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This is a for those of you who don’t like critiques…that hate seeing their art mentally torn to shreds by another artist, for the artist who then questions their choice of occupation, who feels like they are lousy at what they love. I was one of those artists and in 2011 I received critiques that impacted my art like nothing else. It was in a Sci-fi/fantasy art show in Tempe, Arizona.   At the time I made a post about it on a different blog that has since been shut down so here is a portion of that blog:

“Back while I was in college, I took a Basic drawing class. This class had a teacher by the name of Leon Parson, and he showed no mercy when it came to critiquing our drawings. There were days I actually went home in tears after hearing one of his critiques, he was not easy to please, and I wasn’t the only one that felt his wrath. For our final he gave us a hand written test of what we learned. I don’t remember how well I did overall but I do remember one question on that test. Did you change your Major? I later found out that why he was so harsh was because he wanted to filter out the students that couldn’t handle the cruel reality of an occupation in art.   I remember looking at that question with my pencil in hand and thinking “Jerk” and with a smirk on my face I written the answer “No”.

Twelve years later to this weekend I had my art on display at Leprecon in Tempe AZ. And to my luck I got a personal critique from one of the guests of honor artist Darrel k. Sweet. And he showed me no mercy! He gave me a critique that would make my old professor proud and then some! I was told to draw more, to use references, to see with my mind and not my eyes, and pointed out all the flaws in my art. I drove home in shock and stupor as I felt what he told me tattoo itself to my brain. It wasn’t at all what I expected but I knew I needed to hear it. It was one of those moments where I had to make a decision. Whether to keep going in art, and improve myself by pushing myself harder. Or to throw in the towel and give up.

Later that evening I went back to the convention to have my art critiqued by the other guest of honor John Picacio. His critique was different from Darrel K. Sweet’s. He spoke of similar things but he asked me what I wanted to do with my art, and to tell the truth I did not have a straight answer for him.   The next day I took my sketch books in for a critique (since the art I had on display was my portfolio and was already torn apart by critiques) and showed them my drawings. They spent almost an hour talking to me and each other about what I can do to help my art. I was told from both artist I had to choose a direction with my art.

So once again I had to decide. That stupid question I had to answer 12 years ago reemerged in my mind. I know my art isn’t the greatest, but I also know it’s not the worst and it can become something more if I work at it. So once again I will answer that question. Did I change my major-my choice of occupation-did I give up my dream? And with a smirk on my face I type the answer-NO!”

So now it’s 2015 and it has taken me a long time. But for the first time ever, I sold two Original pieces of art from art shows! To see that empty wall space when I walked in brought me to tears. I have never been so proud of myself before! And to make things even better, a guest artist Jeff Sturgeon at Norwescon, had so many good things to say and had so little to critique I just stood there giggling and having a big silly grin on my face. He even went out of his way to introduce me to an art director from another art show.

My art isn’t perfect and I still need to keep working on it, but it doesn’t need an over haul anymore! And I now feel like the artist I wanted to be. And it’s all because I accepted the critiques I received as gifts. Something I didn’t put into my old blog was what Darrel K. Sweet told me at the end on the convention. “Don’t give up, there are not a lot of artists like you out there.” Not his exact words but it was the only compliment he gave me, and it meant A LOT to me. I have come to a conclusion that if you get such a stern critique it’s because the artist sees potential in your work and wants it to grow and bloom.

I want to put in a very special thank you to Darrel K. Sweet (may he rest in peace), and John Picacio for their critiques those years ago, you won’t believe how badly I needed them! And a big thank you goes out to Jeff Sturgeon, who triggered this joy I have been feeling!

So for those artists that find themselves getting merciless critiques from their Professors and/or other artists and feel like it’s too hard to handle know this, yes, the world of art is hard to handle. But every critique you get is a gift, nothing more, whether to except that gift or not is up to you.   And the more critiques you get the stronger you will be in your persistence. Never think that the artist or professor is critiquing harshly to bring you down, because they want you to succeed.

I am so glad I said “NO” to that question. It feels so good!

In the darkness she laid there, not daring to move. All was quiet now. She bravely opened one eye and then the next. The artist gasped…the holidays were over! Somehow she survived all the holiday cheer and hub bub. She dragged herself out of the pile of joy and excitement of the holidays and looked around. The world was back to what it was before, but something was missing. What was it? She had to think but only a moment until she realized what she had forgotten. Her website, her art online!

