September 19, 2010
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Yes, But is it Art? Gallery post
A POOR ATTEMPT AT PORTRAITURE (edited)
There's a reason why I call myself a "failed artist." I showed lots of promise when young, but didn't follow my muse, and drew very few real pictures throughout my life. Even then, I'm best at "cartooning" and not real portraiture or detailed drawing. I can't paint at all and never tried. Just for comparison, my friend Kat (betrayed1959) is a true artist. Some excellent examples of her work can be found HERE.
After almost 20 years of not drawing at all, I recently picked up a pencil. The portrait above took a while to do. Well, maybe 90 minutes. Not really all that long, in the scheme of things. It's supposed to be my Xanga crush, Sean (hilaw) and while I'm seeing definite problems, perhaps it isn't all that bad for insertion into a blog entry. The photograph is HERE.
Drawing exotic, pretty women isn't easy. Any small mistake can ruin the portrait forever. I made a lot of erasures, and while I think perhaps the lines are well drawn, her eyes, while large and wide apart, and one of the things which makes her so beautiful, are probably a tad too far apart here. The nose might be off a slight bit too. This is one of the most beautiful women on Xanga, so it is with great trepidation that I even attempted this. (Sean, please forvige me.)
But hey, I haven't done this in a while, and I draw with my left hand, which doesn't have a lot of feeling left due to nerve damage. This is pencil and charcoal on paper, and photographed rather than scanned into the digital medium. I have a pretty good editing program. I could have scaled the drawing to the photograph in onionskin mode and "fixed" it, but I didn't. I accomplished this the old fashioned way, by looking at the photograph (not pinned to an easel, but displayed on my monitor) while holding the sketch pad and drawing using analog methods. (pencil on paper, pure and simple)
Each time I present "failed art" here on my blog, I cringe a bit. I'm ready for all sorts of criticism. I know I'm not that good. (I can't sing either, but that doesn't stop my music blogs.) I'm a writer first and foremost, but art is in my blood.
I promised Sean a "surprise" and I'm tagging her (and also Kat, my "real" artist friend, who could take the photo and make it so realistic you'd think you were looking at the photo!) Sean herself is a fantastic artist. I've only seen the drawing of her grandmother HERE but she's got more artistic soul in her little finger than I have in my whole hand. (And can probably feel it too.!)
Well, here goes, Xanga. Top blog? Or trashcan? You decide!
More examples of my poor drawing skills can be found HERE on the "Yes, But is it Art? Gallery" and HERE is a portrait of the late Xanga poet Terry Cuthbert from 2005.
EDIT: 9/20/10 5:30 a.m. pdt. I just wrote this in a reply comment below: I'll have to add an edit (or perhaps this reply comment will suffice), since this entry is now on top blogs, and more people I don't know will prolly be showing up and telling me the drawing is good. I throw around the phrase "failed artist" a lot. I also left links to my "Yes But Is It Art? Gallery" where I showcase my photocomposites, early drawings, and explain my philosophy of art. I'm 57, and have been drawing since I was about 5. I just had a 20 year hiatus is all. While I never have any trepidation about posting prose, poetry, photography, or my MikeVideos, which I've been creating for over 20 years, I'm just a bit shaky when it comes to re-aquainting myself with drawing. I do appreciate the feedback and the constructive criticism. If you subscribed, thank you so much. I've been offering my creative side on Xanga for almost 7 years now, and after nearly 6 months without her, my muse has lately been shouting at me! Below I post some early drawings of mine. MFN/ppf
" Still Life With Bong" 1977
"Geri" unfinished portrait 1982
Comments (75)
I knew who it was before I read the blog, so that's at least one point in your direction. I liked the shading, and I think you captured her lips perfectly, which is wonderful because they're one of her most attractive and unique features. So that's three. Three points for you, sir! And to answer your question, YES. It is art.
Hey I recognized who it was right away, so you did something right then!
I think it's pretty nice. It's a lot better then I can draw people.
Even a splatter of paint on paper can be considered artistic. Art has many definitions. Don't limit yourself to just one. So, yes. I would call this art.
@quodmenutriut - @Shining_Garnet - @queenof__hearts - I'm always deliberately modest. If I said I was teriffic, I'd just be bragging. Queen, you're describing Pollack! "Art exists". The artist only peels away the layers to show us where it was hiding. If you are interested, my "philosophy of art" can be found HERE. Thank you all for the compliments. I just hope Sean isn't embarrassed. Me.
Mike
You should never ever call yourself a failed artist. You are an excellent artist. Art comes in many forms. Mine tends to be hyper realistic. That doesn't make me an especially good artist. It makes me a good copier of other art or pictures. The true artists are those who can design and set up art. Your photography can easily qualify you as one of the most talented artists I have known. Add to that your skill in writing and organizing music and you are truly a talented artist. Thank you for the kudos on your site. It is always wonderful to see something like that. I hope that you continue with your drawing. You have so much talent in so many areas. I hope to see more of your work for many years to come.
