Episode 248 of the CMP, a Creativity Matters Podcast
In this episode of the CMP, a look back at an old episode of the CMP, thoughts on visual show notes, my current series of ballpoint women, and a book on Pen and Ink with a focus on process and gorgeous examples of line and mark-making.
There were audio problems in recording this show. My computer kept sounding like it was trying to lift off (think spaceship). I kept pausing, trying to wait it out, but I didn’t realize until listening back the next day that large chunks were simply “missing” from the recording. I tried to piece things together as best I could. One of the discussions I know got smooshed and vanished was about zines. I will save that for another day. Another discussion that got smooshed and disappeared was about the iPod eraser stamp–carved by Ryan (which I had forgotten).
Ultimately, there is TOO much in this show. It could have been a show about the experience of listening back to Episode 53: Rainbow Hair. (I still think that the cartoon drawing may be in that show. I didn’t ever listen to the whole thing.) It could have been a show about the current series of ballpoint drawings… these “blue women.” But hearing this line in Episode 53 brought everything together:
“A whole series of women, some sweet, some defiant, some quirky, some funky, some spunky, some shy, some hiding, an alphabet dress here, wings and a tank there. Some of them are favorite sketches, most of them are not pieces I’ve shared… these everyday fairies, and everyday angels, and everyday women that keep cropping up between the pages of my blank books. Each of them just a little bit different than you expect. They are me, and yet they are not me.” (from Episode 53, 2007)
In trying to talk about these things together, this bridge between then and now and the way the words echo and reverberate through time and space, I ended up with a giant show. Listen in chunks. The quote also gets repeated several times, once more than it should have. See above note about audio issues and pieces and patching up the show.
In listening back for a final edit (given the unfortunate patching), I tried jotting down things I was hearing. My goal was NOT to make this a pretty page… although the challenge of doing this in real time quickly proved impossible and laughable. I now have a new challenge and something to sort out… and it won’t involve ballpoint. I think that’s a good thing.
The Flow of Episode 248 (and relevant links):
- Episode 53: Rainbow Hair; siren’s call
- List of birthday episodes
- Birthday scones flashback from 2006 (appeared in Episode 4)
- Visual show notes / an idea from last year and that I tried first with Just One Cup show (2016)
- Stay tuned for more about Sketch Notes… I’m down a rabbit hole now… but pretty excited
- Allure of doing a visual page annotating/outlining the whole canon of the CMP
- (Maybe it is odd to talk of my work as a canon (hearkening my days in academia), but… there are a LOT of words in the last 248 shows.)
- Odd thought about a scatter plot of the vocabulary used in Creativity Matter Podcast episodes and how the words recur/appear
- The “sci fi” look to my drawings of people (earlier this year)… and where did it go
- Ballpoint gave me a terrain and tool to explore shading and less line
- Conversation with my son about not using line to draw people
- Jane Eyre, Anne with an E, Anne of Green Gables, The Reign, Mary Queen of Scotts, Megan Follows, period pieces, series, drawing groups from certain groups, the authors… [Ooops. I think I pronounced it Megan Fellows. It should be Follows. Born in 1968, Megan Follows is young! I think I refer to her (as Catherine) as older, and she IS in contrast to Mary, but the actress is younger than I expected. I wanted to note my error.]
- Megan Follows as Anne of Green Gables (1985; I checked it out from the library) [related article]
- Megan Follows as Catherine in Reign
- Costuming in Reign is extraordinary — capes/mantles/cloaks caught my attention over and over in seasons 3 and 4. Costume designer: Meredith Markworth-Pollack
- How I choose/why I choose; non-sequiturs (or not)
- What these people say to me from the page
- Wanting to tie all of this together in a neat package — but it is all still happening and unfolding
- Spilling to the page
- Looking forward to seeing a collection photo of the 61 drawings from June/July (though tough to orchestrate)
- I have been taking weekly group photos (7 cards) [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]
- Anchor points (October/Inktober, November/Gratitude again, December/Group challenge/project)… months left in the year
- Shifting to larger projects and canvases; right now, things all “fit” (literally and figuratively)
- Be gentle with your self-critique, your self-expectations
- Pen & Ink: A Creative Exploration of a Time-Treasured Drawing Technique, introduction by Ian Thomas Miller (Includes: Watercolor Washes with Desarae Lee, Stippling with M. Ramos, Ballpoint Realism with Samuel Silva, and Mixed Media with Loui Jover. This book has a wonderful focus on process shots. Check this out from the library; inspiring.)
- Audio makes words fleeting; the writer in me hates this! “…the words are not there to be re-read, savored, underlined, bookmarked, copied out, shared, annotated in the margins, highlighted, underscored…”
- Guitar music: Nicholai Heidlas on SoundCloud
- Creativity Matters Group at Facebook
- Patreon page
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