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8 Tips for finding your inner artist.

Mona Lisa's Hands

by Leonardo da Vinci

I recently joined a group that is exploring artistic expression, creativity, and spirituality.  Heavy words for a visual artist like myself. My group is full of really interesting, energetic people.  I can't wait to get to know them better.  I can't wait to see what happens as the weeks roll by. 

I want to offer up my best advice here and now before I really dig into this group and it warps me. I am hoping the group warps me, bends me, and my attitudes.  I am hoping for new ways of looking at old ideas.   I am hoping for progress and change. I am hoping to shed some cynicism I have about the label called "artist".

Here is where I am tonight with my thoughts on what it takes to get started finding your inner artist.  Some of you won't like these tips.  They are my very top tips learned from hard work and many failures on my part.  This is not a sugar-coated, feel good list of diddly poop to contrived to feed your artsy fartsy ego and keep you reading my blog.  I have finally grown out of that stage - I think.  (hee-hee) 

8 tips for finding your inner artist:    

1. Stop talking about being an artist.  Go make something. Every single human being is already an artist.  You are not special.  With practice, whatever you create just may indeed be special. 

2.  Learn to be alone with yourself.

3.  Be Quiet.  It is hard to create when one is continually talking. I would explain in further detail but then I would continue to talk to you and that is counterproductive to the entire idea of step 3.    :)    Be Quite.  Rinse and repeat.

4. Stop being cheap out and go buy a few of the tools you need to explore the mediums you are drawn to.  Later buy some more.  You can't learn unless you have at least some of the necessary tools for your medium.  It is especially difficult to learn to play a guitar without actually having access to a guitar.  And don't write to me about Playstation Guitar Hero or Wii -  you know what I'm talking about people !! 

5.  Make a conscious effort to see your habitat in a new way. If you usually look up, start looking down at small things.  If you usually look down at small things, look up at Grand things.

6. I am sick of hearing you don't have enough TIME.  Get real.  Every person on planet earth has exactly 24 hours in each day. If you consider yourself an adult, you should be able to manage your time by now.  Not having time to "make" and "do" things creative is a tired, worn out excuse that I am sick of hearing.  If you are busy, lower your expectations.  "Make" and "do" small creative works, jabbed here and there into your life in bits and pieces.  Save them to use later or combine them into larger works. 

7. Keep a journal, notebook, sketchbook, voice recorder, digital camera, iphone, ... WHATEVER to capture ideas.  Trust me, great ideas never come in a linear fashion during your predetermined "me" time.  Great ideas come in the middle of regular life and will soon be forgotten if you don't capture them. Learn to hold ideas hostage for another time and place.

8. There are no shortcuts.  Go. Do. Make. Learn. 




Gee, I sound like a know it all.  Actually I am not.  I  still feel like I have learned nothing about painting after many years of painting. This is yet another reason why I like to paint so much. I will try to do another top 7 list near the end of my group experience.  Here's hoping it is better, nicer, gentler, yet still honest.

coffee shops, art galleries, and funky neighborhoods in Edgewood District of Birmingham Alabama

Over the years I have developed a my own personalized method to finding unique corners in strange cities. I typically search for art galleries or coffee shops online before traveling. If the shops look shabby enough, you can almost always be guaranteed a unique neighborhood to wander around in.

I am a weekend traveler, so I have to pay careful attention to gallery hours, as most have shortened hours on Saturday and are closed on Sunday.

Note to Gallery owners: It sure is might be easier to sell art to "cultural tourists" if you are actually open during the times these people are off work and traveling. Ya think? Duh ! A lot of galleries don't seem to get this concept. I would have bought a willy-nilly-art-gadgety-gook thing if only I could have found a place that didn't close at 5pm on Friday. It is so hard for me to buy things by looking through the windows of a closed store. :)

So I find whatever the area has to offer that is also OPEN, I Google it, jot down a few address and plan to get lost. I refuse to buy Tom-Tom, Garmand, or any other helpful Henry computer Gadget for my car.

This weekend I am in Birmingham, Al for WordCamp blogging geek fest. I wanted to come early, hit the Forstall Art Supply Store, looking for Golden Airbrush Acrylic.

Find them on FB at at the Forstall Facebook Fanpage.

