The Great Talent Hoax

Pencil drawing for The Cabins of Wilsonia

Have you ever thought or said to an artist, “Gee, it must be great to have talent”? Or have you you ever said, “I wish I had talent like that”?

It’s all smoke and mirrors.

Actually, it’s not. It is practice, training, practice, rough criticism, more practice, a little success, practice, trial and error, practice, a little public embarrassment and yet even more practice.

Malcolm Gladwell wrote in his book “Outliers” that it takes 10,000 hours of intentional practice with a focus toward continual improvement to become an expert at something. He’s not talking about mindless repetition.

Practice makes perfect. Erasers help too.

The harder I work, the more talented I become.

Practice, practice, practice. And, have a second more objective pair of eyes that is connected to a truthful mouth that is connected to a kind heart have a look at your work.

My Very Wise Dad told me of a concert pianist who had to practice 8 hours a day. When he dropped to 6 hours, he could tell the difference. When he dropped to 4 hours, his audience could tell the difference.

The only people who don’t learn to draw are the ones who quit drawing lessons too soon. Those who persist begin to think they have talent.

They might be right.

Sometimes people quit drawing lessons (or piano or ballet or drumming or guitar or knitting) because they don’t love it enough to practice as hard as talent requires.

Think I put enough cliches in this blog entry? 😎 Perhaps I need to practice my writing skills more.

Draw, draw, draw

My buddy Chris LoCurto had a guest post on his blog about choosing three words to guide you through the year. My first choice was DRAW DRAW DRAW. In that order. (Honestly the first 3 words that came to mind were “eat, pray, love”.)

So, I am drawing. No matter how much I draw, it doesn’t feel like enough. Keep drawing, Chicky-babe!

pencil drawing for The Cabins of Wilsonia

What is this? I thought you were doing a book on cabins.

Oh-oh, there goes that pushy interviewer again. Can’t you see the cabin in the background, you eejit?

Hey! I told you I was the one asking the questions here!

lalalalalala, I can’t hear you.

Alta Street, done!

Or is it Alta Lane? Alta Drive? Alta Road? I’m talking about Wilsonia, specifically The Cabins of Wilsonia. In my interview with myself, I revealed the strategy for drawing all the cabins. Alphabetically, by street name, means that the first set of drawings is for Alta Street/Lane/Drive/Road.

Nope, you don’t get to see the entire set because I hope you will want to buy the book and not say “that old thing? I already saw it on her blog!”

Let’s have a little drawing lesson. You can’t draw a light thing – instead, you draw the dark around it. The foxglove at the base of this pencil drawing show up because of the boards in the background. In Artspeak, the boards are the “negative space”.

Don’t you feel learned now? And isn’t “learned” the funniest word?

More talking to myself

This is one of the pencil drawings for the upcoming book, The Cabins of Wilsonia

How will the book be organized?

Alphabetically, by street name

What order are you doing the cabin drawings?

Alphabetically, by street name. EXCEPT, when I began in the summer, I did quite a few of the Masonic tract and then quite a few on Fern where I also stayed.

Don’t you get bored just sitting there alone drawing in pencil?

Often Kaweah Kitty is with me. If it is cold out, she squishes underneath the light for warmth and blocks my vision and licks my hand.

But don’t you get bored anyway?

With the wonder of technology, I can listen to the radio or to TED talks on the computer or to Artists Helping Artists marketing broadcasts on the computer or to iTunes on my Bose speakers for the computer or to Iceberg radio on the computer which I learned about from my new friend Colleen. Who can be bored when you have the whole world available through that magic machine?

How will you get all those quotes you need?

I’ll just keep bugging people via email, maybe send out a real letter, and keep drawing cabins in pencil while I wait.

Where will I be able to order a book?

Call me, write me, email me. Check my website. Ask Gus. And, if I figure out how, it will be available through Amazon. Then, if you wait 10 years, you can pay twice as much on eBay!

Who are you, anyway?

I am California artist Jana Botkin, who specializes in pencil drawings of cabins. (Got that, Mr. Google??)

In Which the Artist Interviews Herself

The Cabins of Wilsonia, my huge project, has created a few questions. Here I will ask some of those questions, and then answer them for you. (Mr. Google, I am a California artist who will do over 200 pencil drawings of cabins.)

What is Wilsonia?

it is an area of about 100 acres of private land bought and set aside before the National Parks were created. It is next to Grant Grove in Kings Canyon National Park in California.

How old are the cabins?

The first cabins were built there in 1919, there are some that were built in the 1990s, and there are all sorts in between.