“AH NUTS!!” she exclaimed. She was so focused on buying gifts, taking family here and there, hosting parties, making holiday crafts, and trying to get a painting done, that she pushed her online duties to the side. The artist admit she enjoyed every minute of the holidays, in fact it has been years since she had this much fun! But now she has her work to do, and yes she enjoys it as well and is happy to post her newest piece that took WAY longer than it should have!

Winter Stroll-Watercolor painting on Arches Hot Press watercolor paper. Painting by Lizzy D

All narrating aside, sorry for the long wait but yes, the holidays took over.  I had a lot of fun but I was also stressed out about various things-like this painting “Winter Stroll”.  I had started her in November and the more I worked on it the more mistakes I made and as much as I thought I could “make it work” I realized I had to start over from scratch.  Definitely the wiser choice and I think my favorite thing about this painting (other than the trees, LOVE THE TREES!) is how the little dragon is giving his friend a love rub like a cat and causes no injury with his horns. That is love right there guys!

Some awesome news to the side, I now have stuff on Redbubble! Here is a link for your pleasure: http://www.redbubble.com/people/lizzy-d .  I don’t have a lot on there for now, but still, pretty cool right?  Also know that I do have my own shop as well and the pretty gal and her dragon will be joining my store as well. And last but not least I’ll be having art on display at rustcon here in Washington this weekend 16-18th, so if you are going don’t forget to check the art show there.

So recently I put some art up in an art gallery for a show themed for mini and small art.  I was really excited but very nervous to put art in because the last time I put art in a gallery they didn’t keep my paintings together instead they were scattered all over the gallery amongst other artist’s work. They also had a musician in the gallery singing and playing the guitar which was fine except the mic was really loud so nobody wanted to walk into the gallery.  It really sucked.  So hoping for the best I put in three mini paintings into this gallery.  Last Sunday I went to the Artist reception.  This is the first Artist reception I’ve been to and I learned one very important lesson.  Bring someone you know with you.  VERY important! My husband stay home with our son seeing that the boy wouldn’t really want to be there and I didn’t think of inviting a friend along.  So yeah very awkward for me.  Everyone knew everyone, but I didn’t know anyone.

There were a lot of really talented artist there, I enjoyed a lot of the art on display.  I went to go find my art and it actually took a while but I found it…below eye level.  Everyone else had their art up high and in the light but for some strange reason they put my three paintings that had lots of detail and were smaller than most of the paintings there below eye level.  The little old ladies there were able to see them but I don’t know if anyone else noticed them!  Oh well at least this time they were all together.

I also realized that my art was one of the more expensive mini’s there and so felt embarrassed as well.  But the thing is I priced my art making sure that if any one buys it I get my portion back.  You see not only did I pay $20 to put my art in the gallery they have a 40% commission from sales so I made up for the loss by making my art more expensive.  If you went through me it would be half the price.  So yeah embarrassing, but I know I did the right thing.

With those disappointments-and feeling like a loner, I decided to go home.  I must admit I did have a tiny dark cloud above my head as I walked through the door but I think I did good keeping positive for the most part.  Anyways I walk through the door and heard my husband say “you’re home sooner than I thought you would be!” I found him in the kitchen…making triple chocolate cake for me!  That little dark cloud poofed away that moment, and yes every single bite was delicious!

I have made several attempts recently to take pictures of my progress on my paintings, only to find myself so sucked into the painting (“in the zone” as I call it) that I would forget and would not remember until I was done.  But I was determined to achieve this goal and so tried over and over only to find I had only one or two pictures of my progress.

But finally I have done it!  I now have SIX pictures of the progress of one of my last paintings.  Lets start with the line drawing!

I had originally had her be a maple tree Dryad but the more I thought about it the more I didn’t like the idea.  I wanted a late summer feeling and thought berries.

I used Masking fluid to seal the leaves from getting blue on them and started painting the background.

I forgot to take pictures for a bit and so up to this point I painted in the branches farther back and then removed the masking fluid and started on the leaves in the forefront.

