Drawn! The Illustration and Cartooning Blog

Thank you very much.

I made a trackback to your article.

can we get this in a power point presentation? ;)

Yeah, I really like this.

And so another thread dies a natural death.

What if bart simspons was raped bt mcbain?Suck a lollipop silly ones!

Of course it's not.
I no longer enjoy it, and if I'm being honest it's because it doesn't do anything for me personally anymore.
Besides, I think saying that the blog has completely changed in attitude from what it once was is a perfectly viable criticism.
And this here being my own personal opinion (as previously stated), I can say pretty much whatever I want.
Even that all cat's should wear purple galoshes.
I don't expect anyone to agree with me.
But to say that I'm absurd for being honest and expressing my personal opinion is... well... absurd.

"Recently things have been much less cheerful and illustrated there, and as much as I respect any persons need for introspection, it’s not what I need more of in my life right now, and is not the reason I started reading."

It's absurd to be critical of a blog because "what you need" isn't catered for.

Oh, yeah...expecting investors, producers, hell anyone in a power posistion over your project to understand what it is you're trying to accomplish.

What about expecting colaborators to be on the same page.

Hmmm. I would say if you are an illustrator who posts illustrations in her blog, then saying it's not an illustration blog is kinda a matter of opinion.
The reason I have always read Keri's blog is for the illustrations, and maybe for the positive and cheerful outlook on life as well.
Recently things have been much less cheerful and illustrated there, and as much as I respect any persons need for introspection, it's not what I need more of in my life right now, and is not the reason I started reading.
Hence my frustration.

It's terrible, but true... i suppose.

What if your family is much "cooler" then others?Like its so many diffrent familys...a family is just a gropu of humans with tha same dna.You just sound like a young art student who think everybody hates their family...
yeah yeah :)
sorry bad english...Iam fucking guy from finnlandia !
peace out

wow, I'm glad to see that my writings have sparked a dialogue here. I'd like to add a few points...

1. tongue is firmly planted in cheek. this was supposed to be funny.

2. I'm not telling anyone how to live, merely sharing my own experiences.

3. anecdotally, i have become disillusioned with self-help as a medium and a north american culture that fears discomfort. I agree it is important to see the positive side of things, but not at the risk of avoiding the negative. my intent was not to cause shame but instead take a lighthearted, slightly buddhist approach here by saying, "sometimes I do things that cause my own suffering. this can be quite uncomfortable." or rather, "sometimes this sucks", the buddhist notion of sitting with the discomfort, looking at our it for what it is.

4. I am an illustrator with a blog. I write about life. i have never labeled it as an 'illustration blog'.

feel free to agree or disagree with anything or everything that I have said here.

Yeah, I do tend to be vague pretty often. Oh well. That's a good one, Rod. Sphinx was probably my favorite character in MM. I didn't make that line up entirely on my own; I adapted it from something an acquaintance often says. If I really wanted to sound like Sphinx I could've said, "It's good to plan your work, but you must work your plan if you want your plan to work." And Patricia, I agree; some of those things on Keri's list are a wake-up call for me too. I wrote that "positive" list for myself, so the vague things make perfect sense for me. I'd recommend that others write their own positive list in order to work on avoiding doing the things Keri's list mentions. Cheers.

I don't see Keri's list as a carte blanche excuse to wallow in one's artistic misery. I see the opposite. It's a humorous reminder of the mental traps creative types should avoid. I love what I do, and most of the time feel pretty good about it, but I'm human, and sometimes fall victim to these weaknessnes.

For those artists who are perfect and never feel insecure, well, just ignore it.

"Set reasonable goals, plan your work, and then work your plan."

This sounds like The Sphinx from "Mystery Men":

"He who questions training only trains himself at asking questions."

"When you care what is outside, what is inside cares for you."

"To learn my teachings, I must first teach you how to learn."

Yeah. And I think some of the responses here pretty much prove just how miserable artists are. Or at least indicate a degree of over sensitivity.

are you talknig to me?:D
I'm scared...