What is that name?

It was named after President Woodrow Wilson (with apologies to Glen Beck).

Why are you doing this?

Short answer: because I am Cabinart. Medium answer: it hasn’t been done yet, and it will be a good product to sell. Long answer: I love to draw, drawing cabins is my signature art style and subject, Wilsonia is beautiful and interesting, and it is good to record these places before they change too much.

How many cabins are there?

There are 212, 12 of which belong to the National Park Service.

Will there be history?

There will be an introduction that briefly explains the history of Wilsonia. If cabin folks want to share some of their own history, it may be included in their quotations.

Will the book be expensive?

Compared to a clearance table book, yes. Compared to the current price of The Cabins of Mineral King, no. (It initially sold for $50 and is currently selling for around $100 used.)

Are you drawing all the cabins?

No.

Why not?

Short answer: there are too many. Long answer: some are too cluttered, some are too hard to see through the trees, some are too plain, some are redundant in appearance, and some belong to the Park, who most likely won’t be a customer for the book.

Won’t the book be boring with nothing but cabins?

The drawings will include entire cabins, cabin details, and quotes from cabin folks. If you buy one and then think it is boring, hang on to it until the books are sold out, then sell it for twice what you paid!

Will you sell the drawings?

Eventually. If I let them go before they’ve been scanned properly, it will be very hasslesome to retrieve them to rescan. I have sold a few, and I hope I don’t have to beg to borrow them back!

Do you know these people?

I know a surprising number of Wilsonia cabin folks! The former owners of our home in Three Rivers and the former owners of our cabin in Mineral King both have cabins in Wilsonia. My husband’s closest friend from childhood, our neighbors in Mineral King, my dad’s partner in an airplane, a cousin by marriage, old friends, friends of friends, previous customers, and now lots of new friends are all on the list of folks I know.

How will you earn money if all you do is draw Wilsonia cabins for more than a year and can’t sell them yet and have to learn how to use Adobe InDesign at the same time?

Any suggestions??? Anyone?? Ideas??

Excuse me now, I need to go lie down for a bit. Maybe I’ll just put my thumb in my mouth and rock a little.



Big Fat Announcement

For a few months I’ve been dancing around the subject of a Very Large Project on the horizon. Today is the day to tell you all what it is. It isn’t a very well kept secret, just a non-published-on-this-blog secret.

If you know me, you know I love to draw in pencil and that I love to draw cabins. Little cabins, big cabins, they inspire me to draw. So, The Cabins of Wilsonia, a book of drawings of (duh) the cabins of Wilsonia is underway! It will be similar to The Cabins of Mineral King.

There are differences.

1. It will contain very little history  because I’m an artist, not a historian, and the history has already been written in several forms.

2. I will be doing this one solo instead of with Jane Coughran, the very qualified former picture editor from Time-Life Books who was my partner on the Mineral King book.

3. It may not contain any photographs, because there are more than 3 times as many cabins in Wilsonia as in Mineral King.

4. It will take longer than a year to produce because it is a bigger book (226 drawings, at least 128 pages and probably more) and I have to learn how to do the designing on my computer all by myself. (deep breaths, deep calming breaths. . .) I’m aiming for Memorial Day of 2013.

5. The cabins won’t all be represented – there are just too many!

6. The cabins won’t be identified by name. They will be in chapters by street names.

There are similarities.

1. It will contain pencil drawings.

2. It will contain quotes from cabin folks.

3. It wil be hardcover (yes Brad, I listened to you!), horizontal in format.

4. It will contain some history and explanation of Wilsonia.

5. It will be self-published. This is the way Janey and I did our book in 1998, except technology has changed DRASTICALLY. There are plenty of assisted self-publishing sites out there like Lulu and Blurb and West Bow Press, but I won’t be using them.

There are challenges.

1. 226 drawings to complete and scan.

2. 40-something quotes to gather and verify.

3. Adobe InDesign to learn to use.

4. Writing the text.

5. Finding a printer.

6. Finding a binder.

7. Selling them all!!

Happy New Year!

This California artist blog will resume the blog’s regular posting schedule of Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. Pacific Standard Time on January 3, 2012.

Most Popular Pencil Drawing

Whenever I put on an art show for my drawing students, it includes a popularity contest. Anyone who views the show may vote for his 3 favorite pieces. I do this because it causes visitors to spend more time studying the work. When folks say, “How am I supposed to decide?”, I respond with this: “Vote for the pieces that call you back”.

The piece that called the most viewers back was . . .

