I've felt this strange feeling these last couple of months that I needed to get a little dirty with my art. (Not like THAT!)

Everything I do is very clean, very calculated, very organized, very photo realistic (at least I TRY to make them that way). Don't get me wrong, this sort of art is my life. I love it. This is what I want to do. However, I've had this urge to just... do the complete opposite I guess.

I suppose most people would consider it sketching, but I didn't even want to be THAT organized. I wanted to just scribble and smear, and if nothing recognizable came out of it, then THAT would be exactly what I was aiming for. Sounds a bit odd huh?

So I went to our local humungo national chain arts and crafts store and bought a pad of charcoal and pastel paper, and then bought some very messy stick charcoal and left. It sat by my art desk for about a week until yesterday.

Yesterday my husband went fishing and I tagged along with my newest art supplies and plopped on the bank and did exactly what I aimed to do with them. I got messy, I sketched so quickly that at times I wasn't even looking at what I was doing, I let my hand drag across the paper and through the charcoal.

Let me tell you, by the end of it my right hand looked like it belonged to a black woman and the paper looked totally wrecked, but holy crow I felt great. So great that after he went to bed and I couldn't sleep I tried again. For an hour and a half I made a complete mess of myself, and the paper, all over again. This time though, I was left with a face donning sunglasses staring out at me from a huge black mass of charcoal.

The proportions aren't quite right, but I'm rather shocked that with no referance what so ever and no goal in mind, something so random could produce something so recognizable and actually on par with what a lot of other artists are actually doing these days. I mean, a high schooler who's not developed their work yet might have done it.

It was quite liberating. I sort of feel refreshed and ready to get back to the very clean and organized photo realistic art that I'm used to. And it's good timing too.

A little over a week ago I had emailed a photographer about using a couple of photographs for a new piece. I got an email back today saying I could use them and that I'd get the hi-resolution copies by the weekend. I'm extremely excited about this project and can't wait to get started on it!

While I don't want to give away what I'm doing, I will link you over to the photographer's site and you can peruse the photos and try and guess what I'll be doing ; )

The photographer is Juha Seila who's site is located here: [link]

For now, I'll just get back to the laundry and working on this second shirt design.