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One Click — One Masterpiece?

April 30, 2025 by Lonnie Lardner

“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.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: art is everywhere, art making, creative expression, creative thinking, creativity, feeding your soul, happy accidents, photography, unexpected art

The Perfect One-Liner

February 28, 2025 by Lonnie Lardner

Sketch by artist @shouxin13141

A minimalist drawing that inspires my lazy ass.

My excitement over this sketch is this: It’s packed with energy, loose in style, and created basically with one stroke. it’s probably a 10-second work. It’s also proof that simplicity can be a beautiful artistic statement. In one jittery marking, the artist here has captured “the essence of cat.”

If you’re considering a dive into some basic drawing, try this. Look at the image above, and see if you can create your own one-liner. It’s super satisfying, and just might tackle your fear. There is no perfect way to draw a cat, and you could consider it a sort of warm-up for other sketches. It’s easy, pressure-free and requires no art-making experience. Try this approach with a cool wide-tip marker or piece of charcoal, and find time to draw every day.

For more from this artist, check out images and videos on Instagram: @shouxin13141

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Abstract art, art, art making, cats, creative expression, creativity, inspiration, kids' art, stimulating creativity

Happy New Year!

December 31, 2024 by Lonnie Lardner

Join me in ushering in 2025 with intention. Not a list of pointless resolutions we won’t keep for a week, but a commitment to approach everything in a fresh new way. Allow your artist within to find its way out. A minor shift in thought — that can lead to radical results. You may surprise yourself. Just imagine.

“Creativity doesn’t wait for that perfect moment. It fashions its own perfect moments out of ordinary ones.” — Bruce Garrabrandt, artist

Wishing you a spectacular year ahead!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: art is everywhere, creative collaboration, creative expression, creative instincts, creative thinking, creativity, finding inspiration, found art, happy accidents, stimulating creativity, unexpected art

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