beggar & trobrianders

I'm reading The Gift (it is 3:47 as I write this first chunk of blog post) and it is stirring a lot of thoughts. One of them is how linguistically, words that are in fantasy books shouldn't be in them because the world lacks the origins that the word we use has. Such as "beggar", which comes from the Beghards, that are these 13th century friars from Flanders that wander and beg. Fantasy novels that have no Beghards because there is no Flanders should not use the word beggar, because the origin of that word doesn't exist. Still, to pick apart every word would be time consuming. I think if I wasn't studying art, I'd be studying linguistics.

Went to Trader Joe's. Got vegetables a plenty. And baby spinach so that I can spruce up my salads even more. Tons of apples. Bread. Egg. Meat. Yum. I have a new episode of Top Gear waiting to be watching, but BACK TO READING!

*****

Reading went pretty well. Went down to the studios to draw Dominic for thesis. It went really well. We pretty much just sat and chilled. He worked. I drew him. Nice and loose. Smaller images, and he didn't hold still. They turned out a lot better. Four images drawn. Didn't take that long. And if I work on enough of these, I can create a good body of art. Just need to draw draw draw hang out draw. I love that part of my thesis is hanging out with people. All part of the process. And the more I know about my process, the more I can speak about it. So happy that that went well. Also had a good conversation with mom that lifted my spirits and stresses. Mum is so supportive. Love her.

After that I returned home and caved and watched Top Gear. And Episodes. And Shameless. But I worked on portraits! So after Shameless, it will be back to reading. And I have a lot of stuff to do tomorrow morning before class, so I think I will try to accomplish waking up early tomorrow. Make myself a scramble. I love scrambles.

Really loving the next two portraits that I made. I think I need to avoid pen. Ink is where its at.

Todays Portrait Is: Michael Anderson.

coffee shop failure

Got up earlier, which is good. Had a small toast breakfast. Today is a hat hair day. Left the apartment at around 1pm. Walked to Coffee Time and got a cookie and caramel with steamed milk. In a few hours of sitting I accomplished very little. Though The Gift is reading a lot faster now that I am past the introduction.

I spent most of the day picking up The Gift and putting it down and picking it up again. Took out the trash. Did the dishes. It is interesting, I just can't keep my mind on it. I'm having real focus issues. But seeing as how tomorrow is a big "lots of stuff to get done for Thesis Writing & Research" day, I'll probably be more productive. And when I'm not being productive on my book reading, I'll draw portraits. But my tellie doesn't come on till later..soooo. Yeah.

Goddamn. I hate feeling like a failure. I feel like I am not working nearly hard enough. Not reading enough. Not drawing enough. It has been a month and I have no pieces printed. What the hell? Gaaahh.

Todays Portrait Is: Matt Wilson.

crafters and artists, why is it one or the other?

Got out of bed early. Showered. Had some breakfast. Then I scooted off to downtown to have a mid afternoon hang out with Rollyn. It's good to relax for a bit before getting down to the serious dreary rest of the day grind. We couldn't get Portlandia to work on his computer because he didn't have the proper codecs. His Internet was dial up slow so I couldn't fiddle with it to get the proper codecs. So we watched MST3K: Soul Taker instead. And ordered pizza. That is my ideal Sunday afternoon. Cheesy movies, food with cheese, and a cute boy. Yes indeed. He had a script read through for a short film he is in, so I didn't stay long. Which is good. Because I had important stuff to get to doing!

It is also nice to get extra bike rides whenever possible. I'm biking a lot less these days and I think I'm noticing how I am falling out of shape compared to the days when I biked to school five or so times a week.

Stopped by Utrecht and got some more little sketchbooks to do Portraitoday in. Also Microns were cheap, so I got some more. Microns are cheap pens that work well with the type of moleskins that I draw in. I love how artists find their "thing" their "mediums". Mine, for sketching, are microns in size 01 and the floppy moleskins that come in 3 packs. They have a good line width and are not super precious, so if it explodes (like when I shake it to get the ink into the felt tip and I shake it too much) or if the nib breaks or goes into the pen...no biggie.

Got home. Got the latest episode of Top Gear downloading. Since that would take a while, I put on the kettle and got to reading the thesis paper Joan assigned us. It is an interesting read and it relates a lot to my project on several levels. It is about the craftsman and the artist and the differences. My main problem is he (Casey Brown, the writer) doesn't establish a definition for either. Are you a craftsman because you employee craftsman techniques? Or are you a craftsman because you make craft. Is it the technique or the product. At one point it seems to be the product because he talks about for something to be craft it has to serve the function first before aesthetics, and then he talks about this artist who identifies as a craftsman and uses the techniques but doesn't make objects that serve a functional purpose. And that seems more aligned with how Casey Brown is talking about the artist.

For me, craftsman are just a subjection of artist. Dad is an artist whose section of artistry is craft, mom is an artist whose section of artistry is textiles (as well as drawing and all sorts of things). I'm taking a little reading break right now and typing this up. I like blogging in chunks through the day. It makes it so I can relate stuff fresh on my mind better, and it helps me not stay up late with blogging. I hate making stunted posts because it is 2am and I am tired, but I still want to post. Anyway, back to reading.

*****

Okay that essay never quite established a definition of craft and art. It's good to know that if I'm talking about an either or type thing, I need to define the either and the or. If something isn't both and only plays between things, the things it plays between need clear definitions. Had some pasta for dinner and a beer with it. The beer actually helped with the reading. Nursed that sucker as I turned page after page. Removed the "WHAT DOES THIS SENTENCE MEAN WHY CAN'T I GET PAST READING THESE SAME 12 WORDS" anxiety that plagues me when it comes to "intellectual" reading. Getting through it is the first step to understanding. Worked on portraits and watched my Sunday night round up. I'll probably be up late. Have a little mini analysis to write. 750 words. This single blog post is over 700 words. And half of that is just about what I ate and who I hung out with. Anyway, back to watching Top Gear and working on drawing.

Todays Portrait Is: Addie Vawdrey.