Chalky ATCs
Happy Tuesday crafting friends.
Stuart here with today’s Clarity Matters. And our main feature today is YouTube Tuesday!
This week, we’ve chosen a bright and vibrant project by Sam Crowe. It’s an ATC project – ATC meaning Artist Trading Card (which you can read more about here). ATCs are a pretty cool concept. If you’ve never given them a go, why not investigate what they are and try them out?
And, whether big or small, these designs by Sam are really something special Very artistic, very creative. There is a lot of depth and texture and the Fresco Finish paint really give the cards a tactile look. The grungy backgrounds look very natural and organic. Now they are quite rough around the edges these designs, aren’t they? You can tell even from looking at the photo above. But that’s far from being a criticism. Neat and tidy looks good, for sure, but I do find it fascinating and wonderful for how a sketchy, rough, organic aesthetic is equally appealing.
I mean, have you ever wondered what the appeal behind a Jackson Pollock painting is? Of course, he concentrated on his work, but it’s quite random, right? He splashed and spilt and flicked and drizzled paint onto canvas in a seemingly random fashion and his paintings often do look like a mess. BUT they are beautiful messes, right? Well, it fascinates me. Aesthetics are so interesting philosophically…
Anyway, for those of you who like things to be nice and neat and clean-cut and ‘perfect’ why not check out Sam’s tutorial and see if you can find your way to loosening up a bit, getting messy, getting creative and opening up that left side of your brain… Neat is good, for sure. So is messy though, and I think that’s the value of Sam’s style!
Well, now I’ve started talking about art and aesthetics, I best stop before you all end up with a 5000-word essay (which regularly happens on my own personal blog – but I’m gonna keep that a secret 😉 ).
Bye for now,
Stuart
I think all the mess is about fun. It is fun to do and fun to look at. Who says art – or life – has to be serious, especially in such times? Art and books should expand your life, not limit it.