Bleatings from the Sheep

Professor Bryan Ballinger...."An Artistic Journey: From Child to Adult, and Back Again"

I have a to-do list about a mile long, and what do I choose to do right now? Blog. Hmm.

I just wanted to share a few thoughts that I had concerning Professor Ballinger’s lecture. At first I wasn’t entirely sure about going, but since it was in the library conference room and I had already been in the library an hour and a half prior to its start—doing research for my next paper and getting distracted by books about Catholicism (no joking)—I figured I might as well go and listen in. And I’m very glad that I did, because it was exactly what I needed to hear.

Something that I found really interesting was that a lot of his inspiration and many of his favorite artists had a much more detailed, realistic style to them. He even mentioned that he would love to draw like them, but he can’t…but that he found it even more fulfilling to draw how he draws, because it’s his own style and it's using the talents that God gave to him. We all have our own wonderful, God-given styles that may not be what we expect them to be, or even want them to be at times. But instead of getting bogged down by what we can’t do and what our individual styles lack, we should be focusing on what we can do and the great elements found in our own styles. I think that’s important for us all to remember as we go about learning the techniques and everything involved with art and animation. I certainly know that I need to remember it.

It’s hard, because I am by no means an “amazing” artist. There are some things that I would absolutely love to be able to do, but that I highly doubt I ever will be able to. Sometimes this gets discouraging, and I find myself drifting away from my sketchbook for extended periods of time out of a lack of confidence. Then all the doubts and fears creep in, and I wonder if I’ll ever really be able to do anything dealing with animation. But when I allow those fears to take over, I’m ignoring not only the fact that I’m still in the process of developing my artistic abilities, but also the fact that I’m developing my own artistic style/identity. There are a few things that are distinct about the way I draw, and I think that I need to learn how to embrace and develop those, rather than get distracted by the things that my style lacks and will probably always lack.

Also, I thought it was interesting how he tied in Mark 10:15, which states, “Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.” (NKJV) He related it to being an artist, and creating art with the mindset of a child. There were five things to keep in mind that children do: 1) create fearlessly, 2) take joy in your own creations, 3) draw with authority, 4) have confidence, and 5) have few boundaries between imagination and creation. Personally, these are all things I know I need to really focus on remembering. These are all things that I know I did as a little girl, but that I know I stopped doing somewhere along the way. And I think I need to go back to doing them. When I’m meek about approaching a new project, or when I overly-criticize what I do, I put restrictions on myself that usually end up hindering what I accomplish and contribute to the amount of crinkled-up balls of paper in my trash can. The things that always turn out best are the things that I don’t stress about. I also like the idea of having few boundaries between imagination and creation…hmm.

Anywho, I should probably wrap things up now. I just wanted to share my thoughts about this before I lost too much enthusiasm.

posted by Caitlynn @ 10:54 PM