Inspiration Without Those Vexatious Thumbnail Sketches

Pastel Drawing "Indoor Landscape"

This was inspired by one of my Instagram followers who requests drawings of her cat Leo from various artists. I saw this curious pose of Leo and immediately imagined him watching a house spider in the wild house plants. The muses guided me through the rest as they usually do.

On this topic, in all of my art school studies, I was always taught to make thumbnail sketches, lots and lots of thumbnail sketches. I was to work out my various ideas on a chosen theme and then stick to just one of them. Though I understand the point of them, I always found them to be less than useful. I know I am not alone. In the end, I always used my first idea anyway and then branched off of it. Art to me is like life, it evolves and changes as you go. Why can't ideas change and goals change? Why must we be so rigid and not willing to bend as our ideas shift from our daily experiences? Let art be what it is, art. Isn't there enough in life telling us to stay inside the box and stick to the plan?

I remember discussing "what is art" in a philosophy class, and that's where it fits, among the philosophers. Art by nature has been created by people throughout history to depict culture, history, protests, an era, daily life, and advertising. It seems advertising has been more the modern goal and inflicted upon artists to be mindful of trends while we create, be aware of what sells and what colors are more popular. I do my best to create art that is not subject to any of these modern afflictions. My nature does not draw me to be a mediocre clone of other artists. I create what inspires me, show it to the world and let it go. Art, to me, is meditation, it's personal, universal, and an opportunity to leave something of myself behind.