Bex Hall

Exploring Creativity

Bex Hall > feathered friends

feathered friends

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.

Perfect is boring

A good mantra for blind contour drawings

The prompt today is Big Bird. Immediately thought of the big yellow guy on Sesame Street but wanted to do something a little different.

Have you ever tried a blind contour drawing? Specifically a continuous line blind contour drawing or portrait? You draw something in pen without looking. The “results are quirky, kooky and otherwise surreal” writes Tammy Garcia of Daisy Yellow Art.

I first tried this in 2018 during the annual ICAD art challenge (that’s Index Card A Day). Typically you create a self-portrait; look at a photo of yourself, and only the photo — don’t look down, and draw one continuous line to replicate the image you see.

Some people blindfold themselves or create a tent over their hand to keep from looking. The urge to look is hard to resist.

But again, the results… fun.

Multiple attempts Big Bird Blind Contour

I made five attempts and didn’t really notice a ton of improvement, but there were differences. I began with the eyes on these two attempts.

Multiple attempts Big Bird Blind Contour

Started from the top of the head on two others. Then for the fifth, I started at the bottom.

5th attempt Big Bird Blind Contour

I suppose there was some improvement. Regardless, it’s a great creative experiment to push yourself out of the comfort zone of perfection. And there’s zero risk. It’s on an index card, or a scrap sheet of paper. Throwaway.

I’ll share the first one I ever did as a self-portrait in 2018. I added color after the pen drawing, while looking, just for fun.

You can do whatever it is you want. It’s your art, your experiment, your fun. Have at it.

With that, I leave you with my Picassoesque masterpiece. Until tomorrow, keep creating.

Blind contour continuous line self portrait