Sometimes I hear people say “ex cetera” instead of “et cetera” and I hear the difference but I don’t say anything because it’s not a big deal. Same with words like “irregardless” (which isn’t a word) and “expresso” But what REALLY grinds my gears is when people talk about Joel Osteen.
Basically every person I know does this and I honestly do not understand why. They say “Joel Olsteen” THERES NO L IN HIS SURNAME GUYS. ITS OSTEEN. I don’t understand why this is such a common mistake but like everybody does it. My husband, the pastor, all our friends, people online even spell his name wrong to include the L they for some reason think is there. Is this a case of mass hallucination? Am I immune to dillusion? Is it a conspiracy? MAYBE. It certainly would explain a lot.
Thursday, September 5, 2019
Tuesday, August 27, 2019
Drawing sucks
Hi.
Long time no see.
I know what you're all thinking: "Who has the audacity to abandon her blog for years and come back like nothing ever happened?" The answer to that question should be obvious!
ME!
Anyway.
Here’s the thing about being an artist. Everybody who is even the tiniest bit not quite as talented as you assumes that you’re way more talented than you are. They’re like “oooo can you draw me??” Or “oh I’ll hire you to illustrate my comic!” But what they don’t understand is that like, my talent is suuuuuper selective. I’m good at drawing what I want to draw. I like drawing eyes, I like drawing long flowing hair, high heels, a few cartoon animals, and that’s pretty much it. Everything else I’m mediocre at best. But people don’t know that, they see how great my cartoon dog is and assume I can illustrate a comic. I cannot. I can barely draw a face once, let alone draw it multiple times in different expressions and angles and lightings and have it look even sorta like the same person.
My husband (wow a lot has happened since last I updated this blog) and a few of his friends are writing a comic and through my husband’s puppy eyes that I simply am unable to resist, I agreed to draw up some rough sketches of their ideas. Ugh the worst of it is that I used to draw a lot, back in the height of my artistic career, but I don’t draw hardly at all anymore. I just don’t have time! Anytime I’m sitting down long enough to put a writing utensil to paper, I’ve got my baby (seriously, a LOT has happened) in my lap so I can’t. I guess I could make it more of a priority in my life, but most of my artistic pursuits have been painting, which may seem similar to drawing but it’s totally completely different and not the same at all.
I feel like I’m more talented at painting than I ever was at drawing. With drawing i get an idea of what I want to draw and 99% of the time it doesn’t turn out how I wanted it. It’s usually ok anyway after changing the plan countless times and cutting corners and cheating, and everybody looks at it and says it’s great, but what they don’t see is the hours of frustration and resignation in the drawing. That’s what I see. You see a picture of a pretty girl wearing a nice dress and I see the feet I erased a thousand times before giving up and just covering them with a longer dress. I see the eyes that I wanted to be looking at the viewer but I couldn’t get them to match so I resigned myself to making them point sideways. I see the staff I wanted to put in her hand but couldn’t get the arm right, and the background that never will happen because why do I even try at this point? It’s frustrating.
With painting I can get an idea of what I want and even if it doesn’t turn out how I wanted it still turns out amazing. When I make mistakes, instead of the mistakes turning into disproportioned feet or a rock that looks like a deflated beach ball, my mistakes kinda make the painting better. Accidentally making a sunset red instead of orange doesn’t ruin anything. And these paintings can be hung on my walls, or given as gifts. They impress people even more than my drawing, even though I’ve practiced far less. I only have 10 colors in the cheapest brand Walmart had available, a few paintbrushes, and some cardboard instead of canvas, but it’s enjoyable and rather than being frustrating and disappointing like drawing, it’s satisfying and makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something.
Ok I’m done here.
-Beatrice
Long time no see.
I know what you're all thinking: "Who has the audacity to abandon her blog for years and come back like nothing ever happened?" The answer to that question should be obvious!
ME!
Anyway.
Here’s the thing about being an artist. Everybody who is even the tiniest bit not quite as talented as you assumes that you’re way more talented than you are. They’re like “oooo can you draw me??” Or “oh I’ll hire you to illustrate my comic!” But what they don’t understand is that like, my talent is suuuuuper selective. I’m good at drawing what I want to draw. I like drawing eyes, I like drawing long flowing hair, high heels, a few cartoon animals, and that’s pretty much it. Everything else I’m mediocre at best. But people don’t know that, they see how great my cartoon dog is and assume I can illustrate a comic. I cannot. I can barely draw a face once, let alone draw it multiple times in different expressions and angles and lightings and have it look even sorta like the same person.
My husband (wow a lot has happened since last I updated this blog) and a few of his friends are writing a comic and through my husband’s puppy eyes that I simply am unable to resist, I agreed to draw up some rough sketches of their ideas. Ugh the worst of it is that I used to draw a lot, back in the height of my artistic career, but I don’t draw hardly at all anymore. I just don’t have time! Anytime I’m sitting down long enough to put a writing utensil to paper, I’ve got my baby (seriously, a LOT has happened) in my lap so I can’t. I guess I could make it more of a priority in my life, but most of my artistic pursuits have been painting, which may seem similar to drawing but it’s totally completely different and not the same at all.
I feel like I’m more talented at painting than I ever was at drawing. With drawing i get an idea of what I want to draw and 99% of the time it doesn’t turn out how I wanted it. It’s usually ok anyway after changing the plan countless times and cutting corners and cheating, and everybody looks at it and says it’s great, but what they don’t see is the hours of frustration and resignation in the drawing. That’s what I see. You see a picture of a pretty girl wearing a nice dress and I see the feet I erased a thousand times before giving up and just covering them with a longer dress. I see the eyes that I wanted to be looking at the viewer but I couldn’t get them to match so I resigned myself to making them point sideways. I see the staff I wanted to put in her hand but couldn’t get the arm right, and the background that never will happen because why do I even try at this point? It’s frustrating.
With painting I can get an idea of what I want and even if it doesn’t turn out how I wanted it still turns out amazing. When I make mistakes, instead of the mistakes turning into disproportioned feet or a rock that looks like a deflated beach ball, my mistakes kinda make the painting better. Accidentally making a sunset red instead of orange doesn’t ruin anything. And these paintings can be hung on my walls, or given as gifts. They impress people even more than my drawing, even though I’ve practiced far less. I only have 10 colors in the cheapest brand Walmart had available, a few paintbrushes, and some cardboard instead of canvas, but it’s enjoyable and rather than being frustrating and disappointing like drawing, it’s satisfying and makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something.
Ok I’m done here.
-Beatrice
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