"Wanna be" artists?

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A thread for all you "wanna be" artists, that dreamed of one day becoming an artist, but then reality set in and the bills had to be paid...or that have a creative bone, but can't find THE skill...or dabble in the arts, but just do not have the time to throw yourselves into a project...or live & breathe arts & entertainment, but haven't produced anything of your own....or take pictures of anything and everything, but just are not sure what else to do with them!

come one, come all...painters, drummers, crafters, performers., sculptors, the list is endless, really....

I absolutely live and breathe anything artsy, funky and fun, but cannot seem to find my niche! I loved sculpting, drawing, etc when I was younger. Always thought I would be an artists, fashion designer, something, anything artist like, but instead, I watch, read, listen, buy and admire...

Anyone else feeling like this?

I'm a little bit like that with some things. I've focused mostly on writing, but I've also dabbled in plenty of acting and drawing (though I've never had formal drawing experience). I write songs, come up with melodies, but don't have any real musical talent when it comes to actual playing. Also there have been a lot of books I started but never finished, usually changing the plots too many times....

I'm an art major at the moment, and I love glass. If I had the $10,000 dolars i needed as start up money, I'd get into glass blowing, but for now I'm just into glass fusing and lampworking and dabble in staind glass.
But yeah I know that will be hard to make a real job out of, so i'm using my aspie focus super editing power to minor in writing and hopefully one day be an editor.
Also, I grew up way to closs to Boulder to concider art as a serious prefesion. and I don't smoke anything or have tatoos, so I wouldn't fit in there anyway.

Hey, I saw your stuff on your webpage.
Nice!

I tend to sketch when I get buried under too much of life's pressure.
I also write.
I'm a novice though.

My daughter and I got interested in glasswork.
We got a torch, gas (I already had hoses and one tank from something else), etc.
She took lessons from a local person, and she's made some stuff, but that's all on hold for now.
She also knits, spins wool, and has done some weaving on a loom.
Have you heard of Kumihimo? It's Japanese braiding. It's REALLY cool! My daughter and her mother do it a lot.

I like to work with metal, myself.
I really started when I became a horseshoer and got my forge/anvil/tools.
I've quit working with horses, but I still like shaping metal.
I also have a mini-lathe, mini-mill, and a medium-size metal lathe (10X48).

I'd like to work with wood more, but I'm just not very good at measuring and getting my cuts correct.

Do you plan on putting up any pictures of your other artwork like glass, on your webpage?

I draw, but not good enough to be an artist.

You draw... AND... you're an artist!

I saw your drawings in the deviantArt thread... well... on your deviantArt page, and I think you draw quite well.
I would think if you were meaning drawing like some of the other folks around here, that you can get there if you keep at it.

Sorta, somewhat. I do create, but have all kinds of psychological blockages* that prevent me from applying/deploying my "talents" in public, to outside world & strangers. Drawing is easy compared with the difficulty of trying to cope with all the confusing & arbitrary guidelines & judgments involved with "doing something with my art".
*Dunno' if my issues are caused/explained by: OCD (can never settle on a "fair" price for which to sell anything), some ASD-related attachment to pretty objects (then I don't want to give away my drawings except for the failures-but I don't want to offer those lesser items to people, either), or something else ?

People have told me all my life that I'd grow up to become successful & make good money from my art-but that hasn't worked out. Still doodle & decorate frequently, but haven't managed to surmount some unavoidable challenging problems inherent to marketing. Promotion of self makes me feel guilty & dishonest & not okay, plus I'm awkward & uncomfortable accepting compliments.
Would like people to enjoy my art (if it appeals to them) but also wish to remain safely obscure, as a private person. Continue gradually trying to find areas in which I dare participate (so-called opportunities seem more like perilous risks, to me)...

If I could devote more time to art, I'd probably be much better at realism. But alas, I know that art can't earn me a living, so it will be nothing more than a hobby for passing time--but it will be an enjoyable one. Some people think it's strange that I like both math and art, because math is so mechanical and technical and logical, but art requires a bit more of "feeling" in it, which I barely have--which is why some people might notice that my style is somewhat jagged or stiff. But that's also why I draw action scenes sometimes, or emotions. To get better at that.

art/drama/music/english were always my best subjects in school...was really close to going to art school for anything, but my parents wouldn't go for it. (they were paying)
i used to do a lot of art...drawing, painting in different mediums, sculpting, carving, anything i could do to make something pretty...and now i'm getting back into it again and i realized i missed out on a lot. i live in a small town and i want to go to our local art gallery to see if i could do something with some of the stuff i've done....but i'm kinda not sure i want to?
at one point i even thought i wanted to be a carousel horse carver...not much of a market for those, i soon found out....
i also play various instruments (or rather, played...getting back into that too!) guitar, bass, keyboards, violin, sax, recorder (yeah, lame, i know...but it's an instrument! it makes music!) used to be in a band, am considering collaborating with a musician friend and have started writing songs again...got an imac, so now i have garageband and can do all sorts of pretty things...
i did some acting back when i was younger, was in a university film, and appeared as an extra in many films and music videos. have been thinking about joining our local theatre group too, lately...i always loved the stage...performing gives a certain natural 'high' you just can't really get from anything else....
i also like writing stories, poetry, and photography...i'm actually working on a book of photos/poetry right now...just finishing up the written part of it, and then i'm looking into a publishing house...
and i knit, crochet, and do all kinds of crafts....
and yup. the arts sure don't pay the bills....that's kinda why i didn't pursue any of these things...but i wish i had stuck with them anyways. good thing is, it's kinda like riding a bike...i'm finding that re-learning it all is not as difficult as i thought!

