IDEA: Evil Plan Needs Work

Reading Hugh MacLeod's Evil Plans (mine clearly need help) and came across this passage that so perfectly aligns with my own beliefs:

In their own way, all artists are entrepreneurs, and all entrepreneurs are artists.

Though their tools and products may differ, both entrepreneurs and artists are in the same game –the making and selling of work that is personally and emotionally important to them.

"Artist." "Entrepreneur." They're just words. What's far more interesting is not what we create, but how we create it, why we create it.

Beautiful. I ned to remind my students, my audience, my coworkers, and myself of this every day. And get clear on why I create, and why more often I don't.

art: facebook friday!

Happy Friday, everybody!

A few quick sketches this morning from interesting Facebook pics I've seen over the week.  If you recognize yourself and don't appreciate the likeness (none of which are very good), I hope you don't take it personally –I'm more interested here in just moving the stylus around than reproducing a hi-fidelity portrait.  Thanks for the inspiration!

"Like" BCVA on Facebook and maybe one of your photos will inspire a sketch!

~benc

art: from the archives (2004)

Earlier this week, a VT friend commented on Facebook that my linework in a recent self-portrait reminded him of Van Gogh's sketches in letters to his brother.  That reminded me that I've treated Van Gogh before in a piece made waayyy back in 2004 for the cover of a student organization publication.

This is the cover to "Paint Chips" an XYZ student gallery publication.  Van Gogh's in the painting in the middle, gnawed on by the infant.

~benc

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tip: cool pics app for imaginative folk

If you like Instagram and the neat filters reproducing camera effects (see examples in my flickr photostream), you may like it so much you're disappointed that you can't import and work up photos you've already got living on your hard drive.  Well, get happy and check out Photostyler from Corner-A, which is coincidentally having a cool 30% off holiday sale through the 10th of January.

If you've already got Photoshop and don't know why you'd need this, you may not, though this is certainly convenient.  I'm working from home now without Adobe solutions and finding very affordable alternatives that do what I need quickly (hello, Acorn!).  Photostyler is fast, friendly, and features a TON of filters which you can stack and adjust –all of which makes makes me happy.  And as the developer writess, comparing Photoshop to Photostyler is like comparing a tank to a bicycle and "sometimes, you only need a bicycle."

Photostyler's usually $30 but enter code "coming2010" at checkout to get it for $21 (i'm not affiliated or anything).  All the reviews I've read are positive, confirm that it's updated frequently, and is a good value for the money.  I've even used it tonight to treat my photo on the newly added About page, and the snap below.

~benc

art: monday morning coffee

Special thanks to my friend Lauren, who gave me the idea for a drawing I had not planned (four of them, actually!) over on facebook this AM.  Feel free to like the bcva page there and become a fan!

~benc

test: blog debug

This year, I've committed to MarsEdit to manage my blogging and needed to test a feature.  There's a strict policy of "no posts without pics" here, though, so I made a quick sketch; inspired by Frazetta's John Carter of Mars doodles.

~benc

ART: sunday self-portrait

Dashed off a quick self-portrait this evening before going to see True Grit (it was awesome!).  Facetime self-portrait on the facing page from a few weeks back.

More tomorrow!

~benc

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