Art & Fear

Airborne

Solid Ground

I've not read the popular Art & Fear, which sounds as if it helps artists overcome interior mental and emotional obstacles to making art. Since my sketches are kept in an illustrated journal, as a personal record, I've not been inhibited by fear of creating them.
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I've been more interested in art as an aid to coping with negative emotions: fear, sadness, anger, or stress. Drawing the cabin of the airplane, above, turned my focus outward for a few minutes, during a recent plane flight. The physical movement of my eyes and hand anchored my thoughts, and pushed fears of  flying to the side.

When you're looking for a job, the people of the world are divided into two groups: employed and unemployed. When you're in great pain, people are either pain-free or they're not. When you're airborne and afraid of flying, people are either in the air or on the ground.  This post documents my grateful transition from group one to group two, in the latter case.
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In the lower drawing, I focused on the interesting pattern in the rock wall of the terrace overlooking Red Rocks Park in Colorado. The architects did a wonderful job allowing historical structures of the region to influence their use of local materials in creating the hardscape of the park.

I found the Colorado hills and mountains especially interesting because I have watched both Gay Kraeger and Shari Blaukopf draw them in their Craftsy classes (which I recommend).
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Both of these sketches ended up with several layers of different media, applied over several days. Re-working helped process connected emotions and re-live enjoyment. Enhanced memory is one of the benefits of keeping an illustrated journal. Drawing fixes experience in the mind more securely than does pressing the button of a camera.
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If you are interested in Craftsy classes, and are on a budget, keep your eyes open for a holiday sale over Thanksgiving weekend, on either Black Friday or Cyber Monday. You will find discounts on individual classes and on the monthly or annual Bluprint subscription (full access to all classes).