As writers, we look at relationships between things and ourselves, in an effort to bring our readers into the world we create.
As an artist, I saw those relationships in colors and now visualize them in order to find the most visual way to describe them.
In teaching art, I was often asked to explain cubism. It is when an artist depicts the totality of possible views, from all around an object or person, as if you could see them all at once.
I think this is a good way to think about what you wish to describe in your writing. Close your eyes and see your world, character or setting from every angle. Walk all around it. Fly over it and crawl under it and then find the best view to describe it from.
“It’s the journey and not the destination.” Anthony Bourdain and probably a few people before him, said. I love the journey of writing books and painting pictures. The destination is the icing on the cake. And, that is not bad, either!
Showing posts with label artist. Show all posts
Showing posts with label artist. Show all posts
Friday, November 6, 2009
Friday, September 12, 2008
Are there real people in your book?
I am sorry, that I have been gone so long from blogging. I have had a touch of the flu here, as well as working with my camera (it is fairly new). I need to really have it down as I am taking wedding pictures, for my niece, in two weeks. I did her mother's wedding photos, oh so long ago.
But, back to the book, I wonder how you 'see' your characters.
Are your characters based on real people?
My book is set in a fantasy world but I definitely use real people for inspiration. Sometimes it’s just a face in a magazine, sometimes an actor and occasionally, I am inspired by someone I know.
As a portrait artist and some-time doll maker, I have always collected photos of interesting faces. I search through this file for faces that say they belong to my character. Usually, already have a good solid description of their character first and use the picture to make them come alive for me. I am a visual person.
One character in my Middle Grade novel, was giving me trouble. I had a description, but for some reason I just could not “see” him. He was a wooden character; without a personality. I decided it was time to find his face.
Nothing in my file fit, nothing spoke to me. It was a voice that finally did it. And, readers of my personal blog Savanvleck’s Weblog have my permission to start laughing, but this is how it happened.
I was watching that extra disc of information that they put in the Lord of the Rings I and III, and other, movies. I was making some notes and not watching it really, just listening and I heard my character speak. I looked up to see they were interviewing Viggo Mortensen. His every day, non-acting voice, was the voice was my character. It was the first time I had heard his calming tone and my charcter came alive and said, "This is who I am." I finally found “the” face.
The really odd thing was that when I went into my character charts to see if I needed to update his description, the only thing I had to change was his eye color.
I almost always have a picture for my character, even if it is a sketch, and a lot of the personality quirks of my three protagonists fit the three boys in my house; obviously real people. Which, is not surprising as they were the inspiration for the story and, in some ways, it is their story.
But, back to the book, I wonder how you 'see' your characters.
Are your characters based on real people?
My book is set in a fantasy world but I definitely use real people for inspiration. Sometimes it’s just a face in a magazine, sometimes an actor and occasionally, I am inspired by someone I know.
As a portrait artist and some-time doll maker, I have always collected photos of interesting faces. I search through this file for faces that say they belong to my character. Usually, already have a good solid description of their character first and use the picture to make them come alive for me. I am a visual person.
One character in my Middle Grade novel, was giving me trouble. I had a description, but for some reason I just could not “see” him. He was a wooden character; without a personality. I decided it was time to find his face.
Nothing in my file fit, nothing spoke to me. It was a voice that finally did it. And, readers of my personal blog Savanvleck’s Weblog have my permission to start laughing, but this is how it happened.
I was watching that extra disc of information that they put in the Lord of the Rings I and III, and other, movies. I was making some notes and not watching it really, just listening and I heard my character speak. I looked up to see they were interviewing Viggo Mortensen. His every day, non-acting voice, was the voice was my character. It was the first time I had heard his calming tone and my charcter came alive and said, "This is who I am." I finally found “the” face.
The really odd thing was that when I went into my character charts to see if I needed to update his description, the only thing I had to change was his eye color.
I almost always have a picture for my character, even if it is a sketch, and a lot of the personality quirks of my three protagonists fit the three boys in my house; obviously real people. Which, is not surprising as they were the inspiration for the story and, in some ways, it is their story.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
"My aunt wrote a book too." He said.
In the beginning of my art career, www.VanVleckStudio.com, I paid my dues by doing art fairs. They seemed like a fun thing to do, to a lot of people, when someone else is doing them. Trust me though, they are a ton of hot, dirty work.
Nothing is so miserable as sitting in downtown Chicago, in August heat, on asphalt with cars zooming by, even with your fancy expensive, scissor fold up, tent. Then, there is the answering of the same set of questions you answered at the art fair last weekend:
“How long did it take you to paint this painting?”
They are trying to figure out how much you make an hour, considering you are asking $1,200 for the painting they are looking at. I could clue them in that I had hash marks on the stretcher bars of some of these paintings, to help figure up what I should charge. But, that was just one factor in pricing.
