Christopher Beaven
Washington
After 3251 days straight (9 years) of consistent creation I identify as an unstoppable daily creator. Now I want to show others how to do the same.
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Christopher Beaven
added comment inPortrait: Sullustan TIE Pilot (Graphite & Digital)
2yr
Wow! That looks fantastic! Great job, All the hard work you put into this has really paid off. Keep going with these, the more you do the more you learn.
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My latest painting! It's called "The Passage"
You can see it on my website here: https://chrisbeaven.com/painting/the-passage/
Tell me what you think. I"m focusing on story within an epic landscape.
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I hid a skull in my self portrait , if you hold it up to the light it shines through. I can't post videos on here otherwise I would.
Christopher Beaven
2yr
Fantastic idea!
2yr
It's all about addressing and resolving the emotions that brought me to the low place. Granted I have cPTSD (among other things) and thus am more "screwed up" than many people, but I still think that to get far with art study we all have to have something supporting us emotionally. What that looks like will vary from person to person but for me it's laying out a clear path to follow, knowing what "good enough" is so I know when to move on, being organized and knowing exactly what I want to work on when, having somebody approachable to critique my work, and probably most important having somebody safe that can lift me back up when things get rough and I fall apart.
This is what sustainable art-study looks like for me. How about you? Have you considered the emotional side of things? Figured out anything yet about what helps or hinders you?
YES! Good enough! I really like the book Effortless by Greg McKeown. In it he talks about defining done. What does done look like for me each day? It's how much I can do in one day to keep my energy high for the long term. It's so easy to go way beyond that and do too much then burn out. Now I plan for the long haul.
I have figured out that if I try to do too much, with art and work, that I get stressed and it's the stress that kills my mood and brings on the dark emotions. Social media as well. I try to stay away from social media, news and all that as much as I can.
I also practice lots of self care. 10 hours in bed for 8 hours of real sleep, Mindfulness practices every day. Exercise every day and getting out into the mountains once a month. These are what keeps me with almost no stress, happy and always helping others in a good mood.
Thanks for sharing!
Your daily art log is an impressive journal, @Christopher Beaven, and I'm especially amazed by the writings in each post - you've not only been making art, but also taking time to reflect on your journey day after day. This certainly shows how much you care for this path you've been creating for yourself.
In this particular painting from March/22 which you've attached here, I found it interesting how the brushwork on the figure seems kind of "Van-Gogh-y" when zoomed in, with the small strokes following longer wavy gestures across the forms.
Also, I'm intrigued by what you've written here: what exactly do you mean when you say you "put a purpose behind your work"? Why was that only in 2018, not before? And how exactly do you figure it helped you reach a new level in your art skills?
Just curious! :)
Yes! It's very influenced by Van Gogh but I'm trying to take it a step further.
In 2018 I entered into a lot of personal development, physically and mentally. One of the most impactful exercises I did was to figure out my "big why", my purpose for doing art, what I'm on this planet to do. Getting clarity there has sent my motivation and focus through the room. I'm working on a script for my next video right now that talks about a system to do this full of practical tools.
Before this I was just making art for art sake. Just painting to paint. To get better in some way. But now I have a purpose beyond that. I still work on my skills but now my art is focused on helping other artists become better versions of themselves.
Before 2018 I was motivated, but I was still playing video games, wasting a lot of time, only doing my minimum most of the time. After going through the Optimize.me program that really ignited my passion for learning plus I discovered that my kidneys were failing and I needed a transplant. It was a full year. I was confronted with a massive library of personal development wisdom plus mortality. My life changed drastically.
This helped me to reach the next level because I had skill, I was doing art, but it was just for me, and the body of work had no focus. Now my art is for me plus others, and the body of work is centered around that.
Hope that explains it well. I'm excited for my next YT video I think it delivers the idea better.
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2yr
What I do is put a new sheet of paper or layer over my drawing, and sketch over it until it starts to make sense why it sucks. I learned this working in animation, whenever something wasn't working, you just keep putting a new sheet over your drawing until it works. If that doesn't work, I give it a day and look at it with fresh eyes. Often the answer slaps me in the face like it was obvious the whole time.
Also, I cry a lot.
Haha! I understand the crying part, LOL. Wonderful Idea I've never heard of that but it makes total sense. Wonderful practical tool!
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How my art has improved over the past 9+ years2yr
For the past 9 plus years I've been doing art every single day. Today is day 3541. I'm approaching 10 years straight and I'm looking back at how my art has improved.
The biggest improvement I've seen is with my figures because I've focused on that most. But it reached a whole new level in 2018 when I put a purpose behind my work. It's the purpose that has given me more passion and drive to go beyond the traditional and come up with my own voice.
You can see my journey here: https://chrisbeaven.com/daily-art/
I've logged all 3451 days so others can benefit. Enjoy! :)
Especially the hundreds of really bad drawings and paintings, haha!
2yr
I forgot to add what I do...
This happens to me a lot! When I'm so frustrated with my art and the inner voice says how much I suck I either switch to another piece I'm working on for a bit and come back to this one later or I remind myself that all my art has these points when it sucks. When it doesn't look quite right at all. Soon it passes through that stage in to better territory. But I always keep moving forward and doing something. Even if I hate my art so much that I paint over it. That has happened quite a few times as well.
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Hate your art? What do you do?2yr
When you're frustrated or hate the art you're working on, what do you do? Let me know I want to see how other artists deal with it.
