ART – 6 Reasons Artist Should Table at Shows and/or Conventions.
Photo taken by Javier Hernandez: www.javzilla.com/
If you want to make a living as an artist, your work has to be valuable to people. Some group or community of people that are looking for what you provide has to support you monetarily in some way.
The internet is one way to reach those people, but it’s not the only way.
As an artist you may want to get out of your office or studio and go out into the world with you work. That way you can show it off personally.
Some of the best places to do this is at show or conventions. By “shows” I would include not only local craft fairs but also, farmers markets, and things like that.
If you think that’s not you, I made a video giving you 6 reasons why you’re missing out if you don’t do this sort of thing.
Here’s the list of reasons I give in the video:
You open yourself to new opportunities
You’re a person not a website. You make a physical human connection with your audience.
You can make friends and connections, with fans and artists.
You can discover what people want from you and what draws them to your art.
You can learn from other artists.
You can make money.
Can you think of any other benefits? Feel free to add to the list in the comments.
If you like what you read, please support me on Patreon. There’s plenty of benefits you can get there, including secret videos from me.
ART – 3 Tips For Practicing Even the Most Monotonous Stuff, and Like It
“A Jedi must have the deepest commitment, the most serious mind. This one a long time have I watched. All his life has he looked away… to the future, to the horizon. Never his mind on where he was. Hmm? What he was doing.”
If you’re like me, there’s always something you want to get good at or become better at. In my case it’s drawing and painting. In your case it may be playing an instrument, dancing, a martial art, etc.
Often, the thing we want to improve requires practice. Lots of practice.
The problem is, practice can be boring, tedious, monotonous and not fun. You simply don’t want to do it. But if you don’t, you don’t get any better. Is there a way to be able to practice and have it be fun and enjoyable?
Below are my four helpful takeaways from the book, which will help you get the most out of practicing.
Whenever you see a quote below, I’m quoting directly from the book.
Focus and Discipline
“The problem with patience and discipline is that it requires both of them to develop each of them.” ― Thomas M. Sterner
The book practically starts with this quote. Focus and discipline are key to good practice. Ironically, you’ll have to practice both to get better at practicing other things.
As with anything worth getting good at, it’s all in the mindset you develop.
Here are the four tips for developing focus and discipline:
1. Stay in the present Moment
The key to focus is staying in the present moment. The here and now. Don’t allow your thoughts to wander to the future of the past.
Don’t go down the rabbit hole of day dreaming about anything. Stay present. Keep your mind and body focused on the task at hand.
“Frustration and boredom comes from not being in the moment.”
Frustration comes because you’re thinking about other things, like the future ideal outcome of where you want your skills to be at. Comparing that outcome with what you’re doing now causes frustration and boredom.
You can never reach your ideal because the moment you think you’ve done so, you’ll realized that you’re ideal has moved further away.
Boredom sets in, because your mind is going through all the things you’d rather be doing, than the task on hand.
It’s best to focus on what you’re doing now than any moment in the future or any task you’d rather be doing.
“If you fall out of the moment, be aware of it and recognize it. Remind yourself that it’s happened, and feel good that you can recognize it.”
Once you do this, go back to the task on hand. Practice this during your everyday living. When you do so, it will be easier to be focused, when you practice.
2. Keep yourself process oriented, Make the process the goal
“The goal is to learn not to master.”
Don’t focus on the idealized goal when you practice and study. Focus on the practice itself. THAT is your reward. Use the overall goal as a guide to steer your efforts. The rest of the time, simply keep it out of mind.
By doing so, you will get better whether you want to or not.
“However, when you focus on the goal instead, you are pushing it away since you’re not concentrating on the matter at hand, which is, practice.”
Also, checking your progress is not your friend either:
“Never focus on or at your progress. Progress is the natural result of staying focused on the process of doing anything. When you stay focused on the present moment, the goal comes toward you.”
3. Be deliberate.
During every practice session:
“Have an intention about what you want to accomplish and remain aware of that intention.”
Here’ how:
Small – Breakdown your goal into small sections or segments. Bite size pieces.
Short- Give yourself a short time frame to practice. 15 to 45 minutes.
Slow – Work at a pace that allows you to pay attention to what you’re doing. Tai Chi style.
Once you sit down to practice, here’s the recommended actions to take in a practice session:
Do – Take action on what you want to get good at.