The problem with positive lists is that they're often so vague that we can't figure out how to actually DO them. A negative list like this points out things we probably already do and reminds to to STOP. I'm so printing this out...

Yeah, I agree that doing those things will make you feel miserable. I also agree that this kind of list is indeed shame inducing, and not really helpful, unless you immediately show a list of ten things that will help you to feel wonderful as an artist. I just made the opposite of your list, converting every negative suggestion to a positive one, and threw in a bit of Dao de Jing for variety. Hope this brightens the mood here a bit. :)


How To Feel Wonderful As An Artist

1. See the good work you are doing, and believe it.
2. Seek inspiration and motivation from the artist within.
3. Look at the big picture when examining your artistic career.
4. Branch out and experiment.
5. Evaluate your expertise fairly and competently.
6. Those who work for fame and fortune may achieve them at the cost of happiness, while those who work for the love of it are happy with the work they do and will often have fame and fortune come to them.
7. The tree that bends to the wind will not break. In society, we must be flexible as well.
8. Do work that you love doing, regardless of what your family thinks.
9. Inform others of your boundaries, and be firm in standing by them.
10. Set reasonable goals, plan your work, and then work your plan.

:)

It's definitely just my personal opinion.
But as a regular reader of Keri's I am growing tired of her self-help thinly disguised as a illustration blog.
I want illustration in my illustration blogs, damnit!

kerismith.com :( The Illustrator doesnt even link her own site :P And for some reason I found the URL unwilling to copy/paste.

Why the bristle Beth Maher? Im pretty sure the featured list is light-hearted satire. Common themes most professional/creatives have to deal with? Its just a matter of scattering salt.

look at my drawings. they are nice. your blog needs them.

It is true! Blogging...who has time? We are now at 16 minutes...and counting.

Blog! Your 15 minutes is up.

I only have one rule as an artists: to be myself, and not let others dictate what I do (especially not in blanket manifestos like the above).
While I'm sure there's some wisdom there, I bristle at being told what to think, how to be creative.
Which is why I'm falling out of love with Keri Smith's ramblings, no matter how esoteric.

The first one is the only one I'm guilty of, but alas it's enough to severely cripple my self-esteem.

haha! some of those are very familiar!

Very timely post! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I think feeling miserable is overrated.

Very good. I'm guilty too ;)

Haha...that almost hurts to read. I'm going to paste that on my mirror...

As for nothing being wrong with "letting money dictate what you do as long as you're creating your personal dream-work at the same time" -- that may be true, but it still makes me feel miserable while I'm doing that crappy job for money. And personally, I find I dislike actors who do voiceovers "for products they don't use" for money -- it happens to me every time I hear a commercial with a "cutesy" voice-actor telling me about the benefits of nuclear power or clear cutting or perfume for kids. There's more honest ways to earn a buck, imho.

Sorry to rant...that list was hilarious though!

Ha...I've printed that out and stuck it on my wall!

no.10 is soo true it hurts... =)

Wow...I do quite a few of the things on that list.

Pretty good (and shame-inducing) list. #2 should be expanded to include peer groups, though.

Mark: "letting money dictate what you do" probably means all the time, such that you never have time or energy left over to do what you actually want. Money ought to be your bitch, not the other way 'round. ;)

So very true. Sadly, I think I'm guilty of #1 thru #5. *bows head in shame*

There's nothing wrong with letting money dictate what you do, as long as you are creating your personal dream-work at the same time. We all have to pay the bills. Even the most talented artists and actors do commercial voice-overs promoting products they probably don't use....Why? For the money! Good for them...

If you change #10 to 'Set Unachieveable/Overwhelming Goals To be Accomplished by Yesterday' then you'll be ready to work in advertising (no joke)

No 2 gave me a good laugh. So true (for me atleast)

Wow. That almost hurts to read. There's nothing April Fools about that list.

LOL! I recognize alot there! Perhaps too much!