Thank you for being my Xanga friend.
Hugs
Kat
Much better than I could do!
wow, thank you for this, mike. i so appreciate it because i'm always the one drawing others. i'm also fattered as hell. only my daughter has ever drawn me, and now you. this is great. really. i love it. i will save it, if you don't mnd. keep on drawing. you're not a failed artist at all. no siree bob.
@hilaw - Ah, I can now get off the puter and go watch Boardwalk Empire. I'll sleep lots better tonight now that I've seen your comment. And you recced, too! (My heart....) I'd love to see more examples of your drawings. You're not only good looking. (I could swim in your eyes) but you're one of the most multitalented people I've ever met. I hope your hubby appreciates who he shares his life with. Love, Me.
I recognized this pic immediately! That means it's art! Nice job! I used to draw back in HS. I still have my artwork...well back at home at my parents house in LA. I was told I was pretty good even though I thought I wasn't. I was always interested in drawing fantastic artwork like the ones I'd find in some of the comic books I read. I still have an interest in doing so. It's been a long time since then but I think I may take it up as a hobby again one day soon.
This is a good start. You could try less linework and concentrate on developing a style to suit your abilities. I have a very unsteady hand so I use bold swift strokes much like the Japanese ink paintings. I found that if I started to 'labour' at the linework, I would lose it totally.
Good work!
@baldmike2004 - aww gee thanks again. sleep well
the mister saw it and thinks it prettty darn good.
You're not a failed artist at all and like everything else art is something that takes practice. I knew a kid in middle school who could draw anything exactly as it looked and in great detail. It was uncanny. We all ooh'd and ahhh'd anything he drew. We all thought he was a natural to be an artist yet he couldn't draw anything imaginative or from his fantasy. Still he was great at what he could do.
nice tribute to another xangan you so obviously have a crush on. i could see you getting quite good the more you would draw, as you are talented.
I think its really nice. I wish I could draw that good. Very nice.
I very much agree with the school of thought of Pollack..."Art exists!". I don't know this person from Adam, as I am rarely on Xanga anymore, and it's even more rare for me to comment. But I am very drawn to this portrait. I love the lips, especially. I can see that some things are askew slightly when I really look for it, but they don't bother me. They add to it, in my opinion. There is something akin to Egon Schiele in it. What this drawing has that can not be taught is...soul. I think you should keep drawing, Mike! Bravo!
@Gaijinsays - @TheSutraDude - @bluepillorredpill - I'll have to add an edit (or perhaps this reply comment will suffice), since this entry is now on top blogs, and more people I don't know will prolly be showing up and telling me the drawing is good. I throw around the phrase "failed artist" a lot. I also left links to my "Yes But Is It Art? Gallery" where I showcase my photocomposites, early drawings, and explain my philosophy of art. I'm 57, and have been drawing since I was about 5. I just had a 20 year hiatus is all. While I never have any trepidation about posting prose, poetry, photography, or my MikeVideos, which I've been creating for over 20 years, I'm just a bit shaky when it comes to re-aquainting myself with drawing. I do appreciate the feedback and the constructive criticism. If you subscribed, thank you so much. I've been offering my creative side on Xanga for almost 7 years now, and after nearly 6 months without her, my muse has lately been shouting at me!
@juneblue - Dear Miriam, I love it when "voices from the past", especially those of "true artists" come calling on my Xanga. I shall have to make a return visit forthwith. I mixed my wording in the reply comment above. I don't think Pollack ever said "art exists". I just compared what a commenter said about "splatter of paint on a canvas" as Pollack's style. I write that "art exists", constantly. It's one of my homilies. I believe it was Michelangelo who first described the concept that the statue was already in the marble, and the artist merely freed it from it's prison by chiseling it out.
@baldmike2004 - Sounds very cool. A real renaissance man and a breath of fresh air.
Portraits are so hard; it's hard to capture the thing that really animates the person, besides the straight representation of the relationship of chin to nose to eye, etc.
As far as "failed" artist, I say that doesn't exist. Everyone has a voice - everyone has art. If it speaks to anyone, even if just to the person who created it, it is art.
I think I'm a failed artist too. I have started drawing at 6 and painted at 17. Now, here in Bangkok I tried it again just for fun after I stopped painting many years ago. I used water color and mostly I used pastel. Lately, after my ex broke up with me, I stopped painting and junked my unfinished painting (which is supposed my gift for him) in my closet. I lost all the inspirations now to paint and I think I feel I failed. I don't know when my aspiration to paint rekindle. Only time can tell.
You have good drawing, Mike. I don't know how to paint portrait. I do only based on my feelings and imagination. Mostly I painted nude paintings because it amaze me to paint human body with all its beauty and grace.
