Art Challenge

I am really bad at DOING things. I have enough skills, talent and eye to make nice works, but I don't DO anything. It really is so that "done is better than perfect"... If you have DONE something, there's IS something, but if you don't DO, because it will not be good enough, or perfect, or just as you want it to be, or all that, there will be NOTHING.

Bah. Enough with big letters.

So - I decided to challenge myself.
I will pick 365 artworks I like, and then I will copy them, one a day.
I won't be able to copy them very well, because - hey, a day is a very short time when it comes to making art - especially illustrations and the art of the quality I like. To reproduce something perfectly is not my aim with this challenge, or exercise. The goal is to
a) learn to see what kind of colors, lines, compositions and subjects I prefer - learn my own style
b) get rid of the "I don't know what to paint" excuses
c) get rid of most of the other excuses. As I don't need to produce anything perfect, a sketch would be enough, I won't be able to excuse not doing it.

You see, the goal is to paint. I have never produced as much as I did when I was in school, and I have never developed as much as then. It's obvious to me - the more I paint, the better painter I am. I won't get better by WISHING I could paint.
Nothing I did in school was meant to be shown to anyone. I did most of it just for the fun of it, because I had an idea, because I wanted to see my idea on paper, and there were no-one else who could do it for me.

Also, if the idea of copying someone's work bothers you - don't.
Firstly, that was the way the artists learned during Renaissance. Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Botticelli all learned that way, and what is good for them is good for me.
Secondly, you are not claiming ownership of anything. You copied the composition, theme, subject, colors, lines, everything, from someone else. It's okay to copy.
I mean, this obsession with originality is probably one of the biggest obstacles in the way of wannabe artists. No-one is a master from birth, everyone has to learn, and humans learn by copying. Even the most original artworks are at some level copies of something, if nothing else, then copies of nature. Of course, you are to have some amount of originality when you become an artist, but we are not talking about people who ARE artists, but people who ARE GOING TO BE artists. You are a student, a beginner, a wannabe. Accept that fact, embrace it and use your right to copy :-D
(Besides, just think about Andy Warhol and Marcel Duchamp. If they are considered not only artists, but some of the greatest modern artists... Geesh. It's okay to copy.)

Besides, I want to be an illustrator, not a "real artist". There is a difference.

AAAH! They did it again!!!

The Folio Society "books you love to own", has created yet another lust object... I found out today.

Blue Fairy Book - illustrated by Charles van Sandwyk

Red Fairy Book - illustrated by Niroot Puttapipat

Green Fairy Book - illustrated by Julian de Narvaez

Yellow Fairy Book - illustrated by Danuta Mayer

Violet Fairy Book - illustrated by Bob Venables

and

Brown Fairy Book - illustrated by Omar Rayyan

I love computers :-)

You know that computer programming has come a long way the last 30 years :-D I remember first finding internet in 1999... it wasn't much then, but it was already enough to hook me for ever.
Back at then... well... anyway, they have invented this facial feature recognizing programs, and this is being used in the internet, as "reverse image search". Now, I first started using Tineye, but today I found Google's version, and it has this delightful little feature "visually similar images"... Ooh... :-D I'm a kid in candy store!!!

It started with Ida Rentoul Outhwaite's Witch On Her Broomstick. 

Now, it's a very nice image. I received this as "visually similar images". (You have to google the image in google images to get the "visually similar images")

Lovely!
Then I have been at Pinterest a lot lately, and there I found "color palette generator". Now, that only works with images that doesn't have accent colors, but with this it would work fine. 

Color hunter gives this palette

If you want, you can use colblindor to "name" these colors for you :-)
#221122 is for example Mardi Gras violet
#444455 is Gunpowder
#556699 is San Marino blue
#A3BCF5 is Pale cornflower blue
#7788AA is Ship cove blue

You can also try to find them here (Coloria) or here (Chirag Mehta; name that color) or here; Pantone Colour Names

and make the palette at COLOURlovers

There are several fancy and fun tools at COLOURlovers as well, like the pattern coloring and palette makers

and then idée's piximilar multicolr search lab, that will give you images that have the same colors...

and then there's the BYO image search lab...

Somehow I have a feeling that one could also use Polyvore's color tool and Etsy's color tool with this...

At the moment both are rather bad... But there might be some potential there... and then, if there was some sort of tool of choosing wallpapers and paint online by images or numbers... 

Anyway, then you can play a little and create inspiration boards based on images...

Now... it was rather stupid of me to choose a picture with colors I don't like. I would hate that room :-D All those dusty lavenders and periwinkles and purple - brrr...

Also, "FindTheData:Colors" is an interesting program, that helps you to find paint by color.

Updated: 21/10 - 13 - bighugelabs has also a color palette generator.

Updated:  1/11 - 13 I found Chip It! That gives you a chip card with paint colors.

Nevertheless, back to business ;-)

Other pieces by Ida:

Scarlett Chou

I fell in love with her lines and colors. She has been greatly influenced by Erté :-)

Fruitfulness

Full Bloom

Glittery Rain

Lady in Red

Mermaid

Catherine Hyde

Catherine Hyde

Valéri Maugeri

Karl Bang

"Karl Bang was born as Bong Ka in Shanghai in 1935."

I used to appreciate his art more... now the "pretty ladies"  bore me. They are just pretty, posing expressionlessly, frozen, and remind of dolls. The three last ones are better, though.
I do love the colors, the animals and such.