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Tuesday, November 05, 2013

Art Everyday Month Project 4: Learning Something Creative and New

Hello Tuesday!  
I was a little worried yesterday about creating something to share on the blog with you today because once again, I barely stepped into my studio for the 3rd or 4th day in a row.  
No worries though, I have art goodies all over the house at this point in time. 
Poor Josh, he lives in a living breathing gallery/studio/home!
As it turns out, like most working artists, there are days or weeks that sometimes go by when you have to focus on other things then just your normal repertoire, and for me painting is what I normally do.

Over the weekend and into this week I've been working on some special projects including a book contribution (yay),  a special BIG online webinar for a large publishing company (more about that later), and some art supply/tools I'm designing which will hopefully hit the shelves in the Spring. (fingers crossed).

With that product design, I bought an new Bamboo pen tablet and upgraded several illustration programs. Mind you...I have no idea what I'm doing, never have really used any of these programs or did this sort of designing...EVER.

So I played.
and played.

For hours.

Like 12 hours.

And the end of my playing, I did this little illustration above. Just a square doodle which I changed into a stamp via Photoshop.


I then added some gray tones. and played some more.



Tried something else and loved the chalk board sorta look.

Time to add some color and see what I could come up with.
Did I tell you one of my fantasies is to design fabric down the road?
That wasn't what I was working on yesterday, but with some 
more practice, I think I can do it.

Here's the part that I figured out that I have to pat myself on the back for.
I taught myself to  create my own custom patterns and brushes yesterday.
So I took the above illustration and made it into a pattern.

Which made it easy peezy to repeat and create a larger design. Not perfect though...I can see where I meshed together a bit wrong but hey, it was my first time doing this. Ever.


Once I figured that part out, I went on to change colors and play some more.
It gets addictive. You start to see so many possibilities.



Then I just played.
But the part that I really like in this piece is that I figured out how to use the custom pattern and fill in my outlines of my name, which I see possibilities for creating photo collages and other fun illustrations.

Way too much fun when I should have been doing other things.

The moral of the story is, when you do something totally outside your comfort zone, you sometimes make a breakthrough that can lead to a whole new path  you never considered before.

So no, not creating in my studio yesterday but I did create some magic by simply learning how to do something that can help me achieve one of my goals (if I keep working at it and trying to dig deeper, learn more, and experiment.).
Never be afraid of experiementing.
I made a lot of crap yesterday.
I erased a ton of crazy outrageous junk.
But I also had some revelations and some cool things happen, just because I sat down and tried.

Go out and try something new today. Let me know how it goes:))

xoxo
Artfully yours,

Jodi

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7 comments :

creatorme said...

Love the bright colors you use. You are a super fast learner. I am using Adobe Illustrator right now. Took me forever to learn how to use the software. So addictive!
Look forward to seeing more of your work at AEDM.

pauline said...

Isn't this FUN?!? Yeah, i could definitely see you designing fabric. That first sample (the one where you added color) is fantastic. It's never wasted time when you're having fun & learning something. ;-) Housework can always wait. xox

nelda said...

I would love to buy some fabric made from the first colored design you posted. Let me know if you go to Spoonflower and list your own fabric. 'http://www.spoonflower.com/welcome

deborahdesigns said...

Wow, love the design you came up with! Would make a terrific fabric. your talent amazes me.

Katyoparty said...

Thanks for the inspiration Jodi!

Tracy said...

Just LOVE that graffiti name design! Must get my Bamboo out and play again…

Gigi said...

That is breathtaking! Great job in really getting lost in your art and "going" for it.