"I'm not an artist!" 😩 (Yes, you are)

[PinkNoodle]

@yarrow, your comparison between art and cooking is spot-on! Most of us are not professional chefs, and even if we don’t even consider ourselves “good cooks,” we’ve almost certainly prepared food at one time or another that people really enjoyed, no matter how simple or easy the preparation was.

I also think of making art like learning a new language: you do not have to be advanced to be effective in communicating your idea.

I also loved what you said here:

@yarrow

When you enjoy your hobby you invest some time in it and the skill improves eventually.

Exactly. You’ll naturally get better at doing things you enjoy doing. Practicing should be a joy, not a burden. If it’s a burden, try something else. If you don’t like watercolors, try gouache. If you don’t like working on paper, try fabric. If you don’t like working inside, try working outside:

Magical Land Art By Andy Goldsworthy

And if you don’t like making art yourself, just relax and enjoy the work of others!

@Grapenat, these are fantastic! On the other end of the age spectrum is “Grandma” Moses, who began painting formally around the age of 77 after her husband passed away. Of course, she enjoyed making art informally throughout her life, starting by painting with fruit juices and other unorthodox materials she happened to find as a child. Her paintings sell for millions now.

Out for Christmas Trees, 1946. Oil on pressed wood.

It’s never too early–or late–to get started.

[Grapenat]

@PinkNoodle

It’s never too early–or late–to get started.

You said it!!!

[syaffolee]

I view art as something that someone has created to say or express something. Whether or not it’s considered “good” art, however, is an entirely different thing. Because “good” can mean different things to different people. I personally enjoy some odd stuff and before the pandemic, I would regularly visit the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art because, well, there’s definitely some weird and intriguing art there. So if people like making art, then they should continue to do it. Someone out there will enjoy it.

[yarrow]

@PinkNoodle, I unconsciously stole this analogy from comics “Script It!” by bogdan&Xatch13 about writing comic book scripts (I’m afraid I haven’t seen it translated into English.) It asked, what kind of story does the author want to tell and what feelings to evoke in the viewer - “What aftertaste would you like the reader to have when they leave the cinema hall of your imagination? Birthday cake? A cheap hamburger? Decide for yourself what kind of dish you want to cook. And don’t forget that sometimes you just want fast food.”

(For those who loves comics, I would recommend Scott McCloud’s amazing book “Understanding Comics”, the most interesting work about comics as an art form I’ve read, and in the form of comics itself )

[Fabia0912]

@PinkNoodle

these are cute i think i’ll try them with a fitting postcard!

[wurzelsofie]

I would like to thank you guys for your encouragement and inspiration! It really helped me get up the courage to dive right in and I’m having so much fun now designing my own cards (mainly by making collages).

This is great!

[PinkNoodle]

YAAAAAY!!

Mission accomplished! There is so much fun, cool, and interesting art that is hiding inside people who never considered themselves “artists.” It is so wonderful to hear that you have started creating! (Don’t forget to keep posting your favorite creations so we can all enjoy them!)

Collages are just too fun not to try at least once. The materials are cheap and accessible, so you really just need to add your own imagination! You can be as crazy or silly as you want to be–it’s nearly impossible to go wrong. And you start finding inspiration everywhere–there’s collage material hiding in your junk mail, in holiday cards and wrapping paper, old books, store receipts, and beyond!

[wurzelsofie]

@PinkNoodle

Don’t forget to keep posting your favorite creations so we can all enjoy them!

Well, most of the cards I’ve made so far are for Round Robins or Tags on this forum anyway, so I’d hate to spoil the surprise by displaying them beforehand.

But I’ll be happy to show any cards that I make for no special purpose or people not connected to postcrossing!

[Reisegern]

You could show them after they get to the recipient, though

[vanvansx]

This is such an encouraging thread! I started painting more during the lockdown, and I actually do send out what I paint… to Postcrossers and friends. I would take a look at Postcrossing profiles to see if I paint something that the recipient loves receiving. I watched a few tutorials, and to be honest… I do find myself having to rely on a photograph to draw something. I try to doodle on the cards whenever I Postcross. To make things even more interesting, I throw in a fancy tale.

I view art as a form of expression. Anyone can do art!
I usually try not to take it too seriously, as I tend to get very obsessed with trying to find the ‘right’ path when I do. I see art as a means to be free on the canvas.
Even if the end-result deviates from what I had originally envisioned to be, I should have no regrets with creating it. I am content when my friends can tell me what I am drawing.

As 2021 approaches in a few days, I decided to paint cows (Year of the Ox, ditto) during my work break. And while I did not put much thought into painting them, I was pretty glad they looked like cows! I am going to draw even more of them tomorrow (31 December) lol. I believe the next few cows will look a little more honed than the first few!

[saintursula]

@vanvansx

I watched a few tutorials, and to be honest… I do find myself having to rely on a photograph to draw something.

Please don’t ever feel bad about that. Using reference is valuable. This whole idea of not using any reference being more “evolved” is garbage. In time if you draw similar subjects over and over you’ll increase your visual library and be able to get more of the basics right without looking at something, but even so, it doesn’t negate the need for reference as a tool.

By the way, these are very cute cows.

[wurzelsofie]

Yep, I can do that - I usually wait if they appear in any of the galleries.

[nekelin]

These look amazing!

[PinkNoodle]

@vanvansx

I watched a few tutorials, and to be honest… I do find myself having to rely on a photograph to draw something.

@saintursula

Please don’t ever feel bad about that. Using reference is valuable. This whole idea of not using any reference being more “evolved” is garbage.

Exactly! How in the world are you supposed to create a lifelike representation of an animal, plant, or other object from memory?! People who have memorized every little detail and nuance of their subject have obviously drawn/painted/sculpted it many, many times before, and the repetition has solidified. I always use a reference image, even when I am intimately familiar with the subject.

