The fine art of Drawing

By Terry Brown

It seems as though anyone who has ever considered themselves to be an artist has had the un-nerving experience of hitting the proverbial “creative wall” leaving you to momentarily doubt your senses. I can really sympathies with you because I’ve been there on more than one occasion and it’s not a pretty sight ! Throughout my career as a professional artist I have learned; and taught to others; how to move through these momentary lapse’s in our creative process by “going back” to the basic fundamentals of drawing.

Before I knew what color was all about, before I understood basic design principals, way before I picked up a paint brush or a chisel….before I had a thought about what art was, I had a pencil in my hand and a piece of used butcher paper to draw on. At that time my early drawings were just large masses of stick “things” doing whatever a five year old could imagine them doing. I’ve been drawing ever since.

Drawing has been the creative skill that has kept me focused on the creative process throughout a lifetime of inspirational highs and empty lows. The journey drawing has taken me on has been quite spectacular in ways I could have never imagined until relatively recently. What I now understand about drawing is that it is a medium without color or dimension, therefore I had to learn and take advantage of what it does offer the artist. Looking at drawing as a set of skills changed the way I perceived my world.

The next time you find yourself stuck and unable to move forward in a creative manner just try this ; put down the project your working on and draw something…anything, the subject really isn’t important. When you do focus all of your attention on what your looking at and see it in terms of line, contour, edges, relationships and gestalt, creativity will flow out the tip of your tool onto your format in a wonderful way.

Drawing at left and at right are pictures of an ink abstract, by Terry Brown.

My journey into the coffee business sent me to New Guinea!

My first introduction to the coffee industry was when I was asked to run Café D’Vine in Vancouver Washington. I had never made an espresso drink but I did know that a mocha was pretty tasty. I had to start from scratch to learn everything that I could about making a good coffee drink for our customers. I learned how to “pull a shot” and steam milk and after a few weeks of practice I felt that I could make a pretty mean Latte. Then I had to take what I had learned and train my staff. I had to explain why we did things a certain way.
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Can you put a visitor counter on the web site?

Many of these geek speak articles are directly from my bag ‘o FAQs (frequently asked questions. So here is a question I was asked at least 2x last month…. “When you build my new site can you put a visitor counter on the web site?”

My answers goes a little something like this.

Yes, we can….but, there is an even better idea.

A web site visitor counter IS a visual way to show you the popularity or your web site. Unfortunately, they are terribly inaccurate AND everyone sees the results. A more modern approach is to have web site statistics. Here is what I like about website stats. Read more

Trivia & Crossword Answers – October 2010

When You Thought I Wasn’t Looking

A message every adult should read, because children are watching you and doing as you do, not as you say.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you hang my first painting on the refrigerator, and I immediately wanted to paint another one.
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Gourds: The Centerpieces of Fall

As the cool breezes of autumn shake leaves from the trees, the colors of decorating begin to change. Embracing the mood of the season, many of the brighter colors of summer are now replaced by oranges and yellows.
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Staying Well

In heart patients, Fish oil may slow  biological aging.

Researchers at Northwestern University and elsewhere have found that the omega 3 fats in fish oil have a life-lengthening effect for heart patients. The question is: Will they do the same thing for the rest of us?

Patients in their studies who consumed the most fish oil showed the least shortening of telomeres, a sign of biological aging. Patients with the lowest levels of omega 3s had the fastest rate of telomere shortening over a five year period.
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News Flash – October 2010

Castle Rock

Benefit Bazaar
Sat. Oct. 9th–9am to 4pm
Sun. Oct 10th–12pm to 4pm..

Benefit Bazaar to be held at 809 Front Ave. SW, Castle Rock Wa.  All proceeds this year will be used to sponsor a deserving family for Christmas. We still do have limited space available. For info , call Ida at 274-4303.
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Did You Know? October 2010

The library in King’s Lynn, Norfolk, England hired a bouncer to protect the library from disruptive children?

Architect David Hertz of Malibu,California built a home out of pieces of a 747 jumbo jet?
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30th Annual Harvest Classic

The Longview Early Edition Rotary HARVEST CLASSIC, an annual charity road race, will be held on Saturday, October 2, 2010. This year marks the 30th Anniversary of the run with all proceeds given to the Help Warehouse, a local food bank serving the community of Cowlitz County.

The 10K and 2.7 mile run/walk will start at the Life Works building (906 New York Street, Longview, WA) at 8:30 am. The PeeWee fun run (1.4 miles) starts at 9:45 am. People of all fitness levels and all ages are encouraged to participate in raising money and food for the needs of our community.
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