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I've got to stop starting threads....seems to be a problem with me.
I was curious as to those who don't have a lot of artistic ability (lets say you can draw a stick man, but that's it...like me) Thank God for stamps!!
Do you think with practice, looking at the gallery, studying the cards, etc. that a person could achieve what some of the dirty dozen can do?
The reason I ask...I was looking at Sweet Miss Daisy's blog and found out she has a BA in Arts from university and is a photographer. Duh. No wonder her cards are so well put together. She has that artistic eye. (as do many on this site).
So, do you think an artistic eye for doing a above average card can be learned? Or is genetics and past family environment going to be the deciding factor? I'd love to hear from those fab cards makers who can only draw a stick man.
I thought that I had artistic ability before I started making cards and hanging out on this site. I took a lot of studio art classes in college and was always the artsy, crafty person growing up.
Lately, though, I get so awed by the cards posted here... that it either inspires me to no end... or I get depressed at my own crappy cards.
I have zero artistic ability as well, which is why I stamp My friend in high school was always a great artist, & I was so jealous. Two things I wanted to be growing up --great singer & great artist --I am neither!!!
I will never have the talent Anna has, & I'm okay with that. I just have to remind myself how far I've come. I look at my first uploads & cringe, but I won't delete them because it shows how much I've learned. Hopefully, I'll just keep getting better!!!
I thought that I didn't have an artistic bone in my body, until I went to my first SU workshop. The demo showed us the 3 projects we were going to do and I thought 'I can't do that'. Well guess what I did do them and they turned out good. I continued attending workshops and eventually signed up to be a demo myself. I have no formal art training, but I always thought I had a good eye for color. There will always be different levels of expertise in all areas of life. I love what I do, I love what I've learned from this site and from the wonderful artist's that so generously share their talent with us. I doubt I will ever advance to the level of Dirty Girl, but that's okay, they are there showing the way and teaching us what they love. It's the journey that counts not the destination.
__________________ Charlee
My SU website - http://charleeg.stampinup.net
Live in the moment and make it so beautiful it's worth remembering.
I have no artistic ability! I started out CASEing and now I try a few on my own. My cards don't look like sweet miss daisy's or duckwaddlequacks, but I think they are respectable- and certainly good enough to send to a friend.
Even if it's not a masterpiece, a homemade card is worth a lot.
I thought that I had artistic ability before I started making cards and hanging out on this site. I took a lot of studio art classes in college and was always the artsy, crafty person growing up.
Lately, though, I get so awed by the cards posted here... that it either inspires me to no end... or I get depressed at my own crappy cards.
Art is intended to provoke an emotion from a total stranger. If you�ve succeeded in this, consider yourself an artist. Paper Shanks Blog. Love me or hate me, you are still talking about me
All I drew as a kid were spiders.... I drew my family as a family of spiders while in Kindergarten. My mom still has it. I still only draw spiders. My sisters are artists and have won awards... not me. Now I stamp so I can feel like I drew something!
Art takes many forms, and drawing is only one of them. I can't draw anything, but I have an eye for color, which I only discovered when I started stamping. I always thought I had no artistic talent, but I started doing techniques and found a passion for paints and inks that has made me so much happier. My cards aren't what some of the ladies on this site upload, but I like them, and the people I give them to always seem very impressed with the way I lay out the elements. I would love to be able to look at a piece of canvas and paint a gorgeous picture, but I can't, so I look at a piece of cardstock and create a smaller "pretty".
Unlike Jessi, I don't CASE. I make a mess and I have a lot of fun, and don't always make a lot of cards. But I get more enjoyment from the process than I do the product, and thanks to a few ladies who "gave" me permission to enjoy the process, I have found a lot of peace in not being perfect with this stuff. But just because I can't draw doesn't mean I can't make art with stamps, and all the great stuff that goes with stamping.
That all said, I never wanted to be a singer, but I have always wanted to be an artist. I'm a geek, and geared to science more than poetry, but I always, always envied my artistic friends. And to anyone here who has graduated with an art degree, my utmost respect for that learning. I wish I had the talent it takes to go to art school.
