Eyes open, feelers out...

My hand after finishing the Blue Eye distorted face sketch... very messy... much, much fun.

I have been trying to focus more and more on my art lately. Its not something you can do cold turkey. It takes time. It takes baby steps. Its a process. It involves changing the way you think about what is important in your life. It involves being truly honest with yourself and those around you. Priorities need to be adjusted. All my life I have been an artist but have never really taken it seriously. I took it for granted because it came easy to me. Procrastination. Distractions. I wasted a lot of time. Now I am serious. My creative soul has been tugging at my heart for so long and lately has become more and more persistent. The drive, the calling to be an artist whole heartedly has finally wrestled my ego to the ground and won't let me go unless I promise to commit. Sounds crazy? Maybe it is. Art is not something i want to do, its something I have to do. Its not just a passion, its who I am. If I don't do it I get depressed and its taken many dark years to finally realise this.

So, here I am, taking each day as it comes with my creative eyes open, ready to take on anything new that is put in front of me. Trying to be fearless, trying not to doubt myself and trying to believe that I am a real artist. What is a real artist anyway? Is it someone who paints beautiful landscapes and portraits and has won numerous awards? That is how I have always perceived it, comparing myself to famous artists and thinking I would never measure up. Well now I am just following my heart, focusing on my own art, what ever that may be because that is what makes me truly happy.

All that really matters in life is making a difference in this crazy place. The world needs art to make it a better place, people need art to make them feel better, so I'm going to make it my mission.

Blue Eye at various rough stages - LOVE drawing distorted faces by using the grid method. Hoping to do lots more of these and eventually work my way up to a large canvas. Just need to find some more interesting faces...

Blue Eye – finished artwork of distorted face sketched in lead pencil, pastels and charcoal.