Art Unboxed The Ink Blots

There used to be an old Jazz group known as The Ink Blots. There was also a Disney villain known as the Phantom Blot. I confess I wasn’t thinking of either when it happened.

I was only trying to encourage the ink inside my fountain pen to flow to the outside. When you do this, usually a bead of ink flows from the feed. When it happened this time, I got busy and closed the sketchbook. It was when I opened it up they were staring at me.

Two perfect mirror images of either a Christmas stocking, or the country of Italy. They call Italy’s shape on the map a boot, take a look and you’ll see what I mean. Granted it’s either the boot of a pirate or a fashion model, but it’s a boot. As an artist this fascinated me, without drawing one line, I had made two boots!

I wonder if the cobbler in the story of the elves and shoemaker felt similar? Have you ever struggled for years to be able to draw something correctly? Lol, the ink blot was a faster learner than I was. Instead of getting angry, this intrigued me.

Which is good, because I’d look pretty silly being mad at an ink blot unless I’m Mickey Mouse. An yet, how often do we allow ourselves to become either jealous or envious of those who have accomplished something we have not yet achieved? Instead of getting angry, shouldn’t we admire their skill, and seek to learn from them?

I’m an artist, I’m also a Christian, and this week is pretty important to us. Aren’t you glad the wisemen didn’t say “well we are wise, and if He knows more than we do, we don’t want to know it?” Instead they sought to learn, no matter how wise they were, they were wise enough to know they still needed to learn.

I hope as an artist, and as a believer, you still take the time to learn as much as you can. No matter what we know, or think we know, we have a lot more to learn. An that’s what I learned from The Ink Blots.