Eye Know

Bouncing around blogs and other websites can lead to a few things. Often, eye-bulging horror at po-faced self-important guff spouted forth like so much industrial bilge. But... BUT! Every now & then you hit big shiny golden gold, which can then lead to more gold, and more and more until eventually you click minimise, brain reeling from the sudden mindfeast you've just chowed down on.

Hence, from this posting on the links-so-good-you-can-taste-the-quality site Chasing Daisy, I'd wombled cheerfully into Everyday Matters, and my jaw slammed into the bloody floor. HOLY GUACAMOLE. This chap makes journals like Michelangelo painted ceilings, and on a daily basis too, scanning them in and following them with well-written, insightful posts. Museum sketches! Divine typography! How to bind books! And those are all taken from just a few days! Honestly, it doesn't half put one's own bloggy effort in perspective. I'd recommend it to anyone, but especially those of us with some kind of desire to draw and create. You might find yourself wailing inwardly at the talent on show, but let it inspire you, send you scurrying for pocket-sized sketchbooks and inky pens. Hell, you can even buy a collection of this journal work - I certainly intend to.

And then, then... one of his posts links to another site, so off you wander and JINKIES IT'S ANOTHER RIDICULOUSLY GOOD ARTIST. And then OH BUGGERATION NOW I'LL HAVE TO BUY THAT, and so forth. It's an enlightening little bit of cyberspace, eschewing those Which Buffy Character's Cleavage Are You quizzes for genuinely fascinating artwork and writing.

I say again, because I know at least a couple of people reading this who are either already artists or wish to be - there's a LOT of good advice to be gained from going through the Everyday Matters site. Entries like this, this and this are nigh-on essential, especially for anyone trying to overcome the awesome fear of an empty page and the looming threat of Failure. And thanks to following this post, I ended up here and, 24 hours later, mysteriously found myself buying one of these.

Course, that means I now have to use it. SCARY. But if someone else can do so, why not me? Well, apart from the fact that it'll probably start off godawful, but if you could do everything perfectly all the time without effort, it'd be a dull dull life. So... let's see what happens. You'll not be seeing any of the crap stuff, mind. I'm far too bashful. Or vain.

And isn't it nifty what can come from following just a couple of links? There'll be more easily-reached eye-feasts and brain-throbbers to be posted here in the future, but until then take a wander around Daisy's thoroughly pink place, or gorge yourself through the archives of Everyday Matters. YUM.