This is another story for another day - but no, I don't have an airbrush device. And yes, I want to use the airbrush pigment in my paintings thanks to great advice and inspiration from Patti Brady. See my book review about her post about her new acrylic book, Rethinking Acrylics.

OK, so back to Forstall - - a great store ! Although they didn't have airbrush acrylic paint/pigment, I was able to scored a little bottle of airbrush medium so I can mix up my own with the fluid acrylic that I already have in many, many colors. So I am all set for that. I love small art stores, owned by actual proprietors instead of corporations. I was able to meet the owner today, see some people playing in the back with encaustic wax paint, and met several of the employees who were ALL very nice.

I was happy to get the chance to chat with Micki Blackwell. I had read about her online, so it was was cool to talk to her. She told me a little bit about some clayboard work she had recently completed. Also we had a discussion about colored charcoal which is water soluble. Cool stuff indeed.

Micki is teaching a experimental drawing workshop tomorrow, Saturday, at Forstall. AND it is only $15 bucks including a free lunch !! If I wasn't in town for the sole purpose of my blogging geek fest, I would be taking this Draw Outside the Box workshop.

So, this meandering travel method I have invented led me to a leave Forstall and head to a place called Art Alley. Wonderful gallery, I am hoping to re-visit and inquire more about them.

I counted 28 galleries in the Birmingham brochure, though about 6 of these are weird things like museum gift shops, a chilli place, and some private artist studios that are open by appointment only. So at least 20 art galleries in the area that are open to the public and that actually sell art. I MUST come back here, and not on Sunday or Monday when all the galleries are closed.

My trip to Art Alley lead to me getting caught in an incredible traffic and pedestrian mess involving small residential streets and a middle school with lots of Volvo driving moms. After a few minutes of this, I abandoned my car in an alley and took off on foot back the main drag, called Oxmoor street.

One suburb iced vanilla latte whipped thingie later from Cool Beans and I was a entirely refreshed person.

I am searching now for the CoolBeans website takes me to a weird atheist activism site listed at the address of Cool Beans. Guess I was drinking some atheist coffee or something without knowing it.

Still tasted OK, although I have no faith in it. (just a pun, folks, don't go all weird on me about your personal religious beliefs.) I am going to discriminate here and NOT give you the link, ha-ha. You will have to Google Cool Beans Birmingham, AL yourself if you want to find the whacked out atheist site. You can go there and read about how the atheist feel discriminated against and what and who they are boycotting.

UPDATE: apparently the Cool Beans and Atheists don't get along. Cool Beans "kicked them out in 2005, old news now. Don't know the current status. too bad when you search Google for Cool Beans you get the Atheist site instead. Wonder if that was hacked or something? anyway, Special thanks to my Twitter Friend, MiscellaneaArts, for updating me with this info.

One of the best parts of this afternoon's diversion was getting a good look at some really cool, old apartments built to look like what I would call Shakespearean. I suppose the official word is Tudor, but that doesn't sound as good. Wish I could have snapped some pics of these flats, but alas, another Volvo Maniac Mommy was behind me. I don't think she would have tolerated my random U-turn to snap pics from the car since she had several stinky, sweaty teenage boys stuffed in the car with book-bags and soccer balls and arms hanging out the windows.

So now I have shared my afternoon with you in a nice little, meandering summary. I have even spiffed it up with hyper-links to all the cool places I found in the Edgewood District today in Birmingham, Alabama. And to think, before today, I sort of didn't like Alabama. Goes to show ya.

September's Promo Painting: Goliath Tree 78% off

Here is my selection for September's Promotional Painting.

Goliath Tree, the last of my Urban Tree Series Paintings. I have been very blessed to have sold all the other pieces in this series except one of the large paintings, which I am going to keep for myself.

I don't plan on painting any more of these, but I am certain I will return to painting trees again. Right now I have been busy with some city-scapes and modern face/portrait paintings.








Title: Goliath Tree
Acrylic on 1.5 in Gallery Wrap Canvas.

18"h x 24"
Gallery Price: $350.
September PROMO PRICE: $99.00.

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Tips to stop acrylic painting from drying too fast

If you are an acrylic painter, you know that drying time can be a real issue. Either the paint is drying too fast, or too slow, but it rarely seems to be the perfect drying time to suit your needs.

For me, I want to extend the drying time on the palette, and shorten the drying time on the canvas. Yeah, I like it like that.




