Inspired by winging it!

Posted on January 30, 2013 by artistically afflicted

For this weeks Illustration Friday ~ wings.

This is a motif I have been meaning to explore more. The opportunities are endless here.There are so many facets of the wing to be explored ~ movement, texture, weight, the beautiful delicacy, all the lovely lines,color…

I was reminded of a post I made over a year ago about a beautiful book I stumbled upon at Anthropologie. The link is here, but I will show you some pictures to peak your interest.

Designer Belan Mena inspired me by her practice of taking everything she discovered about the moth and breaking it down to its fullest.It’s a concept I love and mean to practice more. It’s also a concept that I need a bit more patience for!

I laugh at myself because I take these themes so literally. I hear wings I see butterfly wings. I am practicing my thinking outside the box but it can only come with more patience and with more work. So my goal for the next week- wings. If you want to see wings explored come back for a visit! Will keep you posted on my progress.

Back to my entry for this weeks Illustration Friday.

Butterflies for children. I am building my portfolio and whats a portfolio without some bright, colorful butterflies and flowers.

I love taking time to explore Illustration Fridays’ site at the end of the week. It’s a very talented community and I guarantee there will be some very creative ways of interpreting wings.

I will be back on Friday with this weeks efuto ~ also inspired by wings.Drop by and say hello and I just might send one your way.

Inspired by…creative momentum

Posted on November 15, 2012 by artistically afflicted

Doing double duty here – Illustration Friday and Art Everyday Month. I am feeling very productive. Also blogging, making dinner and listening to an interview with Monica Lee and Smart Creative Women

I need a cape ~ preferably with a beautiful pattern, thank you!

The theme for this weeks Illustration Friday challenge ~trees. How about abstract…with a little snow?

I am not sure what category this fits into, but I guess it is a combination photography/ digital art. It is something I have been playing with while learning photoshop. I would love to be able to incorporate more of my photography into surface pattern design. Will keep you posted on how this works for me.So far, it’s been a wee bit slow.I have discovered that the digital art world requires time, patience and lots of hands on exploring.

These are the original photos taken.

It’s half time through Art Everyday month. It has felt really good to take time out everyday to play, experiment and rediscover the fun of following a whim. I have to admit,I receive great joy out of happy mistakes.

Thanks also to Art Everyday for encouraging me to get back into my blogging routine.I have reconnected with many artists I have met throughout this journey of mine and it has been nice to visit again (and comment). Thank you for all of your comments!

I encourage anyone who is wanting to be creative, but apprehensive about putting it all out there to just do it! We are a very nice and supportive community. I guarantee you will connect with other like minded souls and learn a bunch along the way. I think I need to post a little list of all the weekly groups/ challenges that one can be a part of. Look out for it next week!

See you again in a few days. At the rate I am going, it may even be tomorrow.

Inspired by …a little spontaneous expression

Posted on April 18, 2012 by artistically afflicted

For Illustration Friday
Illustration Friday is a weekly illustration challenge. A topic is posted every Friday on the Illustration Friday site. Then participants have all week to come up with their own interpretation. Anyone is free to join, regardless of skill or experience – just draw!!

This weeks challenge ~ Puzzled.

The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science ~ Erich Fromm

Playing with a bit of spontaneous expression for this challenge. A bit of spontaneous mark-making, mindless scribbling if you will, with ink on paper.

Lets see what happens…

Add more marks, obliterate others (its only paint!) discover shapes, follow your intuition..explore.
Add some color..

A color paint chip that has been pegged up on my inspiration board for some time now. Colors I would not usually use, but am intrigued by.

Recipe ~ alizarian crimson, yellow oxide, carbon black, titan buff and titanium white.
(ok…I know there is no yellow in the chip, but I just happen to have some slowly drying out on my palette so thought.. waste not..why not?)

A little spontaneous expression for you!

I can imagine you may be a bit puzzled as to how this all fits into the topic “puzzled”

Well, for me, this whole idea of spontaneous drawing ~ intuitive painting ~ is really just a matter of putting together the pieces of a puzzle. You have your marks, your shapes and your colors. Play with them ~ Move your paper around, discover shapes, add more marks take away (paint over!) those that are not working. Follow your intuition. It either fits or is doesn’t!

A perfect quick and dirty art journal exercise. Challenge yourself with new colors and new marks. Be free and most importantly be prepared to possibly discover something new and fantastic!

I am off to find more info on this topic so that I can expand on this topic at a later date. If you have any interesting links on intuitive painting, expressive drawing, spontanous expression…I would love to have a read. This intuitive road to creation definitely intrigues me!

Until next week…

Inspired by …the abstract.

Posted on November 8, 2011 by artistically afflicted

For Illustration Friday – Stripes

If you look closely you will notice that my abstract piece is all about the intersection of horizontal and vertical lines. Do you see it?

It was either that or a poorly drawn zebra:)

As I continue plodding along through the month of November and the Creative Everyday project I have come to learn a few things…

I need to be creative everyday. It only has to be a half hour, nothing more, hopefully not less. Its my down time. Time to think and ponder…or not.
I enjoy the process of creating. More playing, less thinking. Love abstract for that reason..even though it is much harder than it looks.
I am not a finisher. I find it difficult to go back to a piece especially if it is “of” something.
I need community and challenges, mixed with a few pats on the back, to get me out of my comfort zone.
I need to discover more colors and how to mix instaed of going back to the same old.
I work best in short bursts of creativity.
I have gone from creating for etsy to creating for my blog. I am not sure when that transformation came about, but it goes without saying that I am wholeheartedly enjoying blogging about my creative journey and the community I have developed around me. I am feeling very content and satisfied with where I am at right now. Etsy can wait…

Enough about me….

How are you finding it to be creative everyday?