drug-induced self portraits

Brian Lewis Saunders is an artist who did what some call the most creative artistic experiment ever. 

He took a number of different drugs and once the effects of these drugs kicked in, he drew a self portrait. Some of these are fascinating, while others are somewhat horrifying. 

To be clear, I do not recommend or advise anyone to do the same, but it is really interesting seeing how different substances can alter how someone sees themself.

Below are a few examples of the portraits.

To see a full gallery of the portraits and the substances used, please follow this link.

Hydrocodone/Oxycodone/Xanax

Brian Saunders

Absinthe

Brian Saunders

Adderall

Brian Saunders

the travel journal

Chris Buchholz is an artist that has created something that I would love to do some day - the illustrated travel journal. Rather than snapping photos, he sketches the scenery of the places he visits, creating beautiful and colorful journals from his travels.

I absolutely love this idea and I hope that someday I'll be able to create something similar. It puts a more personal touch on the images you create, unlike simply taking a picture with your phone.

Below are a few examples from his travel journals. I encourage you to visit his website at http://sketchbuch.blogspot.com/.

Chris Buchholz 

 Chris Buchholz

Chris Buchholz

personal project

For a long time I've wanted to go through some old sketches and create a newer, modified version of it. I've never really felt like I had the time, but now that summer break is here, other than a few classes, I'll be able to finally focus on this little personal project.

My freshman year of college I was working the lights and sound for a stage show about Elizabeth Bathory and while I was in the booth in between working the equipment, I was sketching the first picture you see. It's definitely not my best work, but this was a little over 6 years ago and you can't see very well in a dimly lit sound booth. I stumbled onto it a couple days ago and decided this would be the first sketch I would redo.

It's nice seeing my improvement over the years and that was my motivation and inspiration to start this project. I plan on posting more in the future!

Mindy Barks

Mindy Barks

a little more from me

I have a folder in my apartment that contains somewhere around 150+ sketches, some as old as 2004, but I don't think anyone would want to sit through a slideshow that long and I absolutely do not want to make a slideshow that long :) 

So here is a small handful of sketches from me, dated from 2007-2015

I definitely feel like I've improved over the years, and there are several drawings that I would like to revisit and redo. I hope to do that in the future sometime soon.

Enjoy!


All images are original artwork and photos by Mindy Barks

the ink evangelist

Johanna Basford

Johanna Basford

Johanna Basford is a Scottish illustrator who uses pens and pencils to create stunning black and white artwork. She has also created a best-selling adult coloring book, "Secret Garden" that is filled page to page with beautiful art.

More about the coloring book can be found here.

Johanna Basford

Johanna Basford

Johanna Basford

I encourage you to visit her website and check out more of her stunning work!

healing through art

"Art Therapy is a mental health profession in which clients, facilitated by the Art Therapist, use art media, the creative process, and the resulting artwork to explore their feelings, reconcile emotional conflicts, foster self-awareness, manage behavior and addictions, develop social skills, improve reality orientation, reduce anxiety, and increase self-esteem."

The Expressive Arts Therapy Program at the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin helps patients and their families express their emotions through art. The program goes beyond arts and crafts and into the imagination for creative stimulation, communication and coping. 

To learn more about art therapy, visit http://www.arttherapy.org/

"When words fail us, art speaks."

tattoos-turning tragedy into beauty

I love, love, love tattoos. The idea that you can display art on your body is amazing to me.

While I won't deny there are awful tattoos out there, when done right, tattoos can turn something tragic into something beautiful. 

Mastectomies are often used as a treatment for breast cancer, and there are many women who get them as a preventative measure. While it can help reduce the risk of cancer, losing a part of your physical self is devastating. 

A growing number of women are using tattoos as a way to cope with the scars left behind after the surgery. 

Breast cancer affects about 1 in 8 U.S. women in their lifetime. To learn more about breast cancer, please visit http://www.breastcancer.org/

Below are a few of my favorite mastectomy tattoos:

ryot.org

ryot.org

ryot.org

ryot.org

ryot.org

pinterest

Since my last blog mentioned Pinterest, I felt the need to emphasize on how amazing and in love with Pinterest I am. 

I created an account about a year ago, and just recently got back into using it again. 

You're welcome to follow my pinterest page which also contains a board about art and illustrations. 