[saintursula]

This is what happens when you draw without a reference:

(Which is fine, if you’re going for goofy or otherwise approximate. But you may be surprised by the things that you don’t know if you try to draw an animal from memory - what is a giraffe’s ear shaped like? How long is a rhino’s tail? How many toes does a badger have?) I can only assume someone told this artist a camel’s neck has no bones and they like to wear clogs.

[bendoodle]

@PinkNoodle thank you for this great post and thread! I agree and appreciate what you and others have mentioned above.

This title really resonates with me because I’ve always wanted to be an “artist” but still don’t consider myself one, mainly because of some fictional standard and little negative voice in my head telling me “I’m not good enough.”

Postcrossing has reinvigorated me into doing artwork again, trying new styles and mediums, and picking up supplies that I haven’t used since I was a teenager. It has been fun and rewarding. Somehow making art for someone else, a total stranger, frees up a lot of my worry about criticism as well. I always hope that my work is appreciated, but really I do it because I like the process. When I draw someone’s address it is like a creative prompt for me to try and draw something they might like. In the process I’ve discovered so many new things and pushed my boundaries trying to draw/paint things I would never have picked myself.

The real reason I wanted to post was because of this:

@PinkNoodle

Maybe you have a few “secret” tips and tricks for making a good composition.

I wanted to share my “secret” (although I’ve tried explaining this through messages and sometimes on the postcards themselves). I have fell in love with, and now use extensively is an augmented reality (AR) app on my phone called “Da Vinci Eye”

The Da Vinci Eye App - Da Vinci Eye

My biggest weakness (as others also comment on above) is getting proportions right. In the past I have used “the grid” system to outline artwork I’m trying to copy, tracing paper/lightboards, and even using projectors to get the rough outline work done before painting murals. These all are okay, but VERY time consuming and difficult when it comes to postcards.

With an AR app. it is amazingly easy to take a photo of anything (even fonts/characters) and “project” an image over the top of your postcard. Then you can scale it perfectly to where you want it and just basically trace out looking through your device. I was a little slow at first as it is kind of weird looking at the tip of your writing instrument through a screen, but with some practice I have found it supper fun and fast. “Fast” being relative to other techniques or even making my own original artwork (very slow form me with many sketches and refinements). I still will often spend 30 minutes to a hour (or more) on a card, but for me this is fun, relaxing, and supper rewarding.

I’d love to know if anyone else has tried the Vinci Eye: AR Art Projector app, or something similar (I know there are other similar apps). I’m not affiliated in anyway, but for the price less than five international stamps (think it is only $5 USD) it was totally worth it for me!

The whole topic of referencing or out-right copping other artwork is a whole other sensitive topic that I have mixed feelings on (like trying to give credit to original artists). All I know for sure is that it has leveled up my postcard mail art game significantly!

Some random examples:

[PinkNoodle]

@bendoodle

Somehow making art for someone else, a total stranger, frees up a lot of my worry about criticism as well.

Doesn’t it, though? It’s strangely comforting to send your art thousands of miles away and never see it again. You don’t feel the need to impress anyone. Nobody’s keeping score. It’s a postcard, not an application to an École des Beaux-Arts.

That Da Vinci Eye looks like a fantastic tool; I want to try it! Especially when you need to scale a design to fit onto a postcard, proportions can be a nightmare to get right. I always make things too big.

As far as copyright issues, well…I don’t think you have to worry. No crime has been committed by sending Rattlesnake Wrangler Totoro as a gift to the recipient. If you think your recipient may not recognize the subject of your drawing (highly unlikely in the aforementioned example), then you can always include a note about the source material or designer of a character, item, etc., so that the recipient can enjoy exploring your inspiration for Jack and Sally Barn Owl!

I have to say, I bet your postcard recipients are beyond thrilled to receive these. The care you put into them is palpable even through a computer screen. The cards themselves seem really cool, too–not once in my life had I considered, until now, what toucans do when they feel cold.

[bendoodle]

@PinkNoodle

Doesn’t it, though? It’s strangely comforting to send your art thousands of miles away and never see it again. You don’t feel the need to impress anyone. Nobody’s keeping score. It’s a postcard, not an application to an École des Beaux-Arts.

Yes! I totally agree!!

Great article you linked to, thanks for sharing! And yes, I usually will give credit to original artists, especially if they are not well known.

For ones like the rattlesnake Totoro, it is a mashup where I used one image of Totoro eating a watermelon to outlined him, then another clipart of the funny rattlesnake to finish it off. The great thing about tracing is you can adjust or depart from the reference all that you want (like a lot of the Zentangle inside the Toucan).

For the Japanese title (ガラガラヘビ) after translating (and googling enough to have enough confidence that that is what it actually meant). I put those katakana characters into an online Japanese stylized font generator, took a picture, then traced the outline of those as well. Far from perfect, but I think I was able to pull it off enough that then google translator could recognize and translate it back to rattlesnake in English! I’ve done this a few times for text or even long addresses to perfectly scale them to the spot on the postcard, it is AMAZING for that!

Getting good responses from recipients is always fun too!

[wurzelsofie]

Your cards are simply amazing! I’m going to have a closer look at this Da Vinci App, it sounds like a very helpful tool for us non-artists!

[Wayfare]

Hi guys,

Your cards are amazing! It’s such a pleasure to have them displayed here. Thanks for the pictures and the joy they bring to me.

I felt like Wurzelsofie when I read this. And now I enjoy my first handmade cards with stamps and washi tape. Thank you so much for your encouragement!

Best wishes and a wonderful summer full of inspiration to all of you!