Observe – Observe your results. Be completely objective. No judgment or emotions. Simply analyze your results. Are you heading toward your goal for this session? Did it turn out the way you wanted? Yes/No. What did you do wrong, how can you fix it? Take note. Even go so far as to write it down.
Correct – Based on your analysis, if needed, do it again. This time, being more aware to work on what needed correcting the last time.
Repeat – Continue this process, until you can do it correctly every time.
Conclusion
Learning to be focused and disciplined takes just as much practice as what you want to get good at.
The book talks a lot about staying in the present moment because it makes time stop and practice more helpful. The writer never uses the words “Flow” or “Flow state” but that’s exactly what he’s talking about. By staying in the present moment, and focusing on the task on hand, you’re essentially hitting flow every time you practice.
That is the ideal situation to be in.
I like the advice in the book. If you want to get more in depth with the subject, I recommend reading it.
I myself, will practice the advice, but I’m also going to seek out more info on methods of focus. Seems like that’s so key to the practicing process.
The more I know about the subject, the better.
How do you practice? Do you have a method? I’d like to hear it.
COMIC BOOKS – The Best Three New 52 Superman Story Arcs
There are some really good New 52 Superman stories worth reading. Even if you think you don’t like New 52 Superman.
If you want to read some good New 52 Superman stories, below are three story arcs I suggest you check out.
Watch the video to know why:
Grant Morrison’s Run on Action Comics
I forgot to say this in the video but, the this run of Superman actually ties in all the versions of Superman that have gone before. Grant Morrison somehow manages to make all of Superman’s history tie in to this version in a very subtle way.
ANIMATION/SUPERHEROES – 3 Reasons to Watch Justice League Gods and Monsters
As you may already know, I love watching superhero animated movies. Especially DC ones. I must admit though, when I heard that Bruce Timm was doing a much “darker,” Justice League animated movie for Warner Brothers called Justice League: Gods and Monsters I wasn’t thrilled.
I really didn’t see the point of making the Justice League grittier. When I read the interviews with Bruce Timm around the internet, I still didn’t know if I liked what I heard. I think, deep down, what I was hearing from these interviews was the whole notion that was done to death in the 90s of “EXTREME!” superheroes.
“These aren’t your ordinary, wimpy heroes, they kill the bad guys because they’re EXTREME!”
Then the Machinima website helped produced some shorts that gave you a taste of what this very different Justice League was like. If you haven’t seen them, here they are below:
Okay so I was intrigued after watching the shorts, but they are exactly what I thought they would be, it’s Justice League EXTREME.
That said, it still made me want to watch the movie, not because these characters crossed moral lines but simply because they were so very different from what I was used to.
Having watched Justice League: Gods and Monsters, I can say that I was blown away. I’m so very glad I bought it. It’s a fantastic movie.
Yes, it’s very much in that EXTREME superhero genre, but it’s actually really well done in spite of that. Here’s three reasons why you should give this movie a go:
The Story
The promotional material I saw for this movie mainly focused on the how the world and the characters where different. Going in, I really didn’t have any idea what this movie was going to be about.
This was great because when I finally watched it, I was intrigued all the way through. There’s so many fun revelations and twists through out the movie.
The best part, is how it all comes together in the end. I was very impressed. The fact that the characters where so different from what you’re familiar with really created a great tension through out the movie.
I was really satisfied. It was very well written.
It’s Unexpected
You simply don’t know what’s going to happen next or how these Justice League characters will react. The fact that they’re blank slates and you’re getting to know them means you don’t know what to expect.
You’re also constantly discovering what this world’s version of other traditional characters are like. This makes watching the movie really fun. Full of unexpected cameos and surprising revelations.
The Characters
Which brings me to the characters themselves. I honestly didn’t think I’d like them as much as I did.
As Bruce Timm says in an interview, the fact that these characters are not Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne and Diana Prince, makes it easier to accept the actions the characters take. He was right.
In spite of the killing, they came across as very relatable. They are flawed but they’re trying to do good. And because they weren’t the tradition characters, I was more willing to let them have their flaws.
Once the movie was over, I couldn’t help but want to read or watch more stories with them.
Final Thoughts
If you’re on the fence about Justice League: Gods and Monsters, don’t be. It’s absolutely worth watching. It’s also absolutely not for kids.
It’s a fun movie. You’ll have a really good time watching it. Now that I’ve written so much about it, I think I’ll watch it again tonight.
Have you seen the movie? What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments below.
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