Years ago,
in my Art adventures,

I'd put on the classy Coralie Clément
and drive to the Biggest Bookstore I found.

Looking at pencil drawing tutorials,
taught me the importance of creating Art Books.

And looking thorough reference graphics for designers,
was as abstract and random, as fascinating.

I thumbed through thick books,
filled with stickers, logos, and doodles - it was a amazing.

I wasn't looking for anything in particular,
so I started in the beginning.

Week after week,
I'd inspect new art books, sometimes new arrivals even.

And eventually I found a book with Lowbrow art,
or Pop Surrealism.

This was not a happy moment for me,
Pop Surrealism is on another level.

Seeing the beauty of Realism,
taken to Cartoons.

And actually made better, somehow;
was devastating for me.

I feel like, that day,
lowbrow broke my heart in a sweet Surrealist way.

I couldn't do anything like it,
I couldn't even move oils like that.

And I certainly have not been ready,
to witness anything that beautiful.

Even hours ago,
the eyes I drew on my new Mona, were tiny compared to what I needed.

And this very hour, I discovered that I needed to resize her body,
down to almost the size of her fancy head.

I am still being changed,
still being taught this silly magic.

I must have laughed four times at Mona's eyes,
and took several trips to the computer just to look at the screen again.

I am laughing right now,
that forehead, is so perfect.

And I just brightened up her eyes,
apparently enough to stare in to people's souls.

That's art,
that's my kind of art.

Funny,
as heck.

My Grandma had a neat framed copy of Lady with an Ermine in her living room,
the original is in a Polish museum about three hours away.

From my youngest age, I used to wonder about it,
I never got over how ferocious and muscular that animal is.

I suspect that painting is the reason
why Squirrels make me so happy.

I'll try learning with that one,
as well.

With two or three celebrity portraits,
and a self-portrait or two, I could open up a little online store and take requests.

Where learning to paint does not benefit from tracing,
and is best done freehand by only looking at a reference.

Custom portraits benefit from keeping as close as possible to the original,
and that is also more reliable and faster.

At $25 or $50 per digital portrait,
it is a fun way to build a mighty portfolio.

The customer can then request that a local print-shop prints it out on glossy paper,
and have it framed - this completely eliminates shipping and workmanship problems.

Every little hobby,
leads to some interesting little way to make a dollar or two.

It also opens up the opportunity to create speed painting or time lapse advertising videos,
where you could them offer their full versions with a tutorial commentary for a fee.

You can also create an art book,
that would make someone browsing books at the local bookstore pause.

And beyond that, what sells for $25 dollars, can make $250,
if you co-found a small company with other artists.

A purely digital remote job,
where you can even train others how to create the art; and where they in turn, can sharpen their skills.

The point of Art is not money,
art is about expanding your creativity with magnificent practice.

Art makes you stronger,
and art makes you laugh.