Does anyone out there jump from medium to medium like a Mexican jumping bean on a warm day? Like from collage to oil pastels to permanent markers... If so, is there a common thread that weaves through all the shifts?
Hey there! I can't say that I do. I've always mainly stuck with pencil, pen, acrylic. I use gouache and I do the occasional collage, but I don't tend to jump between mediums. I'll occasionally pull out inks or possibly try a new medium, but it's not unless we start using it in school or if I need it for something specific. (I will say that I never use pastels because they scare me a bit.) I suppose I'm a creature of habit, but I love the few mediums I use.
I used to! When I was a teenager, I tried nearly every medium I could get my hands on. Even sculpting, which I suck at to this day. I settled with pencils and pens. Sometimes colored pencils. Please ignore the 132 piece Prismacolor pencil set I spent way too much money on that now collects dust in the corner of my room. I'll use it some day.
I'm a trained sculptor but honestly, it's so hard to motivate yourself sometimes to get all your kit out and sculpt. I love it and I have so many ideas but often ideas for sculpts end up being drawings or paintings with the intention of making them into a beautiful sculpture one day but never doing so.
I started with coloured pencils, pastels, then went to watercolour, then oils for 20 years, then switched to acrylics ( that was tricky after oils). Now I am fascinated with ink and pen, specifically fountain pen. It may sound like a mexican jumping bean, but that is over 35 years! I love knowing how to use different mediums, and I still love to experiment. When I am working on a series it is all in the single medium, but if I get antsy there is always my art journal waiting for any exploration outside the series that I want to do. It doesn't take chalk or oil pastels well but I have done plenty of collage, paint and drawing in there. What is the common thread? My subject matter and style. I have always been attempting to bring though other realities and realms. And I have always wanted to do it using forms of realism.
I feel I jumped around a lot around a year ago when I first started getting into my creative mindset again. I constantly interchanged between water-colours, acrylics, or simple pen/pencil sketches. However, I found myself drawn to the creativity that naturally arose when using acrylic paints. From there on, I decided to experiment with utensils rather than painting media!
Do others prefer to be consistent with medium, or tools/utensils?!
@Zazouka your statement "why pigeonhole yourself" has really stuck with me since reading it roughly an hour ago. I admire the ideology of embracing creativity through experimentation (and agree), however, do you find that this pattern leaves you with a loss of artistic identity? For example, feeling as though you don't know what your style is? I ask because you've listed a very impressive range of medium with with you've experimented, and I am curious to hear your view! :)
@Zazouka That is a very good point you make. I can see how naturally an artist's unique style prevails above all else when producing artwork. In fact, I did have a look at your posts and agree that your style is more shape focused and is embraced in each creation. May I ask, have your creations been published somewhere I may recognise? I found them very familiar, unless it's just the fact that you exhibit the older animation style so well that I could mistake it for a professional artists work in old cinema (like Disney), or is it just that you've taken inspiration from Disney, or something similar?
As an artist and a creative professional you always want to push the boundaries and come up with an incredible result.
To do that, the best thing that you can do is to have the right guide and muse to help you take your project to the next level.
The body-kun figures for drawing you can find on our website, are designed to bring your creative ideas to life in a clever and unique way. visit https://bodykunfigures.com/
I jump around a lot. Ballpoint pen, charcoal, pastel, digital (Photoshop and Illustrator) - depends on my mood and what I have with me. I've only lately settled on ballpoint pen. I may move to something else in the future though...
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9 Comments
Maia Palomar (@mapalomar)
Hey there! I can't say that I do. I've always mainly stuck with pencil, pen, acrylic. I use gouache and I do the occasional collage, but I don't tend to jump between mediums. I'll occasionally pull out inks or possibly try a new medium, but it's not unless we start using it in school or if I need it for something specific. (I will say that I never use pastels because they scare me a bit.) I suppose I'm a creature of habit, but I love the few mediums I use.
Kelly Ann Scheffer (@KellyAnn)
I used to! When I was a teenager, I tried nearly every medium I could get my hands on. Even sculpting, which I suck at to this day. I settled with pencils and pens. Sometimes colored pencils. Please ignore the 132 piece Prismacolor pencil set I spent way too much money on that now collects dust in the corner of my room. I'll use it some day.
Felicity (@NoFilterFliss)
I'm a trained sculptor but honestly, it's so hard to motivate yourself sometimes to get all your kit out and sculpt. I love it and I have so many ideas but often ideas for sculpts end up being drawings or paintings with the intention of making them into a beautiful sculpture one day but never doing so.
Zom Osborne (@zom18)
I started with coloured pencils, pastels, then went to watercolour, then oils for 20 years, then switched to acrylics ( that was tricky after oils). Now I am fascinated with ink and pen, specifically fountain pen. It may sound like a mexican jumping bean, but that is over 35 years! I love knowing how to use different mediums, and I still love to experiment. When I am working on a series it is all in the single medium, but if I get antsy there is always my art journal waiting for any exploration outside the series that I want to do. It doesn't take chalk or oil pastels well but I have done plenty of collage, paint and drawing in there. What is the common thread? My subject matter and style. I have always been attempting to bring though other realities and realms. And I have always wanted to do it using forms of realism.
Georgia (@Pyro)
I feel I jumped around a lot around a year ago when I first started getting into my creative mindset again. I constantly interchanged between water-colours, acrylics, or simple pen/pencil sketches. However, I found myself drawn to the creativity that naturally arose when using acrylic paints. From there on, I decided to experiment with utensils rather than painting media! Do others prefer to be consistent with medium, or tools/utensils?!
Georgia (@Pyro)
@Zazouka your statement "why pigeonhole yourself" has really stuck with me since reading it roughly an hour ago. I admire the ideology of embracing creativity through experimentation (and agree), however, do you find that this pattern leaves you with a loss of artistic identity? For example, feeling as though you don't know what your style is? I ask because you've listed a very impressive range of medium with with you've experimented, and I am curious to hear your view! :)
Georgia (@Pyro)
@Zazouka That is a very good point you make. I can see how naturally an artist's unique style prevails above all else when producing artwork. In fact, I did have a look at your posts and agree that your style is more shape focused and is embraced in each creation. May I ask, have your creations been published somewhere I may recognise? I found them very familiar, unless it's just the fact that you exhibit the older animation style so well that I could mistake it for a professional artists work in old cinema (like Disney), or is it just that you've taken inspiration from Disney, or something similar?
SN Hridoy (@snhridoy)
As an artist and a creative professional you always want to push the boundaries and come up with an incredible result. To do that, the best thing that you can do is to have the right guide and muse to help you take your project to the next level. The body-kun figures for drawing you can find on our website, are designed to bring your creative ideas to life in a clever and unique way. visit https://bodykunfigures.com/
Joer_B (@JoerB)
I jump around a lot. Ballpoint pen, charcoal, pastel, digital (Photoshop and Illustrator) - depends on my mood and what I have with me. I've only lately settled on ballpoint pen. I may move to something else in the future though...