Designated Doodler

I’ve seen a lot as a part-time paint instructor and assistant. And I’ve learned a lot having minored in art at TCU. So I will now proceed to share with you little kernels of my artistic wisdom. Prepare yourself. 1) Over-thinking ruins everything If you’re sitting in front of (or hovering over) your canvas, direly afraid of messing up; you will mess up. Art is instinctual and emotional (unless you are working in a geometric, grid-like or mathematical way). And therefore you must think first with your heart and then with your head (if at all). The less of a crap you give – the better your painting will be. You shouldn’t take things too seriously – even if you mess up. There has been many a time where my screw-ups turned into the best part of my painting. As a painting and art instructor I’ve noticed that it’s when people “lose themselves” in the painting and stop worrying about it so much that they create something great. 2) Acrylic vs. Oil If you...

What is art? Everyone has their own definition. But I've stumbled upon a type of "art" that I refuse to call "art." The movement of Actionism is little known to the general populous and consists of a myriad of disturbing works that I've been forced to learn about through an upper level art history class. It's a good thing I go into this class every T and TH hungry. So first of all, lets define actionism, this is how Term Wiki describes it "English version of general German term for Performance art, but was specifically used for the name of the Vienna-based group Wiener Aktionismus founded in 1962. The principal members of the group were Gunter Brus, Hermann Nitsch and Rudolph Schwarzkogler." So it's this type of "art" that (from what I can tell) utilizes dead animals, genitals and blood to create "pieces of art." Take for example Acconi's Seedbed, Sonnabend Gallery, NYC 1972. The picture looks unassuming enough and y...