Tips for Girl-Hero Artists

Kathy Crabbe, Girl-Hero, 2013, ink on paper, 5 x 7”.Tips for Wannabe Girl-Hero Artists (inspired by the movie Beasts of the Southern Wild) As a culture we are so done with watching evil and gore and violence in movies...we are ready for love and truth and courage and history.

Draw what means something.

Pick your themes and then write and draw daily.

What do you remember (about your life) that was important?

Blog for fun (and commercially). Paint seriously.

When you believe, others will too.

Stuff I learned from a podcast with artist, Lisa Congdon: Don't just release everything you do, save it up for a show, a book, a bigger project. It may look as though you're doing nothing (online) but that's okay.

Favorite Quotes from Beasts of the Southern Wild which was just nominated for Best Picture, Actress, Director and adapted Screenplay for the 2013 Oscars - WOW!:

When you're small you gotta fix what you can.

It didn't look like a prison, it looked more like a fish tank with no water.

When an animal gets sick...here they plug it into the wall.

The brave men stay and watch it happen, they don't run.

I want to be cohesive.

Once there was a Hushpuppy and she lived with her daddy in the bathtub.

**To purchase the drawing above please click here for my Etsy Shop.

we ARE generation X

Kathy Crabbe, We are Generation X, 2013, mixed media on paper, 5 x 7”.

Kathy Crabbe, We are Generation X, 2013, ink on paper, 5 x 7”.

Random thoughts of the day:

Working and being alone as a writer/artist means you can amuse yourself well enough on your own and hopefully get paid for it! (and trust me, not a lot of us are ready for the task!)

Kathy Crabbe, We are the soul in the machine, 2013, ink on paper, 5 x 7”.

Kathy Crabbe, We are the soul in the machine, 2013, ink on paper, 5 x 7”.

How to draw something you care about:

  1. Paint/draw from emotion
  2. Create from and explore an idea you are passionate about
  3. Tell a story/narrative
  4. Combine all 3

Kathy Crabbe at the GETTY Museumat the Getty Museum, Los Angeles

No one cares what you create...really. You have to make them care.

Kathy Crabbe, flying where no soul has flown before, 2013, ink on paper, 5 x 7”.

Kathy Crabbe, Flying where no soul has flown before, 2013, ink on paper, 5 x 7”.

To purchase an original drawing please click here for my Etsy Shop.

Just connect the wings

Kathy Crabbe, PZ7.J15317, 2013, mixed media on paper, 5 x 7”. Kathy Crabbe, Just connect the wings, 2013, mixed media on paper, 5 x 7”

I felt a strong need to get back into some figurative, cartooney work. After a recent weekend trip to Los Angeles it was the Giotto exhibit (first time ever that this many of his works have been shown together in North America). As I stood looking very very closely at one of his religious scenes I picked out all my favorite bits which turned out to be architectural; a window, a door, the ground...his brushstrokes were tiny but vibrant, loose, naturalistic...and this was in the 1300's!

Kathy Crabbe, (Detail) Just connect the wings, 2013, mixedKathy Crabbe,(Detail) Just connect the wings, 2013, mixed media on paper, 5 x 7”. media on paper, 5 x 7”.Kathy Crabbe, (Detail), 2013, mixed media on paper, 5 x 7”.

The Giant Robot Biennale 3 also proved inspirational, especially the work of Saelee Oh, a Los Angeles artist who displayed small, delicate and 'cute' watercolours of creatures and figures.

These painters made me want to paint people and scenes again and so I did the very next day - see above.

To purchase Just connect the wings please click here for my etsy shop.