My apologies for the hiatus. I’ve been making art, I swear! Have I completed anything that I like enough to show everyone? Not lately.
That being said, there has been lots of practice and progress! I have a new subscription to SkillShare.com, which has all sorts of helpful online courses.
One of those courses is about communication.
First, though, let’s talk about art. 🙂
Art Stuff
I got my studio moved to my apartment, got an air filter for Christmas to help with the smell of turpentine. (Thanks mom.)
I’ve gotten more supplies. (More than this.)
Practiced hands, drawing figures from my head, perspective, as well as drawing/shading 3d shapes.
I have a closet full of pieces that are 60-90% finished, they just need a bit more. Eventually they will be posted!
There will be more to see! Let’s go to the next thing…
Communication Courses Anybody who knows me well knows I struggle with talking to people. I’m sure it’s apparent to people who don’t know me too. That isn’t to put myself down but to be honest for the sake of setting goals.
Better communication is likely the most important obstacle to overcome in meeting my goals as an artist.
How can I talk to clients if I can barely talk?
That’s what this course is about. I hope that applying the information will help me interact with everyone more and better! ‐‐–‐—————————–
I am also taking courses on time management and productivity, as well as marketing. Once it all comes together, I will be further ahead, ready to market art again! That’s all for now, bye. 🙂
One can make beautiful drawings with patience and colored pencils.
I need to make art like a caged bird needs to sing. (Look up Maya Angelou.) It is my calling, my life blood.
This is not for the faint of heart.
Many artists, of all kinds, struggled with mental health challenges. Famous examples include Vincent van Gogh, Edvard Munch, Beethoven, Georgia O’Keeffe, Sylvia Plath, Kurt Cobain, etc. Something about being creatively gifted brings the curse of madness with it.
I am no different.
My life has never been easy, as much as I’d love to tell a happy story. I’ve overcome abuse, abandonment, betrayal, along with much else which I don’t often speak about. Such experiences bred “demons” with names like anxiety, depression, PTSD, and suicide. Those monsters have left many scars, metaphorical or otherwise.
Art was the light at the end of the tunnel. I was creatively gifted so, as I once sat there, listening to some wise inner calling, contemplating whether a 4th suicide attempt or a great life change would be most challenging, I came to a compromise. If I do not waste my life, then neither can I waste my gifts.
Why would I be given a gift if I was not meant to use it?
This was why I was sick, unfulfilled, and on the edge of death. I was not on the right path. God, in whichever form you may choose, put me on this planet for a reason. It does not include a normal lifestyle or a 9 to 5 job that erodes my mental health, killing my spirit. Money is not so important as completing my life’s mission and staying healthy.
Art keeps me sane. It gives me strength. It makes me feel I have something valuable to offer this world. That is why I do it.
If you would like to help support this struggling artist on a mission, I’ve created a GoFundMe page for those who may not be able to afford my art yet wish to support my journey:
I figured I should post prices for different pieces, somewhere. I am setting up a PayPal account, which I will post here too. I also take money orders. You can email me about anything below at HarleyMakesArt@gmail.com. Don’t miss the coupon that’s on my Instagram!
First of all, I can get you a printed copy of any of my pieces. A 5×7″ will be $10 while an 8×10″ will be $20.Soon, I should have this all in an online shop.
I will likely add more and edit this later!
Hunger. $550. 24×18″ in oil on canvas.
Wondering. $350. 14×18″ in oil on canvas.
Objectified. $150. 8×10″ in colored pencil on paper. Comes with matting in a frame.
Modelesque. $100. 8×10″ in colored pencil on paper. Comes with matting in a frame.
Ganja Goddess. $225. 8×10″ in acrylic on canvas.
Relax. $300. 14×18″ in oil on canvas.
Wisdom Whispers. $200. 8×10″ in acrylic on canvas.
The Magic of Reflection. $50. 8×8″ in acrylic on wood.
Again, my email is HarleyMakesArt@gmail.com. Thanks so much for your support!
