the breast. I made a photocopy and applied color to it, and my eye was still drawn to the black, white, and grey version.

I also tried playing with it in Procreate, but my skills with the app aren’t up to speed. Yet.

Sometimes it’s hard to know when a drawing is finished. There are so many videos I’ve watched of an artist drawing or painting a subject and just when I think it looks perfect, they’ll add a touch or two and like magic, it’s even better.

For now, I’m leaving this one as is. I’m happy with it.

What’s next?

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

What does that even mean?

Bird in the hand

According to The Phrase Finder, it means that it’s better to hold onto something you have rather than take the risk of getting something better which may come to nothing.

“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”

—Anais Nin

I’ve been living with the bird in the hand for a while now. Safe. In my comfort zone.

Only in the past few months have I begun to take creative risks. And by risks, I mean step out from my personal comfort zone.

I started this blog, have shared my work, have tried new art techniques, have stumbled and shared anyway. Putting my work out there, to me, is a huge risk.

What if others hate it? What if someone says something horrible? Doubts and fears.

And further, where is any of this going? This creating and making and sharing.

I still don’t know the answers but I’ve found a little joy every day while I create art, or write, or capture subjects with my camera. And maybe that’s enough of an answer for now.

Do something creative every day. Let the bird in your hand fly.

An art challenge recap

This 28 Feathered Friends art challenge ends soon. I’ll share some things I learned this month.

Showing up every day whether I felt like it or not, helped build my confidence.

Sharing my work, whether I liked it or not, gave me accountability and also a boost of confidence.

Not every thing I created was good but I recently heard Gabriel Lipper in an interview on the Art Juice Podcast talk about the Rule of 7s. If you do seven sketches, at least one of them is going to teach you something. And probably true with paintings too. We can’t land them all. There’s always a standout. One of the seven will certainly be better than the other six. 

I like this concept very much.

I found, much to my surprise, there are some bird characters living in my imagination that lead a secret life and decided to make themselves known in my daily drawings.

Comparing my art to others is detrimental to my creativity. 

Don’t compare your beginning to someone else’s middle. — Jon Acuff

Having a daily prompt gave me the constraint I needed to focus. I’m feeling a little uncertain about what I’m going to do for the remainder of the 100 days. 

Along that same thought, I’ve found the answers to “What am I going to draw today?” come as long as I don’t force it. Let the answers come where they will, not where I *will* it.

And last, creativity lies not in the done, but in the doing.

Keep making art and see what you learn. Onward.

Proud as a peacock
Percy was more frightened than proud.

Note: Proud as a peacock was the prompt for today. I was on the road and had very little time but I eked out a quick sketch. Not my favorite, but I did it anyway, and that feels good.

Addendum, February 25: Show up consistently behind the pen, the brush, or the lens and magic will happen.

Waxing gibbous magic
Waxing gibbous magic moon, iphone 11 night mode. Looks like daylight.