Transcript / Extras:

Welcome to the 9th edition of Adventures in Creative Communication. My name is Mitra Cline and I’m a freelance designer slash artist. I’m putting this edition together for you on Thursday, January 17th 2013 – it’s a warm sunny day here in Santa Barbara California and – As always – I’m here to keep your creative curiosity flowing – with stories on new technology and classic techniques for creative communication.

My topic today is self-expression – Expression of one’s own personality, feelings, or ideas, as through speech or art.

A quote from (Pearl S. Buck). “Self-expression must pass into communication for its fulfillment”

 I’m going to talk about what inspired this months topic and then show you how you can use video to help increase your creative skills in observational drawing and self-expression.

Initially my mind got into this mode when I read a tweet from Lissa Rankin, MD ‏@Lissarankin She asked, “How do you like to express yourself creatively?” It got me thinking about this self-portrait I had been working on. I had started the portrait as an exercise in observational drawing and to play with video tools. But I had not thought about how the portrait also represents something deeper about my personality and sense of self – how it was a creative expression of inner world. It’s been distracting to think about my own image and challenging to be the subject matter for observation – feeling vulnerable and open to critique. I’ve done many in the past, but It’s probably been a decade since my last self-portrait.

With the topic of self-expression on the mind, I went to the RAWards in LA. It featured 9 indie artist from the US – Giving speeches on stage – expressing themselves. Everywhere I looked there were models posing under lights for cameras… people on stage performing music, dance, fashion, live art and also images featured in print materials. It made me realize that my self-conscious attitude was limiting my ability to express fully in a creative way. It also brought to light how joy and appreciation are more common than criticism – as I was myself mesmerized be the people expressing themselves out on the stage during the awards ceremony.

Finally, the Artist Portrait series from Clovis IV Photography that I was part of also made me think of self-expression in another light – as I became the subject matter of another artist.

In summary I think portraits are a powerful subject matter for any artist, as they combine observation with self-expression. (whether you’re the subject matter or if you have a model)

Here are some tools for getting started at home with the video technique I recently started to use.

• PhotoBooth or some other web camera tool like Skype, Google Hangout
• iGlassses or some other video tool – optional
• Paper & pen, painting supplies, or iPad – anything you want to draw with

Thanks for tuning in. If you would like more information please visit mitracline.com – if you like what I’m doing you can follow along on future creative adventures. I’ve got all the bases covered for a range of preferences, Facebook, Twitter, Email Newsletter, and RSS. Happy Exploring!

 

Note: Video created using Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 for the first time.