They did not ask how much the supplies cost, the hours it took me to photograph people, the money the film cost (before digital folks) and the number of frames I have put on it since I have had to take the thing to art fairs, which have a virus that eats frames.
They did not ask about the fact that you might sell one $300 painting this weekend when you paid $350 just to sit on the asphalt for twenty hours, set up for four hours and drive for countless hours.
The correct answer is: “forty-six years” or however many fingers you are that year, as every experience of your life, every art book you read, every teacher you studied with and every painting you paint has contributed to that very painting. And, we’re not even including the cost of that education either.
The other correct answer is: "I paint every day from ten a.m. to ten p.m. and I do paperwork, to market my art from eight a.m. to ten a.m. and, since I may have three paintings in process at any one time, it's hard to say."
There is also the dreaded, “What does this mean?”
“Ah, it’s a woman playing her guitar, with her cat watching and sunlight streaming in the window. I painted it because I love to paint sunlight streaming in the window and shadows.”
The correct answer is: “This woman is playing to ease the pain in her soul as her lover has passed away. The cat is included as a representation of the number of lives he used up with alcohol, jail time and affairs. The light is streaming to represent his salvation and the shadows are the possibilities that await us if we do not mend our ways.”
At this point, they walk away happy that they have made you work for your money and you feel happy that the student loan, from the prestigious art school is not money wasted, because if you learned nothing else at the school, you learned to tell a good story.
And, finally, my personal favorite.“My aunt paints portraits too.”
Whereupon they pull out their wallet and show me the painting their eight year old aunt did. She had to be eight because, I’m sorry (And I know they love her and are proud of it) but it sucks. It always sucks. I think maybe once in fifteen years, I was wowed by one of these photographs.
But, I always smile and say, “How nice.” and that is the correct answer.
To wit: I end up with very sore cheeks, both sets, after sitting at an art fair.
People tend to have many misconceptions about art; whether it is music, painting or writing. They always want that fairy to come along, with that magic wand, and twang. They can write a symphony, paint a million dollar painting or write a New York Times bestseller. They don’t want to pay their dues.
They think that J.K. Rowling just sat down in a café one day and wrote all those multi-million dollar books. Probably each one took a week, right?They ignore the fact that she worked on it for years before she even began writing the story itself and she has enough notes to literally cover her front room floor. And, that she has written stories since she was a kid.
So, whether you are a painter, or a musician, or a writer, you have to practice your scales until the day comes when people will come up to you and say, “My aunt wrote a book too.”
Nothing is so miserable as sitting in downtown Chicago, in August heat, on asphalt with cars zooming by, even with your fancy expensive, scissor fold up, tent. Then, there is the answering of the same set of questions you answered at the art fair last weekend:
“How long did it take you to paint this painting?”
They are trying to figure out how much you make an hour, considering you are asking $1,200 for the painting they are looking at. I could clue them in that I had hash marks on the stretcher bars of some of these paintings, to help figure up what I should charge. But, that was just one factor in pricing.
They did not ask how much the supplies cost, the hours it took me to photograph people, the money the film cost (before digital folks) and the number of frames I have put on it since I have had to take the thing to art fairs, which have a virus that eats frames.
They did not ask about the fact that you might sell one $300 painting this weekend when you paid $350 just to sit on the asphalt for twenty hours, set up for four hours and drive for countless hours.
The correct answer is: “forty-six years” or however many fingers you are that year, as every experience of your life, every art book you read, every teacher you studied with and every painting you paint has contributed to that very painting. And, we’re not even including the cost of that education either.
The other correct answer is: "I paint every day from ten a.m. to ten p.m. and I do paperwork, to market my art from eight a.m. to ten a.m. and, since I may have three paintings in process at any one time, it's hard to say."
There is also the dreaded, “What does this mean?”
“Ah, it’s a woman playing her guitar, with her cat watching and sunlight streaming in the window. I painted it because I love to paint sunlight streaming in the window and shadows.”
The correct answer is: “This woman is playing to ease the pain in her soul as her lover has passed away. The cat is included as a representation of the number of lives he used up with alcohol, jail time and affairs. The light is streaming to represent his salvation and the shadows are the possibilities that await us if we do not mend our ways.”
At this point, they walk away happy that they have made you work for your money and you feel happy that the student loan, from the prestigious art school is not money wasted, because if you learned nothing else at the school, you learned to tell a good story.
And, finally, my personal favorite.“My aunt paints portraits too.”
Whereupon they pull out their wallet and show me the painting their eight year old aunt did. She had to be eight because, I’m sorry (And I know they love her and are proud of it) but it sucks. It always sucks. I think maybe once in fifteen years, I was wowed by one of these photographs.
But, I always smile and say, “How nice.” and that is the correct answer.
To wit: I end up with very sore cheeks, both sets, after sitting at an art fair.
People tend to have many misconceptions about art; whether it is music, painting or writing. They always want that fairy to come along, with that magic wand, and twang. They can write a symphony, paint a million dollar painting or write a New York Times bestseller. They don’t want to pay their dues.
