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Calling all artists — INKTOBER is here! Whaaaaa?

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I hadn’t even heard of INKTOBER until a friend told me about it in June. Ever since, I’ve been geeking out about joining in. Can I keep up? Will my art be interesting enough? Will I follow through for an entire month?

(Pic #1) (above) “Mustached Monkey” – My first entry (cat sketch) into the Inktober art experience. (Part of a series I call Scribblemonsters, where I close my eyes and scribble wildly, then (with open eyes) add a few lines to the unplanned line storm.)

INKTOBER is a challenge — for artists and non-artists– to draw something every day for the 31 days of October. It began in 2009, when illustrator Jake Parker created a personal challenge to improve his inking skills and develop positive drawing habits. Now, artists from all over the world participate –some even take Inktober drawing lessons and consume Inktober tutorials on how best to prepare.

Well I’m not preparing (not my nature) but I’m so stoked to contribute daily whatever goofy sketch I come up with. I asked two friends to join me (one lives in Tuscany and the other in Los Angeles) so I can be accountable for the entire month. The mission is to draw something every day — fearlessly– and watch consistency improve the work.

The challenging part for me could be the “prompt list.” (See below.) They supply a new word every day upon which you base your drawing. Some are NOUNS and some are ADJECTIVES. I’m already having trouble with the prompt “murky.” My other insecurity is that I’m an abstract painter and not an illustrator. So I might be a wee bit out of my league. (My husband would say I may be missing the entire point — THIS IS NOT A COMPETITION.)

Besides, as I preach in my workshops, “Art is a collaboration between God and the artist, and the less the artist does the better.” – Andre Gide

So, be checking out thousands of images on these two hashtags on Instagram: #inktober and #inktober25 and inktober52. Or, learn more at inktober.com.

Art From The Ashes

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If you follow this blog, you know there is nothing I love more than what’s called “found art”— beautiful images found in cracks of sidewalks, or from peeling paint on a rundown building. But a few weeks ago I encountered some of those “accidental canvases” that left me deeply unsettled.  It has been just over 6 months since wildfires tore through Southern California, killing more than 2 dozen people, and destroying thousands of homes. For 30 years as a TV journalist I covered stories like this. So when the iconic Pacific Coast Highway reopened — and I had a chance to go see the aftermath for myself — I went.

I have close friends who lost their homes in the Palisades Fire, so I expected to be deeply moved by the devastation, and I was. But something else happened as well, something I didn’t expect. Literally amid the ashes were dozens of scenes that in any other context I would have considered abstract  masterpieces. As Josh went about documenting what we saw, I admit for a moment, I felt a thrill, excited by the patterns, textures, colors, and shapes. Lost in the familiar wonder of artistic discovery, I had momentarily blocked out the unfathomable suffering these fires caused. Since that day, I’ve felt so guilty for feeling that moment of joy.

Exterior wall of home on Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu
Interior wall of a home with surviving window frame, Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu

Since the beginning of time, painters, poets and writers have moved us by depicting moments of humanity and grace in the midst of tragedy and challenge. But that was their intention. This isn’t that. This is a devastating disaster leaving in its wake these images that in any other circumstance I would find… breathtakingly beautiful.

Weeks have passed since we visited Malibu and I’m still unresolved by my reaction to what I saw. So after weeks of ruminating, I decided to post some of the photos. Why?  Well, this blog is an attempt to share my life-long creative adventures. In many ways, it’s been a celebration of the emotional riches that art has brought me. Almost always, that emotion is simple joy. This time it wasn’t, and I guess that’s just part of the journey too.

Concrete interior wall, home on Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu
Shooting a row of decimated businesses on the opposite side of PCH, Malibu
A room with a view, oceanfront home on PCH, Malibu

(All photos by John Kaplan.)

One Click — One Masterpiece?

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“Seeing” your subject and capturing the moment. (Photo by Josh Kaplan)

So… I want to talk about what really annoys me about my husband. Here it is..this photo. I was walking down the hallway the other day and he was behind me and suddenly said “Don’t move!” He grabbed his camera and took the shot. I love it so much. The composition is perfect, the colors and shapes, and light and shadows.

So why is it so irksome? Because when I want to create a piece of art, it can take days/weeks, sometimes months of painstaking effort, usually involving second thoughts, insecurities, and often trashing what I’ve done and starting over. You know how long this piece of art took him? According to the metadata from his camera — one eightieth of a second. 1/80th. Factor in the editing time, the careful tweaking of the final image, and maybe — maybe — this masterpiece took 5 minutes to create. I can’t even lay my paintbrushes out in that amount of time.

It’s not fair. He would say the difference is that I am an artist and he is not. He would insist that I create something purely from my imagination, while he only documents things in front of him, things that catch his eye. But I would say his finished product is a work of art, and he can bite me.

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