More than painting this week, I’ve been marketing and trying to force myself to make scary phone calls.
I’m still getting trapped in my head a lot. Once you become your own boss, you have to learn how to keep yourself on track without the threat of being fired. As a reminder to stay positive, though, I’m focused on art for more hours of the week than ever before. I have faith that I will meet my time goals, pretty soon.
So here’s some of what I’ve been up to.
The flowers are beginning to come to life.
I’ll start with the newest thing, actually, because I’m most excited about it. The flowers are starting to come along and the background just feels really happy to me. I’m going to work on my face a bit more too, some finishing details. This should only take a few more hours. Working bigger is worth the results and the patience!
I love that oil paint doesn’t dry fast, so you can mix all the colors on the palette and not worry about them drying before you get them on your brush.
Just started a new palette. These are the colors for some of the flowers, which is mainly what I worked on today. I’ll fill up the rest of this in a couple days.
I want to show you the process for a cartoon-y, illustration-y piece I’m working on too, so here:
Looks ghostly.
I started with a sketch that I then transferred onto a canvas I painted black. I then started by shading using white, so that I can pile other colors on top. It acts as a guide. The face turned out different. I actually like the face in the original sketch better, so I’m going to to save that sketch in case I want to turn it into digital art later on.
Then comes the messy stage. There’s always a stage where the piece looks sub par, but it’s a work in progress! This is where I mix the colors with enough water to make them transparent and start packing them on there.
Packing in more color…
Now the piece is coming along. I added lines with a sharpie, I’m not sure how I feel about it. I do think the piece looks better with lines, although I need to go back over some of them with paint to smooth them out. I’ll adjust the colors and the value of those colors… Basically, there’s still several things to do but this is where it starts to look good. This is also as far as I’ve gotten with it.
Now onto marketing stuff…
A couple days ago, I went to a bar called “The Avenue” where everyone I know seems to go. They have live music, art, and drinks so strong you’ll black out after just three of them… Anyway, they let me leave business cards there as well as free samples… I set up some of my art while I sat at a table to draw. I’ve read that doing this in cafes and such is a good strategy and I got their permission to do it. I hope to find other places to do this.
Finally, I got some professional business cards made, as well as coupons that I will hand out. I have both a family reunion and a class reunion tomorrow, so it should be a good opportunity for that. All I need to do is get over my shyness and talk to people.
I will be posting that coupon online as well!
So I guess that’s it. I plan to update more often, maybe with shorter updates. I need to build a larger audience, but I suppose that will come with time. Anyway, thanks for reading!
I like to switch it up. I love realistic work, which, I believe will aid me in drawing well from fantasy… That’s the thing right there, I also want to draw from my head. So, I do both. One day I’d like to be at the level where I could do CGI for movies and video games, if I wanted. I’m certainly not there yet and probably won’t be there for years. My cartoon-y stuff is improving, though, which makes me happy. Studying figure anatomy is helping.
My friend says the girl looks like me, probably because I’ve been painting self portraits. It’s likely an idealized version of myself, if anything… That flower was drawn from a fake flower. Real life.
I have plans for these sketches. The chick is gonna go on this wooden secret book thing I bought at Michael’s… I’m curious about working on wood, it’s certainly more pourous…
The stencil moved a little as I was transferring, but I should still be able to make it look just fine.
This is the way I transfer my sketches onto a canvas or other surface. It’s a tedious process, but precise. And cheaper than transfer paper… I trace my original sketch, then I go over those lines on the opposite side with a charcoal pencil. Then, I put the tracing paper over the new surface, tape it down, and go over the lines again with a different colored pen, to make it easier.
Sometimes, I like to paint freely. It lets me adopt new ideas and it gives my brain a breakfor a bit.
Artist tape is expensive. It’s probably something I’ll start ordering on Amazon.
I’ve been wanting to develop new styles and ideas for my backgrounds, I’m pretty happy with this, actually. I was messing around on these canvases previously. I just used some artist tape and then colored each of the sections. I like the results. I’ll probably paint some flowers on these or something since there seems to be a market for that kind of art, anyway. The flower sketch I showed you at the beginning will probably go on one of these.
