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Finding Inspiration

Lesson 2 from: Drawing the Everyday Every Day

Kate Bingaman-Burt

Finding Inspiration

Lesson 2 from: Drawing the Everyday Every Day

Kate Bingaman-Burt

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Lesson Info

2. Finding Inspiration

Lesson Info

Finding Inspiration

I didn't think I could draw and that was probably about eight or nine years ago prior to me thinking that I couldn't draw I was a graphic designer and I did a lot of work and photography and I did a lot of just lay out in product design and things of that nature but one thing that always kind of uh alluded me was drawing in fact I would get my drawing class in college all the time because I hated it when I was growing up I never considered myself artistic what's so ever even though I came from a family of artists I just always felt like my way of drawing wasn't the right way of drawing so I just didn't draw at all I started doing personal projects about consumption and the things that we buy and why we buy first with a camera and I documented all of my purchases for two and a half years and I took photographs and I made a really kind of cumbersome website and I shared all of those purchases with everyone does see and then I've I discovered myself deep in credit card debt and that was e...

mbarrassing shameful I felt like I was a complete failure and therefore I must be punished and so in order to create a project based around my shameful credit card debt and to pay off my credit card that I decided that I was going to pick my least favorite way of making things and that was drawing so I started to draw my credit card statements that would come in every single month and I decided that I would draw them every month share them with people in person online until they were paid off and I actually kind of tricked myself into liking to draw each monthly statement became very like meditative whenever I would sit down to dry, each monthly statement became a chance for me tio reflect on me purchases reflect on things that were going on in my life it actually became a time of sanity for me because all the noise from the outside kind of went away and I just focused on my credit card statement and the marks and lines that I was making on the paper and those marks and lines were super shaky, very un confident but I kept doing it because I made this promise to myself that I was going to do this until they were paid off. I found myself really enjoying making the type drawing the numbers and that led me tio another project because I frankly wanted to draw more than just my credit card statements at this point and I started to draw something that I purchased every single day and I did that project for eight years and that's where I really fell in love with drawing and that's where I really fell in love with the twenty to thirty minutes that I had carved out every single day just to sit down, look at an object, look at the lines of an object and draw this process was so rewarding for me and my sanity because some days I would spend just answering emails, beat and meetings and feel like I hadn't gotten anything done, but I could take twenty minutes out of my day, make a drawing, and I'm like, oh, at least I got my drawing done for the day, and so this project became so important to my overall sanity, and this project became so important to me actually starting other projects to where I would just do my daily drawing in order to kind of kick start other ideas and other projects. If you're wanting to start ah project where you want to learn how to draw or you feel uncomfortable drawing, or maybe you just want to figure out how you can carve time out of your day. I want to help you think of ideas I want to help you kick start your ideas, and I want you, teo, enjoy that twenty, thirty minutes of your day, just as much as I do, because it's really, really, really important just to slow down and just pay attention to the everyday world around joe. Now, I want to share with you some of my daily drawings and just kind of how I interpreted the objects that I was purchasing and how they translated to the page to so for example, this is some lunch that I had, and one of the things that I encourage you to dio is, teo, not feel like you have to make everything feel realistic. Pay attention, tio, what is that you're looking at, but also, if you feel like you want to add extra kind of notations to it, or write down things that kind of give place in context, I'm always a big fan of dating all your drawings, because it's really great to be able to look back and to see when it was that you did this, and you know how your style has evolved because that's actually been something that has been really important to me, too, like, I look at something that I did in two thousand six, and I was doing things in two thousand six that I didn't really know why I was doing it, but it actually makes a lot more sense for me in two thousand thirteen to see, oh, that's, how my lettering evolved that's, how my handwriting evolved, oh, this is when I started to do acts and so it's a good lesson for yourself just to learn from the stuff that you've done in the past and again, that's why dating your stuff is really important, but again, I really again liketo have difference different kind of writing to add context, like I could have just drawn cheese crackers, but instead I wanted to also make lettering to go along with the cheese crackers. And then I also wanted to make a statement about how I I thought that they were bland as well. So and then I always kind of put the price, and it just gives context, but you don't have to do that. This is just what ideo so may see here this was a movie poster that I saw from a movie sometimes one of the things that I really love doing, and this is actually something that evolved from the daily drawing project, was how much I liked figuring out how to document intangible purchases like movies like parking tickets like concert tickets. Sometimes I would draw the actual ticket sometimes I would draw the movie poster whenever you think I've only gotten a speeding ticket a couple times, but one time I actually drew the speeding ticket, and then the other time I was caught by a camera, and so I drew myself. Because that's, what they sent me so it was like the speeding ticket selfie, but it was still a representation of this intangible experience that cost me one hundred and forty four dollars, so it's fun to kind of play off of that. This was an example of some washi tape that I purchased, but instead of drawing and on the roll, I like stuck it on the wall because I really wanted to play what the lines and kind of play with the patterns from that and again, like play with your objects, figure out how you want to draw them don't don't feel like you have to make it look realistic, and if you have an impulse to write something, if you have an impulse to do something that maybe isn't even on the object, maybe it's, um, patterning or some other thing that's from your head, put it on there. This is your drawing. This is your experience. This is your story that you're telling so you can do whatever you I want to do really? The important thing is, is that you're drawing.

