The World Is Opening Up For You: Surreal Art Contest

in #art7 years ago (edited)

@sethlinson started a new contest for artists to create a piece of surreal art, and I'm so excited I was able to carve out enough time to get something pulled together. We have been so busy on the homestead (then again, when are we not busy?) But one thing I like about the winter is that the dark comes early. There's only so much that can happen in the course of the daylight, and once dinner is cleaned up, children are in bed, and the quiet has settled over the house, there's this crazy blessing of having an extra hour or two to create something.

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It was a unique challenge, trying to thing of something for this contest. You see, when I was in college, Surreal art both intrigued and unsettled me. Entering into the dreamscape of so many artists who were in varying states of sanity was like being surrounded by their minds for a moment, and sometimes I wanted to get out of there ASAP! At the same time, the limitless visual opportunities available in a world where anything could happen was appealing. I did a lot of surrealistic art as a student, exploring what I thought was a more exciting world than the one I was physically living in.

But now, almost a decade later, I have (thankfully) changed my mind quite a bit. After creating a family, watching our children start to grow, moving into the countryside, starting up our homestead, and being daily surrounded by some of the most amazing, unique, and beautiful living things, I can't imagine that my dreamed-up scenarios could be any more fantastic or inexplicable than what I see in the 12 acres that surround me. You want to find some incredible color-shifts and patterns? Take a long, hard look at the beautiful feathers on my Sussex hen (she'll let you pick her up!) Or look into the weird, sideways-pupil of our goat, and see a pulsing, black island in an icy sea of blue. Hold a leaf from our oak tree up to the midwinter sun, and see the uncharted pathways of vein and cell wall that defy a map. I spent so much time in college, trying to dream up bizarre and beautiful things, but I didn't realize that if I took the time to look at creation, there were exponentially more intricate and dreamlike things that surrounded me daily.

So when I tried to think of what sort of surrealistic image I could create, ironically, the only place I wanted to go was into the real world. My son has been exploring lots of books lately, and most of them feature animals. Nothing makes you start to appreciate the world more than watching it open up to a small little human. Everything is amazing. Everything is new. Everything is worth asking about and learning about. I had forgotten what it was like to see a zebra for the first time (he enthusiastically calls them ZAHZEEEEZZ!!), or the alien-like shape of a giraffe, but I'm remembering as he ventures into it for the first time, and it's like dreaming awake.

So here's my entry. The world starting to open up to a new mind, the incredible Reality so much more complex, awe-inducing, and full of potential than anything that could be dreamed up by a college student, alone in the group studio. I love learning about the Father's amazing designs and creations all over again as my kids start to explore it with me.

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This was drawn with my FAVORITE of drawing tools, the humble, indispensable Bic Cristal Ballpoint Pen. Yes, those super-cheap, 10-to-a package pens are surprisingly versatile. I love how they can create a gradient and respond to pressure just like a graphite pencil. They're my favorite sketching tool, and I always feel a little underprepared when I don't have one with me somewhere!

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This is very important post for artist... thanks for sharing... upvoted, followed and resteemed. Peace and Love from Spain

Thanks so much for your comment and support! Nunca he visitado Espana, pero me aparece como una lugar muy interesante y llena de historia. :)

That's an awesome entry! I am such a fan of surrealism! I like your Steemit page. My sweetheart and I are permaculturalists and identify with a lot of what you write about. She teaches permaculture and nutrition at a child-driven school that provides macrobiotic food all day.
Long story made short: followed and upvoted you. Keep sharing your art. I think it's great!

Thanks so much for your support and such a kind comment. We're about to start planting our food forest this spring, so much excitement is in the air at our homestead. What a neat subject to teach! I used to teach environmental education, so I bet we could have some fun conversations. :)

Very nice drawing! I wish that I could draw but that was not one of my talents. I can build and put things together, so I guess I have others to have fun with.

Thank you so much. The way I see it, you're "drawing" with wood, right? But unlike a flat piece of paper, your drawings have both form and function, haha.

Oh, wow. The art is ah-may-zing! But the thoughts behind the art really hit me in an emotional way. Thank you for taking the time to share!

That means a lot to me. Ever since college, it has been such a mental 180 to start really finding out what I believe and how I want to live and think--not just regurgitating what I was taught in school. So glad that it could resonate with you. :)

I think we all go through a realization period when we get out in the world and have to test our ideas and beliefs with out the lead or influence of our parents or educators.

Wow...you are really good!

That's so kind of you to say. Thanks!

Thanks again for entering the contest. Your piece was included in the latest showcase of contest entries. Stay tuned for my announcement of the winners!

Looking forward to it! I love the way you ran this contest--I am planning to make some changes to the way I'm running my own contest and take some inspiration from you!

I absolutely adore this illustration and the representation of the story coming to life and engulfing the little boy in the joy of reading.

I'm also impressed the you used a Bic to draw it! I always find that they smudge :)

Good luck in the competition! Hopefully we'll know the winners soon :)

I find that if I work on a pen drawing in sections (work on the top left, move to the bottom right, go back to the left side, etc) the pen has time to dry before my hand smudges on top of it again. But it's just practice that makes a medium work, right? (this is why I am AWFUL at charcoal...I don't like it enough to spend time with it).

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