When I was camping over the holiday, I took photos of flowers around the park as well as different textures and anything else I found interesting. I can use these as references later with no risk of being sued.I’m happy with the progress I’m making.
I’ll say it again, I love working big… It’s more expensive, but the results are worth it. Gonna keep working on this until I’m satisfied… I decided I’m gonna buy big canvases from now on, whenever I can. Obviously, they are expensive.
That big one would normally cost over $50 at Michael’s.
I got these canvases on sale, 50% off. If not for that, I wouldn’t have bought them. I’m always keeping my eye out for sales.
An experimental piece that I actually want to sell.
So this is a piece I just finished, it’s not my best work and yet I still really like it. Something about it… The drawings are mannequins that I drew years ago while taking classes. What makes me happy was how I shaded that first mannequin pretty realistically without any reference. That shows improvment… And I don’t know, I just feel there’s some symbolism here. I’ll probably sell it pretty cheap but I think I’m still gonna sell it.
I’m finishing up old pieces that are already less skilled than my current work, which makes me proud! I’m so glad to find myself constantly improving. The hard work is really paying off and no matter what might be happening in my life… I have this. Thanks for reading!
So I have a confession: I haven’t been painting very long. Most of my experience is in drawing with graphite and colored pencil. I’ve been painting for maybe a year and a half and I’ve taken a couple painting classes. What this means, ultimately, is that it still takes me a long time to finish a piece because I don’t always know what I’m doing.
And that’s ok. It all comes with time. I’m already good for my current level of experience, with time it will turn into great.
Anyway, let’s start with one of my first pieces. When I say “first”, I mean paintings I’ve started since I moved my studio about a year ago.
I’m calling this one “The Closet”. I’ll let you figure out the rest.
This is the 2nd painting I started since getting serious about painting. It still needs work, more detail on the moon… Honestly, I’m trying to adopt a “just get it done” mentality to combat my perfectionism. Perhaps it’s not my greatest painting, but it’s still good, and since I’ve been working on it so long, I just want to get it finished. As I said in my last post, oil paintings take a long time to dry. After this layer dries, I just need a few more details.
This is actually a friend of mine. We used to work together in a dispensary.
This painting? I keep wanting to call it finished… The only thing it still needs is perhaps some detail on the weed plants. The most challenging thing for me right now is smooth lines. It’s getting the right combination of pigment and linseed oil in order to form something solid. If anything, I might want to add a few details but it is pretty much done.
This is a lot more vibrant than most of my work, which shows how happy I was painting for an audience.
This is a painting I started at the Ganja Goddess Convention. It has a long way to go. The flowers are based from real life rather than a photo, but of course I just started them. I used acrylic paint for the first and second layer, now I’m using oil on top.
When you start learning the human figure, you draw people nude. I continued to draw women as I questioned my sexuality and strived to be thin.
This is the 1st painting I started since my new studio, so I’m definitely ready to call it done! I added more color to the hair because something felt lacking. I lightened up the background… I’m deciding whether I’m satisfied with it, I think I might be. As I said, I need to have the mentality of just getting it done… That one breast is larger than the other, I’ve noticed, but that’s realistic, honestly. Nobody’s body is perfectly symmetrical.
I keep changing the background, I’m actually starting to like it. The left boob has issues.
This one has a ways to go… It’s drawn and painted from real life. The reason it isn’t as realistic as, say, my Buddha painting, which I should probably also show you… Is that I started drawing it in one lighting, but then I’m using slightly different lighting to paint it, as well as a different mirror. Therefore, it’s not gonna be super realistic, a lot of it has to come from my head. That means it’s gonna be more cartoon-y. That’s ok though! Lesson learned, and I get practice with improvising.
Bigger means easier.
This is my newest painting. It is so much easier to get in detail and it pops out so much more when you work bigger, so I want to do that as much as I can now. Maybe it’s easier but it also allows for expansion. I’ve realized my favorite artists do such amazing work because they work big!