Each leave has five layers of paint on it; a yellow, a blue, red, and two shades of green.  Very time consuming and the “in the zone” kicked in pretty hard at this point.

See what I mean! I went straight for the cherries without a second thought.  Only when I finished them did I remember to take a picture!  And when I showed my husband the painting at this point he said it looked Christmassy. 😛  I figured I’d put a little yellow on the cherries to give them a more of a red orange hue and then started tackling the squirrel.

Squirrels do not pose for you! At least not exactly the pose I wanted.  Had multiple reference images from online for fur and as close to the pose as I could possibly find (there wasn’t many).

Berry Dryad – Watercolors on hot press Arches paper

And then after that I once again went into “the zone” and finished the painting!  Pretty proud of myself I came up with six progress pictures though, but I’m thinking maybe it would be easier to just video tape my process and fast forward it.  I think that would look mighty cool. 😀

When I was little, my mom used to tell me how there used to be lots of these joyfully cute little birds called Mountain Bluebirds where she lived in Northern Utah.  But then other birds came and started driving them out of their homes, and she started seeing them less and less.  I probably saw one my whole entire childhood.

Many years later…to last year.  We went to visit my husband’s sister in Swan Valley, Idaho.  They live out in the middle of nowhere, a beautiful area, and there was always some animal out and about for us to see.  One morning I stepped outside to draw when to my amazement saw Mountain Bluebirds ALL OVER the place.  They were so cute and such a vivid blue and so many! 

On the same trip we also visited my family in Southern Idaho and I was shown around the house to see the new things that were done.  Well…the new things was that the bathroom was redone (looked really nice!) with the help of my sister they themed it “cute little birds”.   It had a “cute bird” shower curtain, had a “cute bird” clock hanging on one wall, even had hand towels and a soap dispenser “cute bird” themed.  There was an empty spot on one wall though and no one had decided what to hang there…except me at that moment.  So happens I needed a Christmas present idea for my parents and they needed a “cute bird” themed piece of art in the bathroom.  And what better bird to be seen in a “cute bird” themed bathroom then the Mountain Bluebird.

Mountain Bluebirds – Watercolors on hot press Arches paper

 My parents (especially my mom) loved the painting and after much debate (they wanted to hang it any place but in the bathroom) they finally hung it there.  I think its because I told them thats where I expected it to be, but more likely they ran out of wall space everywhere else (they have a lot of art).  I don’t mind it being there at all because most people will see it…when they have to use the bathroom.  

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! I hope everyone is having a great holiday and if you are not hopefully this picture will brighten your day if only a little.

“Sugar Plum Fairy” started out as a sketch I drew a couple of years ago it was a ink sketch I was so happy with that I wrote “trace this” by it for future use.  So a couple of years and a whole bunch of sketches and ideas later, I was looking through my old sketch books and ran into this one-just in time for the holidays!  I had been in a very Christmassy mood at the time so you could say I had sugar plums dancing around my head.  But character didn’t start out as such.  I wanted her in Christmas colors but was struggling for her purpose in the painting.  What did she hold in her hands?  A star? A secret gift? Heck, just a present?  Nothing was working until one day by random the music from the nutcracker started playing.  I don’t think the song itself was “The Sugar Plum Fairy” but just listening to the music had me think of that song.  The idea hit.  And here is what the original sketch turned into.

The whole time I was painting this I was listening to Christmas music or had “White Christmas” as background noise.  The original’s size is 7¾ “x 8¼” so yeah, small, its the same size as the original sketch.  After working that small I think I’m going to work with a bigger size for now on.  I kind of want to keep my eye site a little longer. O.O

In other news I now have a Store on my website.  I am selling originals, prints, and cards. The “Sugar Plum Fairy” will also be in the shop.

Some people ask me why I would do such a thing and sell my originals?  Well most of the art I have done in the past are not hanging in my house. I don’t have room for it.  They are safely tucked away in my portfolio cases.  Once in a while I pull them out to look at them and remember the time I spent on them but then I have to put them back to keep them safe.  My pictures bring me so much joy to do and I would love to see those paintings actually out in the open hanging on a wall somewhere making someone else happy as well. Like most artist this is my job, I do art.  But this is a job I chose to do because its what keeps me going in this world, it’s a job I am truly happy in.