Keep on painting and drawing, Mike. I'll will do it again too. Cheers!
Your way better at drawing than me. I wish I could draw, so I could pursue a job in graphic design, but I'd fail at the drawing courses required and not pass the portfolio review into the program.
I think you did a great job! And you had a very beautiful subject! She is gorgeous and a great artist, too.
Keep drawing, Mike, and keep sharing your work with us! 
Creative people tend to be too hard on themselves and their work. Those of us who are not so creative, we can see the work without such a critical eye and we can and do enjoy it!
HUGS!
nice..yep way better than me. have a great day
When I was younger, I was good at art and sports, but all ability is a sin. I had a teacher draw on top of my painting for no reason, and from there, I kind'of quit because she wouldn't leave me alone like every other psycho on this planet.
I started painting again when I was in the army, I painted a little bit. I was okay. I used bright colors to add more detail onto my boring prints, and I've found a lot of people do the same thing. Bright colors hurt my eyes.
Do what you like. It isn't like you are trying to make money off of it, so it isn't vain.
You're very good. I been trying to get back into it as well, but I hate to say it - these days I suck. :p
Drawing people is pretty tricky but, you've done well. Keep at it Mike.
I am sort of in the same boat - didn't draw for almost 30 years but as soon as I woke up, came out of the coma all I wanted to do was draw while I was recovering. I need to get off my ass and get at it - maybe give Sticky a break too. I'm sure he's sick of my crazy BS by now. :)
DUDE, if I can look at a picture you drew, a portrait, and know exactly who it is instantly, you are totally underrating your artistic ability. ToTALLY
Hi Mike, you should never call yourself a failed artist. I think this is really good!
I'm esp drawn to the hair~ the texture looks pretty realistic. Well done~
The only thing I've ever drawn are horses and trees, in my youth You've inspired me to give it a shot, here in my forties.
I think your drawings are as good as or better than many carictatures I have seen. I think caricatures are a valid art form as well. I don't think you're a failed artist. I just think you haven't utilized that talend as much as your other talents. Well, you have so many talents.
In my childhood I liked to draw; but I was pretty much limited to the human figure, which I learned from my mother. I have drawn from friend's photos and 2 of them turned out well, I thought. I never showed them to the subjects, though. I have not tried drawing anything for several years.
Would like to see more of your art here.
~~Blessings 'n Cheers
Some people call it cheating, but I think it's a normal tool to use: tracing paper. Portrait trick - Blow up the source image to desired size, trace essential lines, transfer to paper. It takes some skill to do it well and certainly doesn't guarantee a good finished product. It just takes some time and sweat out of dealing with some of getting the outlines just right if you don't have a natural hand for it.
Nice job.
wow nice pic of hilaw!
These are great.
I especially love "Still Life With Bong."I spent a couple summers of my youth dabbling in acrylic and oil - it was fun, but not quite that promising. I still look back at sketches in ballpoint pen - mostly doodles - on placemats and math homework that I saved.
Hi there! I was led here by your LOLCat plugz (which is awesome, by the way). I don't think you're a failed artist at all! You can draw flesh-and-blood human beings quite well. I'm limited to stick figures.
Alas, you're confusing
ART
with photogragphy
Your first portrait has hints of Modigliani and a bit of Chagall's drawings...and whilst i i think that Dali is the greatest artist EVER because HE can be both photographic AND abstract, art is a subset of beauty, therefore, in the eye of the beholder
Like YOU, i squandered away a lot of early talent RE: painting...but now i'm back after quarter of a century, and my current reincarnation has gone from Dali-esque to really DARK unstarrry night Pollock-atures
@DickDoktorII - Dear Steve, Your comic style reminds me of someone, but I can't put my finger on it. I very much loved Zap comix in the 60s. R Crumb is my hero. Somebody earlier gave me some constructive criticism to "develop a style to suit my abilities". That's when I added the edit.So many are telling me "not to call myself a failed artist." I think I've explained it pretty well. After drawing since I was a child, and creating some really good stuff (and developing a style), I stopped drawing altogether. If I were "successful" at it, I would have kept up with it. I still don't think my present ability matches what I've been able to accomplish in the past.
@Diva_Jyoti - Dear Allison, I can brag about a lot of things, but I have been so neglectful of actually drawing, esp. since I got into digital art, that I really can't brag yet about my present abilities. I also am wont to say I'm creative but not talented, but people who read this blog regularly know I can, and have, done almost everything when it comes to writing, photography, video, and art. And even performance. I will brag that I'm an excellent dancer, and wait till you see my planned Lady GaGa mashup video. In any case, Sean hadn't seen the pic when I posted this, and I was afraid I didn't do her justice. She's an amazingly beautiful woman, you know. I'll draw you one of these days, m'dear. I'm only getting started (again.) Oh, and thank you for the encouragement.