I would love to be an artist! I loved art at school but was pushed in another direction. But I'm doing art now and really enjoy it. I don't actually think I'm particularly good at it but it's the doing of it I love. I've recently started painting on glass and would love to try my hand at making stained glass creations. I like lots of crafts too, and card-making. My dream would be to have a little studio where I could potter about all day doing all sorts of crafts and painting.

As a graduate of both The Cartoonists and Illustrators School (now known The School of Visual Arts) and Pratt Institute in Industrial Design I have some experience in art. The most important part of approaching art is to earn to see and learn techniques of putting what you see on paper or using one of the more recently developed media. Essentially it requires a piece of paper and a pen (any kind) and paper. Insofar as pigment is concerned, it is nice to have expensive paints and dyes but you can do interesting things with shoe polish and ketchup. The most important thing is learning to observe and spending lots of time at it. It's not a question of money.

This is very much me.

I dabble in the arts and crafts, as much as life will allow me the time. I have spent hundreds of dollars on scrapbooking/card making tools, pages, embellishments, etc and love to do it, but seldom have the time to dig it all out and know that if I do, the place is in a state until I am finished with it weeks later! (which doesn't always work for the rest of the family!! !) I like to make glass christmas ornaments, but haven't done for a couple of years. We just bought wooden ones to design and hope to dive in as early as possible. I doodle and draw, but usually for my daughter more than anything. I once had the idea that I would make beaded jewelry, but that fizzled as fast and furious as the obsession began and now I am stuck with all these beautiful glass beads and nothing to do with them. I am usually fairly creative when it comes to planning themed events, children's get togethers, etc. I took up knitting and well, then 9 million knitting items followed and now I rarely touch that either. Between all the paper, craft tools, wire bits, beads, photo's, etc I am swimming in a sea of opportunity, but still struggling to find my way...

I WISH I HAD A STUDIO TO WORK IN! I am sure it would be much more appealing then!

Should take some pictures of our work and post it here. Perhaps we could be some inspiration to each other?

I used to dream of being a manga artist, but that'll never happen. What really makes me sad is that I love to do art, but my work never amazes people. It's always "that's good", never "wow!".

i know exactly how you feel on that...i always thought i was better than i was. i only recently discovered (or rather accepted) the fact that in high school i was only considered 'average' in my skills and nothing special. with of course, the exception of a few well done paintings...well, maybe just one.
but what i am trying to learn is that it doesn't really matter at the end of the day whether or not your art is great. if you enjoy doing it, that should be why you do it. you can't rely on the praise of others to determine what you do or don't do. and yeah. i still get upset with my family/friends if i don't get a "wow" response. and i HATE when they point out only the flaws.
just remember to keep doing what you enjoy...and try to do it for yourself. and praise yourself for doing it well. sometimes we just have to pat ourselves on the back because no one else will.

Like any skill drawing takes practice. You must start with simple shapes and learn to draw them three dimensionally. Then you can combine them to make more complicated compositions. There are many books on human anatomy and general drawing. It doesn't hurt to look through them and try what they suggest.
There is one technique that I play with that works more on your recognition skills rather than requires you to fight with a blank piece of paper. Take a piece of standard paper used for computer printouts or typing. Put it on a smooth waterproof surface like a kitchen counter or a piece of glass or plastic. wet it with a cloth or sponge. Then either wet a brush with watercolor or some other intense color - ink or even bright cloth dye and place the color on the wet paper. Lines in black ink or color can be drawn on the wet paper. Do this with two or three colors and let the abstract pattern dry. This is a very quick process and various methods can be used to apply the color to the paper. I frequently make a dozen or so patterns using whatever techniques to apply the color that occurs to me. After the patterns dry look at them for recognizable patterns. The first patterns will usually be faces and with searching over time the pictures discerned can become almost photographic. This may appear immediately or take as long as several weeks of searching. Many patterns will be seen from each sheet. When you find one you want to keep you can accentuate the lines of the patterns with lines from a pen or pencil or, with a brush with color, paint over those places that do not compliment the pattern you see. You will be surprised how realistic some of these patterns become.

Thank you. I feel better now. I may not be the next Michaelangelo, but I'll keep doing art because I have fun with it.