Anyway, I had to adjust the nose, I realized the proportions were a little off… I’m debating whether to keep those large circles under my eyes because it certainly says something about me… I know it looks good, but it’s gonna look even better once I get all the detail in there. It needs to dry though first before the next layer… I’m still not sure what to put in the background.
I’d like to start posting these blog posts earlier in the day for a wider audience, but, you know. I’m a night owl so for now this works… Anyway, thanks for reading… I’ll just show you the Buddha painting tomorrow… The next couple of days will be art days, too, so you’ll be seeing more soon!
Happy 4th of July! I’m gonna try to keep this light and positive, despite the way I’m feeling tonight. Also, short, because I don’t have anything to SHOW you. See, I lost my phone last night and spent most of the day retrieving it. Now it’s charging and I haven’t had a chance yet to take photos of what I’ve been doing.
There are days where my main goal is just to get through the day, which is part of what makes art so wonderful. My 9 to 5 makes days like this worse, where as making art all day actually RELIEVES the stress and improves my mental state.
Anyway, I have something cool I want to show you tomorrow, if I have a chance before I go camping. I’ve decided to start working bigger, despite the cost of large canvases, because I can make it look so much more awesome!
I was also playing around with acrylic ink and different designs. Maybe I’ll add photos later. I’m trying to develop a style for the backgrounds in the paintings. What else do I want in them? I want symbols, eventually.
I’ll be finishing up more paintings over the next couple of weeks.
And finally, I haven’t completely ruled out art school. I still REALLY want to go. My question is whether it’s realistic with my business goals. More than anything, I want to get my business going before I hit 30. I’m not sure I can mentally afford to go to school, work part time, AND run a business without spiraling into a major depressive episode.
Sometimes, you have to be realistic enough to face your limitations.
Really, it’s just ego wanting me to go to school, anyway. I’m perfectly capable of learning and advancing on my own, as I’ve always done, it’s just that college degree sounds pretty good. 😛 It’s a status symbol, which is why I say it’s an ego thing and should perhaps be dismissed.
Oh my, this turned out longer than I had planned. That’s ok. Happy 4th, everyone! I’ll have more to show you soon!
I decided to study figure proportions and weight distribution before I work out tonight, a little bit, by copying some of the sketches from one of my favorite books called “Figure Drawing for All It’s Worth” by Andrew Loomis. I did this first by tracing, then by eyeing the figures and drawing them.
Doing this helps you remember how to draw more accurately. It’s almost like muscle memory.
Tomorrow is a work day for my art so there will be another post soon, hopefully with some finished work.
My name is Harley and I’m an artist. I’ve realized this is what makes me happy, everything else is soul sucking. I want to master my craft. Guess what though? In order to have 30+ hours a week to do that, I need to make some money on it.
That’s where this blog comes in. I’ve read at least a couple books about making a living as an artist. My favorite one recommends starting a blog, Instagram, Facebook page, etc. So that’s where we are.
I will do my best to post at the end of each day I spend making art!
It’s good too, because I spend A LOT of time on each piece so it’s great to have somewhere I can show what I’m doing.
I’m working on the yellow in the Buddha painting as well as the flower. The Harley Quinn-esque painting is something I just started after watching Suicide Squad. Started out as one thing, ended up being another.
I like to start at my apartment working on small acrylic paintings as I get around. Then I move to my studio.
Left one is very close to finished. The right mostly needs details on the moon.Been working on this one forever. It’s one of the first ones I started when I decided to learn how to paint realistically.Altered the floor, added detail to the feather. Might add a sparkle to the eye and then add varnish.I’m thinking I’m about to call this one done.I just started these self portraits since I won’t be young forever. It’s good practice.
I like to work on multiple paintings at a time because oils take so long to dry. I give it that depth by painting in layers, letting each one dry before I start another. Each layer takes a couple days to dry though. Hence: multiple paintings.
Harley Makes Art 