I'm Back Again for Day 2
I received one visitor (thank you!) and no comments from Day1, but I will press on to Day 2 and beyond because I think there is interest from artists and would-be artists at the point in their lives when they can devote time to their art, craft, avocation, or whatever. A few years ago there was a book that was popular with business-marketing types called The Long Tail. I don't remember the author, but you can Google it if interested. Its premise is that there are many, many niche markets in the world for products or services for which, at first glance, you would think there is little interest. However, the book showed how there is a market for everything, and even though the market may be too small for a company to pursue, it's large enough for an individual or small business to pursue. As a somewhat extreme example, what about velvet paintings of aircraft carriers (I can see eyes rolling)? According to the premise of the book, there are probably several thousand collectors of this type of art around the world, believe it or not. Out of a world population of 6+billion people, I personally believe it, as we all know there is no accounting for taste. If you by any chance happen to create this type of art, maybe one of the readers of this blog can help you find a way to exhibit or sell to your specialty market, who knows?
I digress. I left off yesterday saying I would tell you what happened next in my renewed interest in art. As I said, I retired last year, and not too long after that, I must have mentioned to my son something like, "hmm, you know, maybe I'll have some time to draw now," or some such remark. My son, who is out of college and grown, has, since he was very young, had a talent for drawing. He used to draw cartoons on sheets of notepads, then animate them by flipping the pages, you know what I mean? As he got older, he graduated to drawing pretty good likenesses of the Incredible Hulk (tm) and Transformers (tm) and others of that ilk.
Re-ignition
Anyhoo, for Father's Day 2007, he sent me a set of 6 soft and hard lead pencils, a sharpener, a kneadable eraser, and a drawing pad. So I started pencil sketching.
Above is one of my first pencil sketches in thirty five years, which I uploaded for your viewing enjoyment. As a reference I used the cover of one of a set of old cookbooks we still have--this one on Italian cooking. So that is how I re-ignited my interest in art, and the rest as they say...
Please Come Back Monday for the Next Installment of New Art Blog - Orbisplanis
As it will be the weekend in the US and many parts of the world, on Monday I'll talk some more about my re-ignition. Yes, even us Retirees who do acrylic and oil paintings take weekends.
Right now I've got to get back to my "studio," such as it is, as the day is half over already. As I mentioned yesterday I was putting a second coat of varnish on an oil painting finished in April. I think it was dry and, although no one left a comment, I think it was OK to varnish. It looks pretty good, actually better than before the varnish. Today I'm going to finish gesso-ing over (if that's the art term) several acrylic paintings on canvas panels because after looking at these paintings for several weeks, I don't think they're up to par, whatever that is. Anyway, I want to "be green" and reuse them; I'm also cheap. I may also go back to an acrylic painting that I'm re-working if time permits.
If you think you'd like to read a blog like this, PLEASE leave a comment and feel free to link this site to others who may have an interest,
See you Monday!
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