Even if you don't follow me, I strongly urge you to search here. There are so many beautiful pieces and Pinterest is one of my favorite ways to search and discover new art and artists. 

a reason i love snail mail

Not many people seem to use the postal service much anymore. Everything is instant, and while it is convenient for quick communication, I still love sending and receiving letters.

One of my favorite things about sending letters is decorating the envelope. The envelope is a blank canvas, and it looks all too dull with nothing but the addresses and a stamp on it. 

Even if you don't consider yourself the most creative person, give it a try. Send a letter to your parents, sibling(s), or friends and take the time to decorate the envelope. It makes it more festive and would brighten the day of anyone who receives it. 

There is a page on pinterest about decorated envelopes. If you're looking for some ideas or would like to just check some out, you should definitely take a look at this website.

collaboration with a 4-year-old

This is a bit of an old story that circulated on the internet about 2 years ago, but I couldn't resist talking about it in my blog.

Mica Angela Hendricks is an amazing artist, and on her blog busy mockingbird she tells the story of how she ended up collaborating with her daughter on a lot of the artwork she did:

“I was going to draw a body on this lady’s face,” I said.  “Well, I will do it,” she said very focused, and grabbed the pen."

"Not surprisingly, I LOVED what she drew.  I had drawn a woman’s face, and she had turned her into a dinosaur-woman.  It was beautiful, it was carefree, and for as much as I don’t like to share, I LOVED what she had created.  Flipping through my sketchbook, I found another doodle of a face I had not yet finished.  She drew a body on it, too, and I was enthralled.  It was such a beautiful combination of my style and hers.  And she LOVED being a part of it."

Below are a few examples of the art she has done with her daughter-they're incredibly beautiful and child-like, I can't get enough of these pictures!

Mica Angela Hendricks

Mica Angela Hendricks

Mica Angela Hendricks

astonishing art with a ballpoint pen

Milton Lozada is an artist that I recently discovered. He works as a tattoo artist out of Florida and creates astonishingly beautiful artwork with a ballpoint pen.

This is a link to his instagram and I highly encourage you to check out some of his work:
https://instagram.com/miltonlzd/

Milton Lozada

Milton Lozada

Milton Lozada

bucketfeet

Bucketfeet is a brand that supports artists and uses some of the work they submit to create beautifully illustrated shoes that anyone can purchase online.

Check out their website here:
http://www.bucketfeet.com/

If you or someone you know want to submit an art design, you can visit:
http://www.bucketfeet.com/index.php/artistsubmission/register
to register and start submitting artwork!

spring break

Spring Break is almost here, which means I'll have 10 days of free time for sketching, and I am beyond excited! This has been an insanely busy semester for me, so having some time to do what I love will be fantastic.

These are a couple pieces I've completed recently:

Mindy Barks

Mindy Barks

I've been playing around with different hair styles lately, and it's been pretty fun! I plan to do more sketches that focus on hair styles in the future.

the sistine chapel

If I could see any piece of famous artwork in person, it would be the ceiling in the Sistine Chapel.

Photo: wikipedia.org

The Sistine Chapel is a papal chapel built within Vatican City. Pope Julius II commissioned Michelangelo to paint the ceiling-it took him 4 years to complete the work, from 1508 to 1512. 

"The Creation of Adam"
Photo: wikipedia.org

"The Creation of Adam" is probably the most well known piece on the ceiling, but Michelangelo actually created multiple artworks that were part of the grand design of the chapel.

Photo: wikipedia.org

Photo: wikipedia.org

These photos can only begin to show the time and detailed work that went into the Sistine Chapel ceiling. It is by far one of my favorite works of art and one that I would absolutely love to see in person!

bizarre art facts you may not know

Auguste Rodin, a French sculptor born in 1840, created a statue called "The Age of Bronze" that was so realistic it caused people to actually believe he sacrificed a real person inside the cast.

Photo: cantorfoundation.org

Vincent Van Gogh had a history of mental illness, and shortly after the breakdown that caused him to cut off his own ear, he was admitted into Saint-Paul-de-Mausole, a psychiatric hospital in Saint-Rémy. This is where he created his most notable and famous painting, "Starry Night".

Photo: vangoghgallery.com

Salvador Dali's famous "Persistence of Memory" painting was inspired by melted cheese Dali noticed after a dinner party that was held at his home.