To shorten acrylic drying time on the canvas I either use a hairdryer, from a distance, on COOL, or work two paintings at once. While one dries, I work on the other one. I also like what is "does" for my work. Switching gears somehow keeps my work more spontaneous and less planned, which is just how I like it. (stop now, and watch video if you have time. -- Life is short, inject salsa music into it when possible.)

There are numerous ways to increase the acrylic open time on your palette.

What is Open Time for Acrylic Paint? Open time is the time the paint film remains open, or wet.

The Masterson Sta-Wet palette is a popular method for keeping your traditional acrylic paint from drying out.

Can't afford the Sta-Wet Paletter? Here are some great el cheapo alternatives to the Sta-Wet palette from the popular art blog, Empty Easel. Most of these EmptyEasel tips involve plates, sponges, tissues, spray bottles, plastic wrap, and other commonly found kitchen items. I will say from experience all of this leads to one thing in the Deep South. STINK.

It doesn't take long, even in the air conditioning, for a wet palette to start smelling sour. Ever forget to put your clothes in the dryer? Open the washer the next day? Same concept here with the wet sponges and wet paper towels. I'm just sayin..... most of the people who use these things don't live in South Georgia.

But if you are an acrylic painter, you gotta try the palette experience. Consider it a right of passage. You are not really an acrylic painter if you haven't opened up your air-tight plastic palette early one beautiful morning only to be confronted with the horrible, nauseating smell of the sour sponge.

Some people advise to put copper pennies in with your wet palette. I say to them, "you don't live in the South huh?"

Are Wet Palettes still not Open enough for you? Don't want to mess with yucky wet sponges, mold, and odor?

Several manufactures have come along with acrylic paint specifically manufactured with extra long open times. Of course, if you read my blog you know how I feel about Golden. (love, love, LOVE it) Golden's OPEN is formulated to stay wet on the palette several days without additional goop added to it.

Golden Open Paint didn't stay open that long in the full sun of South Georgia, so try to work in the shade if possible. Come to think of it, I didn't really stay open very long to the concept of sweating my butt off while painting in the full Georgia sun either.

Indoors or in the shade, I was pleased with the Golden Open products. But in complete honesty, I paint fast. So my painting techniques really don't require my paint to stay open quite that long. I still prefer with Golden Fluid Acrylics or traditional Golden Heavy Body paint.

But...... if you are a more traditional style painter or en plein air painter, you have GOT to try the OPEN products. This paint just might rock your world.

One observation from Cindy is that Golden OPEN doesn't behave well with soft brushes. Use the fake bristle brushes and you will do just fine though.

Another popular stay wet longer acrylic paint is Atelier Interactive Acrylic Paint.

I haven't tried them yet. I am challenged enough keeping up with all the Golden mediums and gels. I don't want to confuse my brain. But I hear they are decent and definitely worth a try if open time is an issue for you.

My last tip if you continue to have trouble with acrylic paint drying too fast is to quit your gripping and moaning and:

Switch to OILS.

I sort think painters make things too complicated with all the different products they use. I believe you should exploit each medium to suit your needs. The beauty of acrylics is that they dry fast. So paint fast with acrylics.

If you want dawdle around for days and days on a painting, blending the same area over and over, shading, re-working, use oils for goodness sake.

I know some of you will write about how oils are toxic and you are allergic and you can't use them. For those people, you have no choice but the acrylic paints with extended drying times. But is you want really long drying times, why not just use oil if you can?

• Oil painters, where do you stand on this?
• In love with acrylics and won't switch not matter what, I'd love to hear why.

Comments are welcomed here.

What is the deal with me and moons?

I have been working rather long days building a new website for a local newspaper, The Albany Journal. I have not been thinking about art since Monday. I had a critical issue with the site crashing on Tuesday that, although is now repaired, has kept me rather obsessively focused on the website.

So today I wake up, and guess what? The moons are back.

For anyone who follows my artwork, you know that moon paintings continue to be a dominant theme for me. This is unintentional. Consciously, I am not that into moons. I don't want to be known as the full moon painter.

I haven't felt my Moon Muse for months. I had thought that maybe I was finished with them. That maybe my moon phase was over and I would move on to something else artistically. I have been painting a lot of cubist, modern style FACES lately.

The meaning of the name Cynthia is From Kinthos

The origin of the name Cynthia is Greek

Notes: Title of the moon goddess. Cynthia Nixon, actress.

