The Lardner Report

Unleash your creative superpowers!

Fearless painting: click here

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Explore color, shape, and your creative side - in one click: http://muro.deviantart.com

Art in an instant. Really.

If you’ve never painted before–I’m beggin’ you–check out this insane, playful, new “drawing app” from DeviantART. Just free yourself up to explore fresh ways of making marks and using color. Experiment with the tools on the bottom of the screen (link below)–you don’t even need a mouse or stylus. There’s a color wheel, an opacity slide, and a load of cool effects you should try on the fly. Some of the shapes and effects are displayed sildenafil above. They include a web-like brush, bubbling circles, a delicate grassy spray, turbo swooshes, and dripping paint.

Link:     http://muro.deviantart.com

The filters include blurring, sharpening, and desaturation.  You get to experiment, and erase instantly  (see top menu and click: “Image” then “clear canvas.”) if you’re a control freak. You also get to erase the last line you drew by clicking the “undo” button on the upper left.

If you get addicted–don’t call me.

Just keep painting.

Creative Collaboration: Lose the Ego!

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Team up.

(Pic #1) Join forces — supercharge ideas. Left: Photo by Josh Kaplan, right: oil pastel sketch by Lonnie Lardner.

Jobs and Wozniak…Ben and Jerry…O’Keeffe and Stieglitz…Einstein and Bohr…Lennon and McCartney…You and….

Next time you’re stuck–hook up with a partner—especially if he or she is an expert in a different discipline. Combining forces can lead to extraordinary results–especially in music, science, business, and art.

According to Vera John-Steiner’s book, Creative Collaboration, “Western belief in individualism romanticizes the perception of the solitary creative process — when the reality is — that scientific and artistic forms emerge from joint thinking, passionate conversations, emotional connections, and shared struggles.”

On the page:

In the image above (Pic #1), I explore the combination of my husband’s “wild art” photography and my acrylic painting on canvas. By digitally jamming a realistic photo of the funky piece of farm equipment (on the left) with the painted abstraction (on the right) we create something new.

(Pic #2) Warhol and Basquiat: quirky combo

The collaborative work of Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat (Pic #2) has been described as “physical conversation” in paint, instead of words. Each artist remains true to his style, and once joined on the same page, they are inexorably linked. It’s been said that Warhol was inspired by Basquiat’s energy and youth and Basquiat had always idolized the eccentric older artist.

In these collaborations, Warhol remains true to his straightforward methods of hand painting enlarged headlines, logos, brand names, and commercial advertisements — all trademarks of his pop paintings in the 1960s. In contrast, Basquiat responds with his raw, iconic graffiti style — on the left side of the painting — creating a fresh dialogue between the two personalities. He even includes his recognizable “crowned figure” on the upper right.

In the lab:

I had a chance to interview a Santa Barbara PHYSICIST who won the Nobel Prize – in CHEMISTRY because he was willing to work with someone outside his field for the sake of radical discovery. Known for his groundbreaking research, Dr. Alan Heeger won the coveted Nobel Prize for “the discovery and development of conductive polymers” (organic plastics that conduct electricity). (Pic #3)

(Pic #3) Scientific alliance: new discoveries

He told me when you work with someone from another field — you have to be humble and willing to exchange ideas — while tossing out any ego that might otherwise get in the way. The partnership also means learning the “new language” from your colleague’s discipline. But, he says, the end result is always worth the intimidating beginning.

In the recording studio:

Perhaps the most tangible example of collaborative firepower emerges from contemporary music — when two disparate talents collide. Case in point: It started out as a sampling of   Phil Collins’ hit “Take Me Home” – then, rappers Bone Thugs-n-Harmony (an American hip-hop group from the 90s) invited the old Brit himself to sing the chorus.

Two generations – two styles—one chilling ballad. Critics say it may be “the unlikeliest collaboration since–well–ever” — but it all comes together perfectly. Check out the music video here:

https://youtu.be/XkVYedkhdt4 

(Pic #4) Phil Collins “bridging the rap”

By “teaming up” you increase the odds of enriching your process and product. The experience may be uncomfortable at first–because it may be unfamiliar — but it’s a challenge worth taking on, for the sake of a shared vision.  The partnership also offers a chance to be playful as well as critical.  “In collaborative work,” writes Vera John-Steiner, “we learn from each other by teaching what we know.” And that is a win-win combination.


Creativity: Breaking the Block

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Art is in your head.

Get the picture? Do it differently

Dare to change it up.

Take yourself way out of your comfort zone–and be fearless about it. It’s always a little scary to face the blank page or canvas—but there’s something more whimsical–and effective–about doing it differently.

In my artwork, I like to begin drawing or painting in a fresh way every time I start something. Sometimes I aggressively rip up newspaper pages and quickly paste them down as a background so I have something that’s not stark white to play with.

Above, (Pic #1)  I tore a furniture ad out of the St. Petersburg (Russia) Times, and flipped it upside down on a black page. Then, with Neocolor crayons I extended lines from the white squares beyond the newspaper edge. The chunks of color on the paper gave me something to spar with.

I’ve mentioned drawing with my left hand –despite being righty– which still makes me chuckle.  It feels completely funky—really ridiculous–but oh sooo liberating. The work becomes more childlike and generally looser because my brain is completely detached from my hand’s movement. It’s as if someone else is making the marks.

(Pic #2) Impressionistic photographer Robin Layton “sees” things differently

This kind of change-up can work for countless disciplines—photography, writing, dance, art, and music. If you write—change your scenery, or materials. If you act, dance, or sing—do it another way—the unsafe way. Engage your mind the way you did when you were first learning something. Maybe you were 5—and you were unafraid of the outcome—you just enjoyed “the act of.”

We are used to a familiar way of looking at challenges. According to Psychology Today, experts call this “functional fixedness.” We only see the obvious way of solving our puzzle or attacking our task—the same comfortable way we always think about it. But imagine really looking at something from a different angle—and applying a completely fresh approach to the work. Impressionist photographer Robin Layton does this with every shot–and the results are astonishing. (Pic #2)

So let go–begin to explore new ways of doing things–and experience freedom and excitement in every project. It just takes a willingness to be open and unafraid. The end result–will prove you can break new ground–by breaking old habits.