Photo: wikiart.org

Before Mary Barnes became a well-known English artist, she was a patient in Kingsley Hall, a mental health center for schizophrenics. During therapy she was encouraged to regress to a child-like state, during which she began painting the walls with her feces. They gave her paint to use instead, and this lead to the discovery that she was quite a talented painter.

Photo: wikipedia.org

a few of my favorites

These are just a few sketches I've done in the past that are some of my favorites.

I'm incredibly critical of myself, but sometimes I come across a few older sketches that I'm actually pretty proud of.

I'm hoping to get to Michael's or Hobby Lobby sometime soon to restock supplies and get back into doing more art, it's been a while since I've really sat down and sketched.

Art and Photo: Mindy Barks

Art and Photo: Mindy Barks

Art and Photo: Mindy Barks

"the joy of painting" with bob ross

Bob Ross was an American painter who was able to create these pretty amazing paintings within a half hour TV show, and he did it effortlessly.

I used to watch his show ALL the time.

It came on every Sunday morning, and was the best way to start the day.
At least for me it was.
I wasn't like most children.

Anyway, if you have a few minutes, I encourage you to check out a little bit of what he does, it's quite impressive.

art is good for the brain!

Found this article from the Wall Street Journal, thought it was an interesting read :)

http://www.wsj.com/articles/our-brains-are-made-for-enjoying-art-1402958948

in the beginning.

I started sketching when I was 3-years-old. My dad, when he would get home from work, would sit in his recliner at the end of the day, pull out his sketchbook and start drawing. As a child I would always try to recreate what he drew (which wasn't always the best idea. I found a picture of a nude woman that he had sketched and I recreated that drawing on my grandmother's chalkboard when I was a little kid. That was a phone call my parents were not expecting).

In grade school, I sketched in class so much that it started to become a distraction and my teachers asked my mom to make sure I didn't bring my sketchbook to school. Every morning after that, my mom had to do a backpack check, and I was not too happy about it.

Luckily for me, there was nothing they could do if I wanted to draw on my homework :)

I practiced sketching a lot growing up. I had days where I could sit and draw for hours on end, then there were times when I could go months without opening my sketchbook. I'm the same way today. Even still, I can see my skills improving all the time.

I'm nowhere near what I would consider a "professional" artist to be, but that doesn't matter. It's something that relaxes me and something I enjoy, and it saddens me that so many people decide not to draw, or paint, or even sculpt, because they don't think they're good at it. Practice makes perfect, but even if your aspirations don't include becoming a professional artist, I urge everyone to pick up a pencil and give it a go :)

Photo from The Fresh Hues Blog

websites to check out.

There are a few websites that I visit frequently. Not just for inspiration, but it's nice to look at some of the art other people have done.

http://www.deviantart.com/

I go to this one often. It's a website that allows anyone to showcase the art they've done. What I love about it is that you have a wide range of artists on here, from beginners to professionals. It's just a place everyone can share their work. It's a free website if anyone is interested in signing up, it only costs money if you want to upgrade to the premium account. You can view the art with or without an account, but I highly suggest checking this one out.

https://www.amybrownart.com/

Amy Brown is one of my favorite artists. My parents bought me one of her art books when I was about 12 years-old and I looked through it so much the binding started to tear.

http://www.elfwood.com/

If you haven't noticed by now, I love fantasy and science fiction art. This one is very similar to Deviant Art, but another website that I visit frequently.

http://www.art.com/

This website is more for those people looking to buy artwork rather than post their art, but still a great website to check out :)

a little bit about me.

Hello! My name is Mindy and I'm currently a returning student at Washburn University working on my second major in Mass Media: Public Relations. I graduated with my first Bachelor's degree in May 2013 in Communication. I grew up in a small town, and have taken part in debate, forensics, band and theatre throughout my educational career. 

I've been sketching since I was 3-years-old. The ability to do art is something that I couldn't live without. I don't see myself as a professional in any sense of the word, this is just something I enjoy doing in my spare time to relax. My goal with this blog isn't just to show some of the art I've done, but I want to get people excited about art and want to explore it and learn more about it. You don't have to have a degree in art to appreciate and enjoy it, and that's what I'm hoping to get across with this blog :)

Artwork and photo by: Mindy Barks