“ It’s easy to just float away into the cosmos if you don’t have your 3-year-old throwing soup at you at the restaurant!”  -Nelly Futardo

I don’t listen to alot of music.

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State of the art

Some people alter their state of mind with chemistry. Another way to do it, Is to sit by the ocean.

The Ocean infront of you, people on your far left and right sharing the moment in silance. An ant having a feast on your crumbs. It’s mind boggling. It’s beautiful.

Jesus prayed (hey it’s Sunday), “May they be One, Just as we are One”

• 2 yuppies step out of their car, stand and watch the sea.
• An old man sits doing tai chi movements as he watches the sea
• a young couple are shooting their wedding photos
• an old couple are watching them
• crumbs fall from a breakfast sandwich
• an ant gathers the giant piece of food from the sky
• fisherman go out to sea
• 2 yuppies get back into the car and drive off
• waves hit the shore
• it starts to drizzle ever so lightly
• a road sweaper sweeps the road.

There is no I, only WE, and we are ONE.

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State of the artist

See I told you, sit by the Ocean, it will blow your mind.

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Epilogue

Making art, is like the 2 ‘states’ above. In the making ther is no “I”, the mind is caught up with other things. Once the work is done, (especially if it’s good work) the “I” returns to take credit.

I couldn’t resist.

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I want to go for dinner. I want to watch the football match. I want to go home and hang out with my family. I want to call my girl. I want to paint some more. I want to take a bath. But so little time.

Soon i’ll be in bed. And then 1 last day. No sweat.

Available in 5 colours. The fridge, not the art (hmmm).

Anyway, to my family: I’ll be home late today;)

One copy of the Digital painting above will be printed onto a piece of Bristol Board as an Artist trading card (ATC). Then I will destroy the source file. It will be the only copy. It will be given to a 30DA reader.

This is a detail of a painting I made digitally, using A Wacom tablet and Adobe Photoshop.

Signing up for 30DA is a sure way of getting yourself in a mess. It is committing to do 40 paintings in 30 days. Hard to back out once you’ve started.

Because

1. your progress and dedication is recorded online for people to see. And will remain there
2. because people who know and respect will be checking back everyday to see how you’re doing.

So here I am, on a Saturday, a local public holiday with numbers to make up. Having some of the best fun that a person could have alone. I have just discovered a secret about 30day artist, which I shall not reveal here.

But I will tell you the outcome of the secret, and it is that,

If you accept this challenge and attempt to make 40 works of art in 30 days, it will make you a better artist. Most of the 40 works you produce in that time, may or may not be very good. But regardless, you will become a better artist. I’ve you have taken the challenge, then I will share the secret with you.

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ps:My camera is out of juice, so you’ll have to wait till tomorrow, or at least later today to see more photos.

pps:I have printed out the full version of the artwork above as an ATC (artist trading card) and destroyed the original file. Making it one of a kind. The ATC is printed on imported Bristol Board. I will make at least another 7 unique ATC’s and give them out to 30da readers.

David, in my opinion is the most influential living artist today.

David is also the artist who influence me the most. My whole course as a painter was set, after looking at one of David’s paintings.

 I have 9 paintings to go, to make 40. I will make 40. Stick around, and you might get a couple of token artworks, free. As in: IRL* ( the first of these token artworks goes to the 1st person to tell me David’s full name in the comments below)

*IRL

in real life.

Title: Abstract 30DA2707 Size: 12×12″ Medium: Oil on Canvas

Title: Prague Size: 12×12″ Medium: Oil on Canvas

 I started this run, just happy to be in the studio. Happy to paint. Then i made a couple of paintings that I thought were good. And that gave me pressure to ‘keep it up’ and that took away some of the pleasure of painting.

 Like many good things, painting, I think is best enjoyed, slowly.

And at this point, and for this run, I’m painting for pleasure. I remember this with 3 days to go. I will enjoy them.

 Progress.

Title: Page 68 and 75 (Going Places Magazine) Medium: Oil on Canvas

I’ve only scratched the surface, on what I’d like to do with ‘Paintings from Glossy Magazines’. But even a scratch in the right direction is progress. It’s a good thing artistic progress happens in Jumps, not small increments.

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Title: Random Farmer   Medium: Oil on canvas

Title: Damn you all! Medium: Oil on canvas

I did not paint today. Those 2 paintings were painted 2 days ago. The first is a painting of a random farmer. The second is from the 300, graphic novel. It is the scene where the deformed outcast, turns traitor.

I did not paint today. Instead I did other things. Like sleep. And watch TV. things that people do when they are not painting. And just some of the things some people sacrifice, in order to paint. I watched ‘The Avatar’ on DVD with my youngest sister.

—-> click for video

The episode I watched was set in an autumn forest. And the art was just amazing. Painted backgrounds with cell shaded characters. The backgrounds were beautiful. And each scene was so interesting and well thought.

I was impressed how animators used simple iconic visuals juxtaposed with painted backgrounds to create mood and clarity.

2 Questions.

1.Will paintings ever reach the heights of Saturday morning cartoons as an art form?

(if any of you choose to answer this question, try to answer it in the form of a discussion, instead of using a ‘my view stands and the rest is borrocks approach tq)

2.Has anybody been counting? What is X. in (x/40 paintings)