The Sketchbook Challenge

The art of writing is the art of discovering what you believe. Gustave Flaubert

 

Hello world!

This time I come back with a huge project. The Sketchbook Project Limited Edition. Click on the link to check out the website and take a look at all the artists that are actually part of this project and others.

What is the project about? You sign up and get a sketchbook in the mail, fill it up with sketches or paintings/drawings, whatever you please to do; send it back to them at the Brooklyn Library in New York and they exhibit your sketchbook. They will store it as another book in the library, and they will have it there for people all around to see it. You get an email every time someone has viewed your sketchbook. Isn’t that cool? Yep! Even more cool is that this time around, the Limited Edition means it will also be added to the first volume of a series of books that will be published showcasing all the artists that have participated on this project over the years!… oh yeah because they don’t just do this one time, they do this every year!!! O: wow… if you are interested in being part of one of the projects, by all means visit their website. They have many different projects that you can join, and you don’t have to be a professional artist, that is the best part.

Okay so why do I name it “The Sketchbook Challenge” ? That my friends… I ONLY HAVE LESS THAN TWO WEEKS TO MAIL IT BACK! and I have only filled up to six pages out of 30… yeah, I know… only happens to me. No! wait, not only me. My friend Maya Doan is also participating on the project and although she seems to be more disciplined than I am, she is also running against time in this wonderful adventure.

Here are a few pictures of what the sketchbook looks like, although I have completely rebound mine with new paper, added more pages, and made it leather bound for more durability. I will show pictures of how it looks in the next post 😉

We only have 12 days to go, so here is what we have done so far:

These are Maya’s art work (10pages). She is amazing with details. I love her style. 🙂

This is what I have done (4pages):

This is it for now. Im currently working on my next sketch. I already have it all sketched out and only need to add the color… that is the hard part. I will be posting every night with progress of the challenge… wait for it! 🙂

My Starting Point

“Yesterday I wanted to rant, or more like pour out my thoughts here. Your post lifted my spirit; it made me laugh aloud like crazy. Suddenly I felt, I was not so lonely anymore, and I’m sorry for being selfish. It is somewhat cowardly to amuse myself with your frustration, for that I apologize.
Today, my frustrations have come back. I want to put it in writing, maybe it will sink in… you know? Get some sense of worth.
He said there is no such thing as “waiting for inspiration”. The action of doing something will bring inspiration. There must be a starting point; no matter how unappealing, it will surely become something greater. That creativity lives in the here and now, that it is born from simplicity, that it feeds from certainty and control; but I must get rid of all judgment in order to keep it. I must take a route and be willing to depart from it.
I’m standing on a starting point, but…. Where is my willingness? Why am I so obstinate to think I need to wait for it? And why am I so wretched? To all these things I knew the answer, but still, I chose to be weak minded. I thought (if I’m permitted to use your word) I had been abandoned, but as it turns out, I am the one that has abandoned…”

I wrote this in a rant thread, I have been away from my blog far too long.

Recently I have come to a starting point, but don’t know how to follow the road: 

Sketch of The Forest Witch

Sketch of Jo (I had initially named him Yo, but then thought Jo would be a better name. I know it sounds unbelievable, but there are actually names like "Yo" and "Jo" out there)

The Start Of Something New

It would not be fair to say there is no tradition in my culture… none whatsoever! Because every culture has a tradition, the problem is whether we try to maintain it or not.

I find, there is a little bit of contradiction in everything I face. Perhaps because I am not an agreeable person… maybe I’m just throwing things out there! Who knows? Truth is, our traditions are dying very slowly. And to find the cause of this would be hard since its not one thing, but it varies within culture, families, and ultimately, it varies within the individual. For example, in Cuba my mother’s generation and generations before my mother’s were able to enjoy of the holiday religious traditions; Christmas, The Three Wise Men (as it was our Spanish heritage), Easter… after Castro went into power, he started getting rid of all of those things. My generation grew up without Santa Claus, and I didn’t even know there were three wise men until I was able to understand what that meant. My mom tried to keep a little mystery in my life, there was at least the tooth fairy, only that for a Cuban child the fairy was more in the form of a mice and it would pay me 25 cents for my tooth, I liked that part. It’s not that I am a religious person, and that I spend my hours at church, but keeping those traditions would have made me appreciate them more now. I live in this country, where we still cultivate those particular holiday traditions and I really could care less. Now, don’t get me wrong! My mother makes sure I go to her house for Thanksgiving, and that I do something for Christmas, at least that. New Years is for parties and couples she says, and if I wish to stay home and cry buckets because I miss the good old times -and what better time to remember than the last day of the year- she will call me at midnight and wish me good year!

I think about this, and maybe it might not seem like a big deal at this moment, but when you start incorporating small details into a bigger picture you will find that it plays a big role in the making of an individual. It has a lot to do with how we see the world and how we treat it, and how we treat others around us, ultimately these things will make us who we are. Keeping tradition is important, this I have learned. But making new traditions is also a good way of passing down good morals and values, perhaps a smarter way of teaching the new generation since the world changes and we can’t stay in one place in time forever, but we have to accept that we most go on with the world until it is our time to pass down what we have learned from it. So I say that for today, I have learned I must accept changes and try to cope with them while keeping my old ways, somehow incorporate the old with the new. I will search for my lost traditions,and I believe I will definitely find most of them, if not all. But I will also make new ones, together with friends and family.

And at the risk of sounding cheesy -I’m afraid I already have- I will start by bringing back the essence of a friendship in the form of a tradition, or a new tradition just formed right now, as it has been our sort of ritual -my friend’s and mine-  to express our feelings through drawings or writing as a way of communicating to one another instead of talking… perhaps a little far-fetch for the start of a “new” tradition. But I cannot change the world, I can only change myself and those around me.

"Our Friendship" Ink

Art For The Curious

 

Because every place may be a gallery

martes 2 de noviembre de 2010

Art for the curious is about to begin!

Art for the curious is about to begin!
Are you an artist looking for places to show your work? Are you tired of participating in exhibitions at art galleries where there is a limited audience?

Then, Art for the Curious is for you! We are looking for artists who want to present their work in an innovative way. We propose appealing to the curiosity of a broader audience by interacting directly with viewers on the streets of Downtown Miami in order to receive immediate feedback about your artwork. Be part of the event and use the curiosity of people as a medium to expose your talent.

Imagine a hundred artists taking over Downtown Miami with their art in hand!

If you want to be part of this event just send us a picture of your artwork to artforthecurious@yahoo.com and wait more details.