2kno» Observations

How To Make Money As An Artist? Obfuscate!

Norman — Sun, 31 May 2009 17:39:17 +0000

This clip is from the movie How to Draw A Bunny, a documentary about artist Ray Johnson. This film provides an interesting view into the world of modern art during the “Warhol Period” where all the rules about doing art and collecting art were thrown out the window.

The Zen of Rock-Hopping

Norman — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 02:10:22 +0000

Despite the ubiquity of the Internet, I still get a few printed magazines in the mail. One of them is Electronic Design. My favorite part of the magazine is the last page which is written by Bob Pease, a senior engineer who often writes about things other than electronics. His column is always interesting on some level. In the current issue, he talks about rock hopping. That reminded me of doing just that when I lived in Alexandria, VA. I used to go up to the C&O Canal near Old Angler’s Inn which is in Maryland, but not far from where I lived. There is a hiking trail there called the Billy Goat Trail the beginning of which is just a short walk from the Inn. The sign cautions hikers that proper footwear is required. Along this trail is a stretch that consist of huge boulders.

I enjoyed this stretch very much and I finally figured out why. You had to jump from boulder to boulder, but it required all your concentration (and I mean ALL) to decide what boulder to jump to next. Once your foot landed on that next boulder, you had to devote ALL your attention to finding the next since it was not possible to stop due to the inertia of motion in your body. It was nice for a while to clear your head of everything during that stretch of trail. Kind of like Zen meditation only you are burning calories and risking bodily injury.

You can read the full article here. Drop Bob a note if you know of any cool rock-hopping spots. He is on the lookout.

Breaking Through A Creative Block

Norman — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 14:33:56 +0000

Everyone who creates, be it writing, photography, painting, graphic design, etc., has encountered the problem of creative block. This is when the flow of ideas and skill suddenly isn’t there anymore. Most artists have developed ways to break through this problem. I present one idea here that helped my wife Nel to be able to finish her latest painting.

There is a common belief that there are two “sides” of the brain. One side handles the rational day-to-day thinking necessary for our survival and the other our expressive and creative side. There is an interesting book that deals with this written by Betty Edwards called Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain where this effect is used to teach people how to draw. The idea is to try to prevent the “rational side” of the brain from interfering with the creative side. Everyone is different and we all have to find what works for us.

In Nel’s case, it was the discovery of audio books that she could download onto her iPod. Somehow, listening the the classics (Tale of Two Cities was one of her favorites) occupied her think side of her brain in such a way that allowed her creative side to flow freely. She now recommends that everyone who is having creative block problems give it a try. If it worked for her, it just might work for you.