Forum Addiction
 

After loggin in and replying to all the detailed replies to questions, this artist continues to read and read and read...

I HAVE BECOME A FORUM ADDICT!!!-Yikes!

How much time do you spend loggin in and out to quench that thirst for artistic insider's hints?

When my cat has curled up in my lap and fallen asleep as I sit reading forum postings, then I know I've been sitting here too long and it's time to go back into the studio!

Great cartoon!
 

Sometimes I feel like a junkie, too, but I do spend a lot of time multi-tasking - I am happily married, cycle 150-miles a week, run 20 miles a week, chef (day job) 50 hours a week....and walk the dogs, do some laundry, watch "West Wing," stand at my easel painting simple still lifes from life...

The computer is truly integrated into our lives. E-mail keeps me in touch with my brothers, parents and nieces, culinary friends who have moved on to other markets.

The forum is very interesting, but this site offers so much more - I spend a lot of time seeing what new portfolios are added, how existing SOG artists deal with particular issues in their work. I spend a lot of time looking up individual artists' sites on-line. I learn as much looking at their work as I do reading the posts.

The computer shrinks the world; you can question the nature of photography/painting with a Mike from Tulsa, a Steve in Taiwan, a Chris in Phoenix.

Bottom line, put the time in at your easel (and at other areas of responsibility/interest) and don't feel guilty. We're all here to learn.

That cartoon is too funny, Enzie. Thanks for that!

The cartoon I'm not posting (though I'm getting an image of it in mind as I type this) depicts the interior of a family law attorney's office, with a client resembling my wife, who is insisting on an additional allegation in the complaint, to-wit: "Further, Defendant spends more time talking to his Forum buddies and peers than he does to Plaintiff or other householders, except the dog." (Dog thus unwittingly assumes role as unindicted coconspirator. I see the cartoon as involving the dog somehow -- that's the part I haven't worked out yet.)

Steven, put the dog in the witness box with this big smirk on his face! Your reply made me laugh. I am so glad you all replied so positively. Makes me wonder now...I see all your names too, everytime I log in...hmmm!

This could get as addictive as the Forum. I'm seeing the dog on the witness stand, being cross-examined by plaintiff's counsel: "Isn't it true that Defendant asked you on the night of the 18th whether you wanted to go for a walk, and then he signed onto SOG for three hours?" And the dog's tail is wagging vigorously and the thought balloon above his head says "blah blah -- Walk??!!! Go for a WALK!!!? YES!!"

Or we're in the parties' residence, the fellow glued to the computer monitor, a portrait posted for critique, the wife in the doorway, dressed in an evening gown, the dog standing upright beside her, wearing a fedora and pocketing a pipe, and the wife is saying, "Did you hear me, Steven? I said I'm taking the dog out for a walk and then dinner. We'll be late, don't wait up." (And maybe the husband is saying, absently [and naively, to make him truly "me"], "Okay, you guys have fun.")

Steven, I see you have a wonderful imagination!

I am going to try to wean myself off the forum and allocate just a certain time when I will log in. YEAH RIGHT! This is way too much fun!

On a serious note though, I believe it is wonderful to have a source to go to for information as wide ranging as this forum offers, as well as having an outlet to chat with good company who understand what it means to be a creative person.

I paint almost every day and spend hours in my studio, therefore the all-familiar sound of my Email notifier is always welcomed. It acts as a reminder to relax and stop fighting the canvas with my brushes! Seeing others struggle and questioning themselves keeps me also from totally flipping out.

Cynthia, have you ever thought about offering a section for artistic jokes and cartoons? I often feel that artists act way too seriously and it is wonderful to have them lighten up some and be able to laugh at themselves and their artistic shortcomings. Wouldn't it be wonderful to see Steven's cartoon?!

Enzie, My computer is always near my studio, and my office is filled with them so popping in is so easy - I do it often. Lord help me the day I don't think I have anything to learn and such a wonderful reference source sits dormant!

Enzie,

Actually, Karin Wells started one a long time ago:

http://forum.portraitartist.com/show...=&threadid=275