This is kinda funny~I was just discussing this on another thread. I have some artistic ability (I can draw (well....show me a picture, elements and I can make my own picture out of it...don't do well with just drawing out of my head!) And I can paint) But I find that I struggle with making cards. I tell myself that there is different types of artistic people (some musical, some artists (in the drawing sense) some work clay...etc....and that making cards is just another type of art and "ya just can't be good at everything"
I do think that practicing and finding "your" style will enable you to have great cards like some of those very talented ladies. BUT!!! You have to remember....that is "their" style and you style may be a different type of "wow"....but when it's YOURs and you keep working on improving it...it will be there "wowing" all the gallery lookers too!!!
Let's put it this way...while in college I took Intro to Art. We had projects each week. (Remember these were kids who neede the credit, not art majors.) One project was a pencil self-portrait. We were to look in the mirror and draw exactly what we saw. If two eyelashes crossed over each other, we were to draw that. When mine was returned, the instructor's comment said it looked more like a caricature than a portrait! I was mortified. I knew I wasn't an artist, but I had really tried.
My gallery isn't here at SCS so most of you haven't seen my stuff. Let's just say, I've come a long way. My things will probably never be over-the-top gorgeous, but I've got a talent that doesn't come across in drawing. That's why I stamp!!! :-)
__________________ Diane H.
TAC Demonstrator #1484/Manager, Smilin' Stampers My TAC SiteMy BLOG
My mom is a fine artist (watercolor, pastels), but my "talent" took the form of writing. I have an MA in English, taught college composition and literature, worked as a marketing writer/editor, and am writing a novel. I always thought mom kept all the visually creative genes for herself. Then I started doing calligraphy (Mom's idea of a mother-daughter bonding experience) and didn't do too badly. Then I started bookbinding and then stamping and fell madly, passionately in love with both crafts. Then came scrapping. I couldn't believe how much FUN it is to make stuff!
When I talk about writing, I don't usually smile--it's serious business to me, and I'm passionate about it in a very OCD sort of way. But when I even think about stamping, I can't stop smiling. It makes me happy.
If my stuff ever gets as good as a Dirty Girl's, well, that would be grand. But that's not my goal. As long as a card makes me smile, I'll be stampin' away.
I'm an absolute zero when it comes to art! When I was little, I loved to color, until one day my best friend told me that I wasn't allowed to color in her coloring books because all my pictures were ugly and I "went outside the lines!" I've stayed away from art ever since!
I think that's why I got so hooked on stamping. Nothing had to be perfect - it was okay to do a project a little differently than what was demo'd, and if things were a little off-kilter, that was okay too. Over the years I think I've gotten better (well, I know I have - I've just discovered some of my old cards - yikes!), and I think creativity goes hand-in-hand with artistic ability. I'm not artistic, but have come a long way creatively. No masterpieces like I've seen on this site, but things I was quite happy with.
So, yes, to answer your question, I think it's possible!
I was trying to figure out a couple of days ago why I keep trying to stamp. My artistic ability is so far removed from some of the ladies on here that I am ashamed of a lot of the stuff I have turned out. I have always been very crafty. As a child due to many surgeries had to spend most of my childhood indoors so I did a lot of drawing and making stuff. I have really been struggling with my abilities when it comes to stamping though.
__________________ Suzanne "Wear fabulous underwear even if you are the only person that is going to see it"
I have NO creative ability. No eye for color or composition. I think that some of it can be learned. I do case almost everycard I make (sometimes down to the exact color!). My cards and scrapbook pages have evolved/improved since I've started each craft. But, if you give me a new stampset with no ideas, I panic. I am comfortable with my lack of talent. I find it fun to case cards and see if I can change to colors or stamp sets that I already own--or I just order the supplies to make the exact card! It's still stamping and I have fun. When friends or I comment on how cute one of our cards or pages is, the answer is usually, "thanks, I got the idea/or copied from 'x'. We all have special talents, just not always artistic ones!
Christy
__________________ Not quite creative
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Don't worry about tomorrow, each day has enough trouble of it's own. (Matthew 6:34)
I think everyone has the ability to create their own thing. Find a style u like for urself, and enjoy doing it. That is who u are.
