Tag: portraits

Colored Pencils, For Sale!, Life Journey, Uncategorized

What Makes an Artist

Harley Makes Art
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:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-harley-the-artist?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet
Click or tap the link!

I am forever grateful!

If you would like a small drawing like this, I can give you one of these originals, or a custom piece for $35.

acrylic painting, marketing, oil painting, Painting Process

Back On Track

Harley Makes Art

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!

Uncategorized

New Layout Coming Soon

Harley Makes Art

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!