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Mastery, the Irony of Judgement

28/10/2013

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A disclaimer of sort, you are about to read someone's doing exactly what she is criticising. This an honest admission of the irony of judgements. 


Mastery is a word described often these days, mostly because there is so little patience in the world. The 'fast-paced' seems to have gone faster, and in the process like a big aggressive hurricane, it uproots considerations, self-reliance and whole-heartedness out of our human capabilities.  The irony of mastery is the focus on lack. Not a lot of time is spend on making things anymore, sitting with a cup of tea is excruciating because being in the present feels so slow and unproductive. The prolific experts are dipping in and out of books, practice yoga and meditation for a goal of self-improvement and personal peace, proclaim their results and achievements to the world in the form of texts, words in an atmosphere of dense but limitless self-consciousness. The illusion of sharing, of becoming better is tracked by this seemingly more and more self-conscious self.  Here's an example, perhaps you do this too; I cannot seem to avoid posting my drawing, a picture of a home cooked breakfast on Instagram or Facebook. This is a post about mastery, and for the sake of argument, there is a kind of new mastery. 


First of all, what is mastery? Is it 'the process of what was difficult to becoming easier and more pleasurable'? Is it a mental discipline of patience for a long term result? Is it the willingness to practice even if you seem to be going no where? Perhaps it is all of them. Perhaps mastery is a kind of lifestyle choices or sacrifices that afforded long term result. This isn't particularly attractive anymore these days, too slow, feels underwhelming and who likes the feeling of under achievements? 


Mastery might happen when I stop thinking about results, and all other forms of matrix to measure the distance between my efforts and your goal. Mastery also seem to happen when I don't measure results so often, unlike a dieter who weigh herself every hour, between meals, and after every pee. That's what social network postings seems to become, a matrix of measure. Do you not feel you've achieved something when you post something (clever) or (not) anywhere on the internet?  "i've just posted about my lunch" is as silly as it sounds an achievement in our minds, because we have done something that is broadcasted to the world. Our world that comprises of hundreds of people, some we only met once.  


Mastery becomes a fragmented do-over. The proverbial Groundhog day, you get to do the same exact day over and over again and if you are lucky, you are present enough for the changes that day shows. That noticing of changes is mastery. Otherwise, it's the same shit, different day.  


What might your mastery be? How do you live if you don't measure your self-consciousness? Might you enjoy the doing more and more, and in that find some inner mastery that feels whole-hearted, meaningful and profound?



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Step by Step Drawing Tutorial - Fashion

11/10/2013

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Picture
Hello everybody 


I thought I will give you a look at the step by step evolution of drawing from life sketch to a finished fashion illustration. 
Students will benefit, people interested in drawing fashion might also find these insightful.

Image 1 and 2 shows how a gestural structure study from a life model is turned into an elongated, poised croquis (sketch) fashion pose. The croquis is done with structure of the female body in mind, specifically the body turned sideways and the torso and abdomen jutting outwards making the buttocks juts the opposite way. The weight is on the left leg as the right leg extends across the front.


Image 3  shows he croquis used to structure the cropped pantsuits and outlined ready for rendering. The feet rising on a pair of gladiator stilettos. The single breasted suit is fitted, and the pants cropped slightly flared at the bottom. 


Image 4 shows I start rendering using Flesh tone Copic Markers. 


Image 5 Cropped pantsuits colored in maroon, and the crocodile stilettos rendered (with a red sole, a Louboutin perhaps?) 


Image 6 is a rendering of embroidery and lace over the maroon fabrics.  A textured of combined process of pen, black and white and grey copic marker to add shades

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What makes anybody good at anything?

1/10/2013

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You've got to give a shit, so much shit that it hurts when you are so tired you had to sleep thus you couldn't think about it. Somebody is good at something because they care so damn much that they have got to be a little bit obsessive. You are good at something partly because you have multiple thoughts about that thing going in circles at any given time. The multiple thoughts are about that one thing you want to be good at, that thing you want to perfect, it's about that one thing you care so much about that is beyond hunger, beyond sleep. All you need is just one thing. 


Photographer and a blogger and an artist- all they can do is ONE THING at a time. And if they are good at one thing, they might be able to be good at another, maybe.  See for yourself, Someone who says they are everything (blogger, fashion stylist, writer, and a cook) can only do ONE thing at any given time, and one thing well. Someone who does something well does this thing all the time, always. They are at their desk, at their studio, at their machine, every day, every moment is spend only doing it. 


Why am I talking about this and why is this point important? It's a reminder to those people who thinks they are polymaths, who thinks they have so much to give, they want to do more then one thing well and they want to think they can do everything well all the time. Well you can't! NOT REALLY!  Unless you have super human power, all those things that looks 'effortless' in other's works, website, blog, are all 'NOT' effortless, they take effort, a good lot of it. Those people who make things look effortless spend a lot of time on it, and there is no such thing as effortless good work. 


Good work is about hard work that repeats itself and a lot of sweating, a lot of agony and perhaps even a certain degree of discomfort. You can bet your ass on it that all good work are done this way. If you ever meet someone who said everything comes easily to them, it's not that they are lying, it is true for them because their perspective of hard work might be different from yours. Consider the idea that comes within splits seconds and how those millions of ideas never becomes anything. People who are good at making a single idea become something work their day and night existence to bring life to those ideas. 


A single idea and a single 'act of brilliance' never becomes something by itself. A single idea becomes meaningful because of the hard work, the toiling, and the sweating. 

What's your single idea that you want to make good work out of? 

Here are some examples of my friends who's work are so good because they just don't stop. 

Thomas Mangieri - Photographer

Susan Cottle - Artist 

Carlos Konig - Salsa Dancer

Angela Fraleigh - Painter 

Aya Sekine - Jazz Pianist 


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