My sis is a photographer..she does weddings, family groups, beautiful baby pics. Some weddings she does, the brides don't go overboard w/make-up etc. but my sis says, thats who they are. Like if they don wanna, they don't. so find your own self..u cud start a whole new trend of your own style.
We don't all even like the same kind of stamps... i find all the cards lovely, but sum stamps are just not me. altho what others do with them they produce beautiful work....thx for listening..loves ya all..Gail
Yes and no. Yes, I think it is possible for those of us without the art "gene" to grow, improve, and create little works of art of which we are proud. Take a look at some of the early work done by some of your favorites. You will see a lot of improvement.
On the other hand, no, I don't think that we can "learn" to be creative in the same way that some folks are good naturally at math and others struggle at it. Some people are just born with a natural talent for art. Others aren't. I don't let it stop me!! LOL
I am never going to watercolor the way Sweet Miss Daisy does, but...my watercoloring is slowly improving by studying her work and many others. I'll never have the clever eye for placement that Julie HRR does, but my eye for placement is improving by reading Julie's blog and trying to figure out why her stuff sings.
Practice really does make a huge difference but I could practice until I'm 90 and never be Monet, KWIM???
__________________ Dear Paperlicious is my blog...with a series on how I'm learning to improve my cardmaking by studying others.
I think the techniques can be learned by anyone, but a person without that natural creative gift will have to work harder at it. It won't flow out of them the same way. I think you need to have a creative gifting to take it to the next level though. That being said, I think many people are creatively gifted but have not recognized it in themselves. Just because you haven't found the right niche before to bring it out doesn't mean it isn't there. You don't have to be a wonder with a pencil to still be talented creatively. I think that many people who are artistically gifted have been naturally drawn to other arts as well, and therefore already have likely learned how colours work together & design concepts. These are skills that are easily transferrable. Again though, these are skills and if you don't take the time to learn those skills, even a naturally creative person will come up short.
Really though ... I think we spend too much time trying to compare our work to others. There will always be someone more talented than ourselves. What's important? Are you growing ... are you having fun ... is your card making someone's day? Doesn't matter how 'good' you are ... if that isn't happening, you are missing out.
__________________ Darci "Awww, you guys made me Ink!"
"Creativity is a continual surprise" (Ray Bradbury)
I will never be "dirty worthy" but I really like my clean and simple style. My friends and family aren't used to the artistic type of cards or projects so I keep them happy. When I was demoing I always did simple cards even with my more experienced customers. I did showcase techniques but that was not my big area. I just love to stamp and scrapbook.
My dad is an artist, retired art teacher of 32 years and currently a college art prof. Let's just say I didn't get those genes. I got my mom's musical ones. ;) The funny thing is when I tell people that I have no artist talent they think because I am a musician I have to have it. Music and art are definitely linked, but music, as I studied it, was a strict discipline of technique. I have to admit my favorite part was when I had the technical issues nailed I could create texture and depth to my performance. I suppose that visual art is like that as well. Nail the technical issues and create depth to your work. You don't have to be an "artist" to create or enjoy art. Musicians do not all have natural talent for everything they do. It is practiced and learned. I believe that you can develop the ability for art and music.
I think one of the "dirty girls" or possibly most of them say that they try to stamp something everyday for practice. You cannot expect to play a concerto by noodling with it every once in awhile. It takes practice and consistancy as does visual art. ;)
I have NO creative ability. No eye for color or composition. I think that some of it can be learned. I do case almost everycard I make (sometimes down to the exact color!). My cards and scrapbook pages have evolved/improved since I've started each craft. But, if you give me a new stampset with no ideas, I panic. I am comfortable with my lack of talent. I find it fun to case cards and see if I can change to colors or stamp sets that I already own--or I just order the supplies to make the exact card! It's still stamping and I have fun. When friends or I comment on how cute one of our cards or pages is, the answer is usually, "thanks, I got the idea/or copied from 'x'. We all have special talents, just not always artistic ones!
Christy
I think you just described me! Except I do not always order the exact supplies
without artistic ability?