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Ratings and Reviews

Suzan
 

Love, love, love Kate Bingaman-Burt's art and innovative ideas, and this class was just great. It's very brief--you can watch all the videos in one morning--but the effects last for a long time. This course totally revitalized my illustrations. I was stuck in a sort of "cute" mode until taking this course. Then I started using different materials, approaching my illustrations in a different way, and doing exactly what Kate says: drawing the everyday, every day. This hit the refresh button on my style, as well as my desire to draw. My only request would be a little more step-by-step on how to get the background completely white in PhotoShop; Kate demonstrates, but it's a little too quick for me to catch the process. Maybe Kate or someone could give a step-by-step followup here? Otherwise, if you need fresh inspiration, a kickstart for a drawing habit, or just a good pep talk, this is a great course! it's as valuable for inspiration as for instruction.

amy greenan
 

As an experienced artist, I really enjoyed this class a lot! I found a lot to be inspired by and appreciated Kate's easy, conversational way of presenting the material. I loved seeing her process, her workspace, and favorite materials. I loved hearing about what inspires her. Sure, this was maybe less a "how-to" kind of course, but there is certainly a LOT to take away from this hour and a half or so. I watched course live, so didn't pay for it, but I would recommend this as a good, small investment in your creative toolkit. (I would have just bought it myself except that I just lost my job and trying to save every penny I can!)

Emmon Scott
 

I'm writing this review not immediately after watching the class, but a year after doing so -- and the impact on my life has been tremendous. Upon taking the course, I began drawing an everyday object every day, and have kept it up for a year, missing only a few days here and there. At some point, I expanded this to also sketching a great work of art every day as well (usually from an art book I got from the library, and sometimes on a trip to a museum). I don't spend a lot of time at this -- I just do it on breaks from work. The result has been my seeing a lots of things I would otherwise miss -- little details in every day things that I'd never otherwise notice. And that, in turn, has given me a greater appreciation of life, of the the visual world, as well as the amazing art works humanity has created. Looking back, I particularly value this teacher's point that your drawing doesn't have to be perfect. For me, that's been hugely helpful. I haven't fretted or been stuck or given up -- I simply draw, and in doing so, ALWAYS notice and appreciate details of whatever I'm drawing, whether it's my coffee mug, or a painting by Georgia O'Keeffe. PS: The drawing has impacted my editing of photos and doing any kind of visual work. I'm much more tuned in to details than I used to be. I may or may not draw better, but I definitely SEE more. And for me that's a wonderful and enriching thing. Cheers!

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