-- from BabyNames.com

But this morning, about 5am, the Moons came back. I am literally dying to get into the studio and paint some moon paintings while the are "still in there" rattling around inside me.

I am thankful for one thing. I have finally matured enough as an artist to accept these diversions.

I don't fight them anymore.

I just relax and enjoy them. So, yes, I have more computer work to do. But no, I am not going to do it right now. I am going to listen to my moon muse and get my full, white, round butt into the studio.

Self-Representing Artist Tips: Does your website make your customers jump through too many hoops?

Back in the day, the first chapter of any corporate customer service training manual spoke of how the customer is always right. Employees are there to serve the customer.

Ratchet up to 2009. The customer is not only right, the customer is not only king, the customer is dictator.

Many artist's websites seem to think their collectors, otherwise known in the business world as customers, should adhere to the artist's preference for communications and purchasing activities.

Most artist websites require the potential collector to email or call to purchase artwork, offering no online transaction capability. With such a website, the collector is required to take several additional steps in order to complete the transaction.

Make it easy to communicate with your customers

Some artists even require that a web customer fill out an online form just to send the artist an email. These forms got started a while back as a way to protect yourself from spam email.

Here's a tip folks, it is your job to protect yourself from spam. Don't punish your customer because you get too much spam, that is a cost of doing business on the Internet. If you don't like it, stop selling on the Internet. Don't ask your potential customer to fill in an clumsy email form in order to contact you. Most users will simple leave your website and never return.

Some artist websites don't even provide a street address, a mailing address, or a phone number. I like to know where the artist resides. What state do you live in? What city? How can I send you a snail mail? Are you even a real artist?

Get a PO BOX for heavens sake if you are worried about privacy. How can an artist expect to do business if they remain cloaked behind a curtain of mystery?

I doubt many customers will jump through all these hoops just to inquire about purchasing a piece of artwork. A paragraph on your website that says,

"If you have any questions, please email me..."

is NOT enough. Most web users will simply go on to a different site rather than exert the extra effort necessary to find out the details about purchasing the artwork.

Does your website require your customers to jump through your hoops?

Or do you jump through their hoops to make your customers happy by providing full and convenient service?

Do you require your customers to search through several pages of your website to find your contact information or do you provide this on each page on the sidebar or the footer?

Do you offer different ways of payment for your online customers?

All of the activities surrounding the business transaction of selling a piece of artwork take time, effort, and energy on the part of a self-representing artist.

If you don't want jump through hoops for your customer, I strongly suggest you stick to the gallery scene. You should consider a portfolio style website, which showcases your work, then directs the collector to the physical galleries that represent you.

Communicate and Collect Payment

You can't be all things to all people, but if you are an artist who wants to sell artwork on the Internet directly to your collectors; consider offering a variety of options and cross-listing on other art retail sites as well.



Additional Reading:

Here is some interesting reading about what happened to Yahoo because they began to require their customers to jump the Yahoo hoops. This article was my inspiration for today's post. Read: The real difference between Yahoo and Google.


Another article discusses the difference between paypal and Google Checkout: PayPal vs. Google Checkout and Why You Should Offer Both

author's note: You will notice that I only offer one payment option on my site, CindyDavisArt, which is paypal. I too am guilty of requiring my collectors to jump through a paypal hoop, although I do offer different options to originals through my affiliation with BoundlessGallery. I'm just sayin.....

New Fall Workshop for Atlanta, GA, buckhead area.

Saturday, October 3 and Sunday, October 4th, 2009

Clackety Clack Sassy Gal Painting Workshop with Cindy Davis

Sat: 11am to 5pm.
Sun: 12pm to 5pm.

Want to just chill out and paint without a lot of hullabaloo?
Tired of complex painting techniques that take too long and make you up tight?
Is it time to recharge your artistic batteries?

The Clakety Clack Sassy Gal Workshop is about not taking yourself too seriously. It's about learning to relax as well as finding a place of acceptance for your creative soul. It's about splashy acrylic color, textures, shapes, lines, and designs that are easy to combine into your own compositions.

It's about spending time in an environment that nurtures freedom of expression. It's about getting downright clackety-clack crazy and declaring your independence from rigid art rules.



Printable PDF Flyer.

See ALL the details here.