Kirby’s “Swan”!!

In addition to being the most popular, it sold! In addition to selling to one eager customer, there was another person waiting in the sidelines for the first buyer to change his mind! (And Kirby, it wasn’t a “mercy purchase” because he said it cost too much for that!!)

Congratulations, Kirby!!

Thoughts on Drawing Lessons


The show for my drawing students is still hanging in the workshop room of the Courthouse Gallery in Exeter. Their hours are Saturday and Sunday, 10-4. You can also stop by on Tuesday afternoons. They will be removing their pieces on November 29.

One of my more blunt straightforward students said something to the effect of “a room full of yous!” That was in response to me telling her how proud I felt of my students.

That is something that I struggle with a little bit. I want to teach people how to draw. I can only teach what I know. I only know how to draw like me.

Is that bad?

If I tell fail to tell them that my style is all I know and all I can teach, if I tell them other styles are wrong, then maybe it is bad.
I have to pay attention to several things – letting them pick their own subjects even if I don’t like their choices. Drawing a creepy heavy metal band doesn’t inspire me, but helping a student draw something she loves is very rewarding. I tell each person, “Pick something you love, because you’ll be looking at it for a very long time.”
If someone wants to work from a calendar, I have to explain about the copyright laws. Ultimately, I tell that student it is his choice but he needs to know that he cannot reproduce the work. It is very difficult to find good photos of one’s own unless one has been taking photos for awhile with drawing in mind.
Sometimes a student wants to copy someone else’s work. I explain that while it is easier in some ways, in others it is more difficult. I tell the reasons and let the student decide.
When a student brings in a photo he loves, instead of saying, “Sure, go for it”, sometimes I suggest we try different cropping to see if there is a simpler way to draw the subject. In this too, I back off and let the student decide what he likes best.
There are even times I have to tell them that their chosen subject is too hard. Sometimes it is too many steps beyond the student’s current skill. Sometimes it is too hard for me to demonstrate, and sometimes it is too hard for me to draw!

Often, I provide photos for those who have none. That really makes the subject matter look like my work!
As I view the show and contemplate my pride, I realize the joy is in their accomplishments, how great stuff looks in frames, and how great it looks as a group.
Mostly, I think about how much I enjoy them and the process of helping them learn to draw.

I also have to view the teaching of drawing as a beginning of their art education, not drawing as the final goal. It has always been my Main Event, but i know it isn’t like that for everyone, even those who love drawing as I do.


What If I Gave A Party. . .

. . . and EVERYONE came! The art show for my students was a HUGE success. It was elbow to elbow for almost the entire 2 hours. The work looked stunning, and if I had been any prouder of my students, lightning might have struck us all.

First, HUGE THANK YOU to Michael, Robin and Sylvia for taking charge of the food and beverages so that no one else got stuck in the kitchen and could just enjoy the show. THANK YOU!

One of my long term students, Jackie, helped me hang the show. I think she has been taking drawing lessons for around 6 years. We grouped the pieces by subject – portraits, florals, landscapes, animals. Then, I just enjoyed it by myself for awhile in the afternoon. (There is more art than appears in this photo, of course. Just didn’t want to antagonize you by showing you all 52 pieces so far away that you can’t really see them.)

The brown box is where you put your ballot after you vote for your 3 favorite pieces. The artist whose piece has the most votes will get a month of free drawing lessons!

This is Jerry – he is the husband of one of my drawing students. He bravely volunteered to be the first at the food table, and to let me photograph him “for scale”. 😎

Kirby and me – 2 different people want to buy her swan drawing! (I couldn’t get the silly happy grin off my face for the entire evening, and my hair did look better in the morning, thanks for asking.)

Kim and me – between us is her first pencil drawing, her cat Scooter. And isn’t it cool that Kim and I are birthday twins, although I am about 1 hour older which means I get to boss her around.

The show will be on display at the Courthouse Gallery of the Arts in Exeter until the Tuesday after Thanksgiving (because that is the last day of drawing lessons for the year and everyone will take their pieces home then.) The hours are Tuesdays 12:30-5:30, and Saturdays and Sundays 10-4.

Student Art Show!

COURTHOUSE GALLERY HOURS

Tuesday 12:30-5:30

Saturday/Sunday 10-4

You are invited to the
STUDENT ART SHOW
an exhibit of original drawings
by the students of
Jana Botkin
November 4 – 27, 2011
RECEPTION NOVEMBER 4, 5-7 PM

Courthouse Gallery of the Arts
Workshop Room
125 South B Street
Exeter, California