Rustic.Meets.Vintage

lylaandblu:

“Untitled No.1” by Christian Watson (Blu)

i was recently asked why my prints are so pricey,
well, this, (in a set of three) is original, and (currently)
are my only available art pieces for sale on our store.
in regards to my 9” x 11” prints, which were sold a while
back, they were sold from $7 to $20, which is a very good
price for prints that size. the anonymous who asked,
mentioned that they were a painter, so they were  
curious about my process behind the works, and was 
all questioning the reason behind “so much white-space”
on the paper.

i strongly believe that art is something that can be taught, 
but is very strongly backed by a natural talent, which is my
most self-honored blessing. Thankfully,
i come from a family of creativity, so naturally,
i am used to all of the criticism. i’ve had people 
scream at me, tell me they despise my work, (though that
could be from a personal grudge). But in this instance, it 
was more of a fevered curiosity. So my answer is this;
No one ever said that art had to fill every square millimeter
of paper, screen, or anything. Being a design student,
i have come to learn that white space is very much alloted, 
and the reason for that is to bring focus to the little details
on the paper. if you crowd a canvas with colors, sometimes 
it’s easy to get muddled up, confused, lost. And that is not what
i intend for my art work. i use only Micron .005 and fine sharpie
to complete any of my pen and ink (not paint) illustrations.
these can take up to 50 hours to complete for an 18” by 24” piece
and even longer for larger pieces. No rulers, just hours of detail, 
hatching, shading, smudging, messing up, fixing, creating; repeat. 
they say every artist is a little conceited. They say James Nord 
is conceited, full of himself… but he is a master at what he practices
and is continuously bettering himself to surpass his current expertise.
my thoughts on conceit are a bit different from the anonymous who
take a few glimpses and scoff at us. what they don’t realize is that they
are like a lot of the people who tell us “no” who say that Art should not
be done a certain way. And because of this, you cannot teach art.
Teaching is the difference between the right and wrong way to do
something. Art is completely up to the artist, i could splatter paint on a
canvas and be famous, Pollock, or paint surrealism to visualize fantasy,
Picasso, i could draw in fine pencil for hours, and come up with a beautiful
and idealized look at life, Escher. But instead, i draw for hours using pen
and ink to distribute to the viewer, my thoughts on the difference between
nature, humanity, and concrete, and i am Christian Watson for that.
No one taught me to draw this way, i didn’t ask if it was okay, and if
you don’t like it, then i thank you endlessly for your time to at least look!
If you do, thank you for yours, and im glad we share an appreciation.
Artists adapt within themselves, not within the world.

We cannot convey enough to the reader of this 
of just how much we have been through, anyone who works
hard goes through criticism, you learn to be told that
the way you are doing something is incorrect, isn’t good. We
adapt to that. So, if you want to lash out against us, and tell
us that we are full of ourselves, then we thank you for noticing,
we thank you for your time, for your opinion, and for you giving
us the opportunity to practice with criticism. If you are doing
it to get to our core, and make us cry, you will not win. i have been
called a “fuck-up” a “worthless piece of shit” we have lives just like
you. Hannah & i both have hard home lives, share difficult passions,
and work incredibly hard at what we do. We put so much effort
into bringing Lyla & Blu together for you, and if that is not good enough,
then you are welcome to leave, remember that, just because you
“Follow” us, there is an “Unfollow” button for a reason. Like you,
we are trying, like you, we are striving & fighting to succeed. We aren’t
all rainbows and sunshine, we know tough work when we see it,
i’ve been out in the field, logged trees, dug ditches, built houses,
in the rain, the snow, and the heat. i know what it takes to get hair on
the chest, and i know what it means for a woman to have confidence.
So if you hate who we are for that, i’m glad. Because it means
more work for us.

We are the working class,

and we are damn proud of it.

Much love to everyone, for your support, thoughts, opinions,
criticism, (constructive and not) and for your comprehension.

-Christian & Hannah of “Lyla & Blu” 

(via 1924us)