About Me

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When I am not making music I am making art, and inspiring others to find their own creativity. Follow this page for up to date news on newest work, events, shows and classes I will be teaching at The Painted Cork. Follow me on instagram @christinamansourstudios

Monday, August 30, 2010

+11 hours

Other then the night i spent eating pizza and drinking beer, i was able to get some hours in this weekend. Nothing crazy and out of the ordinary but part of the weekly routine of practice. 

I went to work and drew for 6 hours. the other two were spent sitting there doing nothing. I work at a theme park as a pastel portrait artist. I can draw the side profile in under 10 minutes with 70% accuracy and the whole front face in under 15 minutes with 75% accuracy. 
 In the 6 hours i was there last saturday i did 14 portraits. lots of profiles, which is weird, people usually want their whole face. In the time between drawings i would sketch. 

Sunday was band practice for three hours. There were a few hours here and there that i dabbled around on the piano but im not going to count those because it was not focused practice, just a much needed emotional release.

 I filled out a few pages in my sketchbook over the weekend which would account for about 2 hours of drawing. 

sooo.......

Music: 3.0 hrs
Art: 8.0 hrs.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Why 20,000 Hours?

Malcolm Gladwell wrote a book called Outliers. I haven't actually read it (i should probably read it if I am going to base my entire blog off its principles)....but a teacher of mine mentioned a theory from this book called the "10,000 hour rule." I had no idea what he was talking about so i scribbled 10,000 hours on my hand in blue ink and googled it when i got home.

The 10,000 hour rule is the idea that you are NOT good at something until you have practiced it for 10,000 hours. Being dedicated enough to practice something for 10,000 hours requires the mindset that you WILL succeed because you believe in your work.

INSTANT INSPIRATION!

I am a musician and i am an artist but i am not great. I am great at trying to be great, but in no way would i call myself great. This was the answer! 20,000 hours of undeniable work.

10,000 hours of music and 10,000 hours of drawing.
I have been playing music since i was in diapers and i have been in art school for four years so i am not technically starting at "zero hours" But for the sake of "meaningful work", i am going to start at the bottom and work my way up.

This blog is going to be what keeps me on track. I will try to post a blog every night with a description of what i did that day to become a better musician and artist and how many hours i did it for. This is not just a daily log of hours, its a place to work through the bull shit. Playing music is difficult, drawing and painting and learning new computer programs is difficult, competing with other artist and musicians is difficult, and all of these things bring on some serious doubts and insecurities. I REFUSE to let these worries fester inside my heart for one more minute. So, I am going to blog about them.

I will upload drawings from my sketchbook and post about various forms of inspiration. Song lyrics, photos from my life that inspire my words or my paintings. Pictures of my processes and then the final works! Music Music Music!! Upcoming shows that i am playing or showing work.

I do not care if a single human being reads any of my posts. I care about having a place to sort through my thoughts and share my work even if the only person that reads this is my loving mama.

This is the video that inspired me to work...
The guys hair is rad by the way... love it. (Caricature of Malcolm Gladwell coming Soon)

peace
x

Musician: 0.0 hrs
Artist: 0.0 hrs