Sketch Mob Redwood City

The newest incarnation of our impromptu sketch parties has arrived; the sketch mob. A few friends descending on Redwood City to talk about life and art, to discuss tools and methods, to eat food and drink coffee to their hearts' content, and to draw together in the little time we can share within this busy world. 

I'm a witch and believe in the power of energy transference. When you want any opportunity or "luck" (which doesn't exist), your best bet is to release that energy into the universe and it'll come back stronger, some say even three to ten times stronger. It sounds like hippy-mumbo-jumbo, I know, but consider it a moment with me. 

The book Show Your Work by Austin Kleon says “Make stuff you love and talk about stuff you love and you’ll attract people who love that kind of stuff. It’s that simple.” This is a rudimentary Art World concept that is universally understood with every artist I've talked to about it.

When you want money or work, you can go online and update your resume and send it to ATTN: Mr. Whomever but you'll be unnoticed. But if you go out in the world and offer to help some people in (or related to) your industry, you'll make new contacts in a positive light, learn more about your field to stay relevant, and open your sight to more opportunities than you would sitting at home on LinkedIn. 

When you want love, you can scour the internet, swiping right and waiting for the next few years, only barely settling on people who may deserve a meet-up. Or, you can spend time with your friends and loved ones helping to enrich their relationships and collaborating in their lives. When you do that, you'll meet the casual acquaintances of these connections which will be stronger matches than any anal-gorythm, you'll be more enriched and confident when you meet new people because of your buff social-muscles, and you won't reek of desperation.

My mother is a Christian, and we enjoy sharing the overlaps between our faiths. She told me the Bible reinforces this Pagan and Art World concept too: "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."(Luke 6:38 NIV)  I think that the most fundamentally critical ideals (the only ones worth fighting for) are echoed in all the great religions and throughout the spiritual pit of every agnostic/athiest/scientist. The message here is that what you put out comes back to you three-fold, ten-fold, "runing over", more than you'd imagine. But it takes the faith to act on it.

So when I realized I wanted people to spend more time with me making art, I needed to give more of my time to others. I spent years drawing alone and I enjoy every day that I spend tattooing with my fellow artists, but sometimes I just want to jam with the band instead of playing the hits. Our sketch parties used to be a few friends around my kitchen table, but I'm bored to death of being at home and I think art is better when you go out into the world and find inspiration that's new and interesting to you (because that interest is passed to your viewer!)

George Flores showed me this awesome red drafting pencil he got at the Sanrio Store. I have to get one, and other colors if they've got 'em! It is 2B so it's really soft, and being red (instead of black) it lays down light and easy. The pencil nib is an oval so you can hold at a slant to get great text or line effects, similarly to a calligraphy pen or tattoo shader needle. I highly reccomend it. We were discussing the fact that some products available in Asian marketplaces haven't been adopted with American artists yet and that's a shame. I'd love to become aware of other tools and materials I'm not using simply because they're not in my regional art stores. This kind of discussion, and the sudden awareness of new information is unavailable to a solitary artist. Even with a full world of inspiration surrounding, each one of us can only be as good as our exposure. Without contributing your insights to others, you risk missing opportunities to improve your process, content, or frequency of work. Surround yourself with people who are better than you, and you will be your best self.

"That's my mathematician who examines problems which I put before him and checks their validity. You see, I am not myself a good mathematician." Albert Einstein

The shot deer I drew "Oh deer" was a quick sketch using reference on my phone I had used for a tattoo design last week. The arrow is an obvious nod/ripoff of Frida Khalo, and the bad pun is a nod/ripoff of my boyfriend Steve Silver and his awesome cartoons with captions (which can be seen in the background of the picture showing George's red pencil. )

I hope to find some local businesses open late we can crash next week. Any suggestions? Leave a comment!