@PaintingFl0wers - Dear Dawn, See my comments above, plus the edit. I called myself a "failed artist and writer" before the internet came along and I got online in 1999, creating my personal website, which, (ahem) I call my "electronic experiment in art." I found my writer's voice quite easily, but it's taking me a while to get back into the swing of actually drawing. Besides, I'm more of a cartoonist. I can charicature anyone, and people know exactly who it is. Photorealistic portraiture is another thing entirely. Thanks for the encouragement.
@WildWomanOfTheWest - Dear Tamy, I've wanted to try and get an "artist's community" together on Xanga. Art inspires art. It's like after I read a really good passage in a book, I've always been wont to take out a notebook and start writing myself. (Now it's a word processor, but you get the idea.) Go for it, gal. Yeeeehawwwww.
@DonnaLou - Dear Donna, When one falls off the horse, one should always get right back on. I was showing my sketchpads to a friend of mine the other day, and he told me my stuff was quite good. It made me ashamed that I haven't really engaged this "talent" as much. I've been promising myself I'd start sketching Xangans from their profile pics. Sean isn't a good place to start, cause as I've mentioned, she's quite a stunner, and it's sometimes easier to draw a grizzled old man (like me, and I've got tons of self portraits.
) than a beautiful woman. As I said above in an earlier reply, I'm good at charicature. I do consider myself a cartoonist, and have posted entries about this side of me.
@oceanstarr - Dear Ocean. I mention in the post how I could have cheated. And I do call tracing cheating. I have a pretty good eye, as you must know by looking at my photographs. I will acknowledge that even the great masters practiced a form of tracing in thier paintings, but they were projecting their own drawings on the walls they were muraling. I have a "natural hand" and it's been with me for 57 years. I just need to "exercise" it (not "exorcise" it LOL) a bit. Having all this positive feedback helps my muse, let me tell ya. I did "blow up" the source image to the size I drew her, BTW. It helps that I have a 32" HDTV as a computer monitor. Then I kept holding the drawing up to the screen. (no onion skin, as noted) to make sure the lines were in the right place.
@ourblasphemousrumors - Dear Mina, If I were giving away comment awards, you'd get the grand prize. "Still Life With Bong" (a bit worn out since it hung on my wall for a decade or so in one of my old apartments) is possibly my best and most favorite drawing. It took about a week to do. I especially like the crushed beer can, the baggie full of dope, and the ashtray. I also have a pretty neat "acid poster". I once tried to draw when messed up on LSD, it didn't work.
@AHardDaysWrite - Dear Emily, Well, thank you thank you thank you. You're my first commenter from my new "plugz". I just visited your site. Hitchcock is my favorite director. You're crossing out a list of the great movies, just like I did from a book I 'borrowed" from the library back in school. Now I think I own them all on DVD, tape, or laserdisc. I minored in film history at USC in the 70s and although I didn't meet him cause he already graduated, G. Lucas was about four classes ahead of me. I'm gonna have to mosey on over to your place right now m'dear. I sure hope you subscribed or at least befriended me. (BTW: I thought for a whole day that my plugz was going to be denied for "copyright" cause I used the actual "cheezburger" cat.
I actually have a fondness for the top picture. Could be that I wear my hair like that most of the time.
My favorite is Self Portrait 1983 I must admit some of the others were interesting but the Self Portrate is definately my number 1 pick
Dear Mike.
I agree totally with Kat and the other's who gave you positive feedback. I also think you are a pretty darn good artist!
Perspective.
From one Artist to another...
Beth
BTW, love the plugz!
After reading and seeing your post today I became a bit motivated, decided to do something tonight. (thanks)
I don't think a lot of my stuff is very good but the main thing is, I have fun doing it and it keeps me out of trouble. Funny thing - I don't even think about having a beer while I'm working on a pic!
@baldmike2004 - Sorry I didn't read terribly thoroughly. That was my bad. I wasn't feeling well last night but was trying to come in and see your work before I zonked out and guess I missed some of what you said.
I still don't think it's cheating, but if part of your purpose is to practice the natural hand for it, I understand.
@baldmike2004 - Fancy that! Hitchcock is my favorite director, too. I fell in love with his work while I was earning my Film minor. I'm interested in hearing more about your artistic endeavors, whether it be art or poetry, so - in the words of "I-Can-Has-Cheezburger" Cat - Im goin 2 subscribe 2 ur blogz.
Mike, the thing about drawing is that it doesn't have to be any particular way, other than the way you intend it. With careful observation and planning, adjustments and dilligence, any one can make a lifelike or photographic drawing. However it defeats the purpose of a drawing. The best drawings are an expression of the artist's vision, and his internal response to that vision. With practice comes a wider array of technical devices to draw from, but the heart of the drawing experience is as pure in a child's drawing as it is in the master's.
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