They think that J.K. Rowling just sat down in a café one day and wrote all those multi-million dollar books. Probably each one took a week, right?They ignore the fact that she worked on it for years before she even began writing the story itself and she has enough notes to literally cover her front room floor. And, that she has written stories since she was a kid.
So, whether you are a painter, or a musician, or a writer, you have to practice your scales until the day comes when people will come up to you and say, “My aunt wrote a book too.”
Saturday, July 12, 2008
If a seer told me I would never succeed---
Nathan Bransford -Nathan Bransford - Literary Agent - asked a question on his blog recently. To paraphrase: He wanted to know, if a seer told you that you would never be published, would you still write?
I always begin to respond to Nathan's blogs, but then notice there are 271 responses and there isn't much point. No matter what I respond, it must have already been said. After reading through a number of responses, however, I think perhaps I do have my answer.
If a seer had told me that my Young Adult Fantasy novel would never, ever, ever be published, would I actually spend twelve hours a day, seven days a week, for two and a half years writing it?
"Heck NO! I gotta earn a living man. "
This is my third book. Well, two novels and a picture book. I have never put the picture book out there. The Mystery was written as I was going stir crazy after flipping a house. Flipping a house can make you stir crazy in and of itself, but waiting for a flipped house to sell is insane. So, after reading a bazzilion Mysteries, I did the logical thing and began research and I wrote a Mystery. And, I loved doing it.
You see, my name is Sheryl Adair VanVleck, and I am a resesarch addict. I really am. Now, with the internet, it's even better. I'm like a kid in a candy store when I type in those Google search terms.
I'm an artist, so I wrote about an artist, but she is weak and I want a strong protagonist; who is funny and likeable, so even though a published author critiqued it highly and gave me the name of her editor, it's not right, and it also needs work on it's plot.
Maybe, what I should have answered to Nathan, was that an artist is never finished, no matter what anyone else thinks. There is always another painting to be created. A sculpture to be sculpted and a novel to be written.
If my current Young Adult Fantasy Novel is never accepted, and I am currently editing line by line to try to ensure that it will be. I will be happy to know that I have completed it. I have learned a lot in the commission of this work. And, yes, Great Seer, I guess I will keep writing.
I can always work in the evening.
I always begin to respond to Nathan's blogs, but then notice there are 271 responses and there isn't much point. No matter what I respond, it must have already been said. After reading through a number of responses, however, I think perhaps I do have my answer.
If a seer had told me that my Young Adult Fantasy novel would never, ever, ever be published, would I actually spend twelve hours a day, seven days a week, for two and a half years writing it?
"Heck NO! I gotta earn a living man. "
This is my third book. Well, two novels and a picture book. I have never put the picture book out there. The Mystery was written as I was going stir crazy after flipping a house. Flipping a house can make you stir crazy in and of itself, but waiting for a flipped house to sell is insane. So, after reading a bazzilion Mysteries, I did the logical thing and began research and I wrote a Mystery. And, I loved doing it.
You see, my name is Sheryl Adair VanVleck, and I am a resesarch addict. I really am. Now, with the internet, it's even better. I'm like a kid in a candy store when I type in those Google search terms.
I'm an artist, so I wrote about an artist, but she is weak and I want a strong protagonist; who is funny and likeable, so even though a published author critiqued it highly and gave me the name of her editor, it's not right, and it also needs work on it's plot.
Maybe, what I should have answered to Nathan, was that an artist is never finished, no matter what anyone else thinks. There is always another painting to be created. A sculpture to be sculpted and a novel to be written.
If my current Young Adult Fantasy Novel is never accepted, and I am currently editing line by line to try to ensure that it will be. I will be happy to know that I have completed it. I have learned a lot in the commission of this work. And, yes, Great Seer, I guess I will keep writing.
I can always work in the evening.
New to Blogger
Thank you for stopping by. I just opened this blog late last night and I'm still figuring my way around Blogger.
I'm a writer, finishing up my Young Adult novel, and I'm an artist. This blog will be dedicated to that side of my life.
You might want to check out my older Blog at http://savanvleck.wordpress.com/. Wordpress is more about the personal side of my life. I get obsessed with my fight against child abuse there, as I am raising three boys who were abused in their home, and I tell all about growing up in a ziplock. I post nearly daily on this blog and hope to do so here too.
I dream big. Shouldn't we all?
Thanks for your patience.
I'm a writer, finishing up my Young Adult novel, and I'm an artist. This blog will be dedicated to that side of my life.
You might want to check out my older Blog at http://savanvleck.wordpress.com/. Wordpress is more about the personal side of my life. I get obsessed with my fight against child abuse there, as I am raising three boys who were abused in their home, and I tell all about growing up in a ziplock. I post nearly daily on this blog and hope to do so here too.
I dream big. Shouldn't we all?
Thanks for your patience.
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