Who are the accurate police?

Let’s go way back, all the way back to seventh grade. We had an assignment in art class to choose an image, draw a grid and blow it up. I chose “The Little Mermaid” and I nailed it! I got so much attention, I decided right then and there, I wanted to be an artist.

 

All through high school I focused on art while completing the other courses, of course. I drew a lot of dragons and fantasy creatures. I loved the artwork of Frank Frazetta and Boris Velljo. I collected some D&D books and cards and I’d obsess over them, reviewing them often, soaking them in. I hated abstract art, I didn’t see the point of it. I loved things that looked realistic, taking something real and turning it into something magical. To me, that was real talent.

 

My boyfriend in highschool loved comic books. I was drawn into that world as well (pun intended). This went hand in hand with the fantasy world art. I enjoyed drawing something and then inking it, which also played well with the idea of things looking realistic.

 

All of this is what lead to “the accurate police”. For most of my artist career I would worry about them coming along and comparing my work to the image source, fearing they would judge me and disapprove if I got it wrong.

 

Fast forward to the pandemic, summer 2020. I had just finished a day full of zoom calls and as an introvert I was completely drained. I couldn’t even sit in the living room with my husband, it was too much for me. So I thought about what fills me up and recharges me. I took my ipad and ipen, went outside to my beautiful garden, which was cold and foggy at the time, and just messed around with some abstract “painting”. It did the trick, I felt so much better with the nature and the creative output.

 

As I was creating these abstract digital paintings I realized that it was so freeing to just do whatever with the medium as opposed to creating something very specific. Growing up attracted to realistic art, I always wanted to create realistic pieces. Afterall, I had the accurate police in my head threatening to come along at any moment and check my work.

 

Inspired by this idea of not following the rules, I thought I’d try an octopus that isn’t an octopus. Just the parts of the octopus, wherever I want to put them. I loved it. As I’d paint each piece I’d think about the things I wanted to try with the next one. You can see how they evolved through the first nine purple and yellow pieces. You really have to see them in person and study how the paint mixed and dried on the paper. There are some absolutely beautiful moments from painting to painting. I could sit there and look at them for hours admiring what the paint did, what I did. I want to keep going and create even more of them, different sizes and different colors. There’s so much more to explore here.

 

I recently painted two smaller octopuses in red and orange with a greenish teal background. If you watch the time lapse you’ll see how I drew with the color on top of the watercolor wash. I didn’t record this part, but I then applied more water after. I think this new piece is a really cool blend of my love for realistic drawing and the idea of breaking the rules of what an octopus looks like. It transitions from realistic to abstract. I can’t wait to try more of these!

 

Hit reply and let me know your thoughts!