Friday, September 28, 2012

Unintended Destinations


What is that?

Is it a Zentangle tile?

Monday, September 24, 2012

Love at First Byte

Being away for so long, I forgot what I missed: the beautiful curves, the wondrous mystery, the infinite opportunities for exploration. Her dainty lines, marvelous colors, and fabulous shapes. Don't worry, it's not what you're thinking! I'm praising the attributes of a computer program, known as Adobe Illustrator.

My relationship with Illustrator began last year when I started college, and its interface came naturally to me. It is similar to other programs I'd used before, so that helped a lot in the learning process. I went through the summer saving up for a laptop to run the program on, and then for the program itself. Finally, just last week, I made the big purchase and downloaded the Adobe Creative Suite, featuring both Illustrator and Photoshop, among other programs. My mind is now aboggle (a word I just made up; kind of like aflame or anew) with the opportunities I now have at my fingertips. From clever photo editing to business card design, the projects are now an endless flow. Currently I'm working on a logo for the blog - I think it's going to be great!

I want to show you something I designed using Illustrator. In computer illustration class, we were assigned to produce a poster for a big band dance event, entitled "Spring Swing". Part of the challenge was to incorporate at least five images - as you can see I used a guitar, saxaphone, trumpet, trombone, and piano (the middle circle could also be interpreted as a drum for a sixth image!).

I really enjoyed this project! It fell together surprisingly smoothly, and while there are a few rough areas that could be smoothed out a little, I like the way it turned out. 

Friday, September 21, 2012

Peaceful

Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. 
John 14:27

The Zentangle challenge this week is to tangle a pinwheel for peace, tying in with an organization that encourages the making of these pinwheels for the International Day of Peace, which is today. I decided to follow the template provided in the post, and do a mandala-type design.

My pinwheel. Crescent Moons, Cubine, and Paradox.

Monday, September 17, 2012

A Whatsit and a Blog Schedule

Hi everyone! Sorry for the blog silence last week. I got sick and didn't get enough done that weekend on the blog, so I just decided to take the week off. I'm (almost!) back to 100%, and I'm ready to go!

I've also decided to make a change with my posts. I have been posting pictures of my random projects on Mondays, What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday posts on (obviously) Wednesdays, and the last few weeks I've been posting my Zentangle tile for the Diva's Weekly Challenges on Fridays. With school and such going on, I've decided to cut out the Wednesday posts and stick with random projects on Mondays and Zentangle on Fridays. Maybe I'll do WOYWW over the summers or just every once in a while, we'll see.

Well, today is Monday so you're probably wondering what random project I've been working on. I have several in the works, but for this post I'm going to challenge you with another Weekday Whatsit!

Whatsit (n):
A black and white photographic image, usually taken very close-up, mysteriously depicting an everyday object. See example below.

Friday, September 07, 2012

The Rhythm of Tangles: Weekly Challenge #85

This week was a tangly week! For one thing, we had Labor Day on Monday, which threw the whole week into a tangle (it feels like it should be Saturday when it's actually Friday!). For another thing I've tangled nearly every day this week - and only completed one tile!

I started on Tuesday working on the Diva's Zentangle Challenge. You can see the tile below beginning to form in my post from Wednesday. On Wednesday I tangled a bit at work as a study break. Thursday night I took my Zentangle kit with me to my haircut and tangled while I was waiting. Finally, I finished the shading on the tile today, just in time to post it. It's definitely a here, there, and everywhere tile!

I see a spot where I forgot to shade a section - do you see it?
Tangles: Crescent Moon, Shattuck, Hurry, and Copada.

Tuesday, September 04, 2012

Tangling Here, There, and Everywhere: WOYWW 170

 Are you here from the Stamping Ground for What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday? Thanks for visiting! Even if you're not, scroll down to find out what is on my workdesk this week!

Intentional Sketching

 I have yet another project to unveil today. With so many projects in various stages of completion, it's quite crazy! But if I get bored or uninspired with one project, I can always move on to another that is more compatible with my current state of creativity. Last week I started in on my sketchbook for the Art House Co-op's Sketchbook Project. In this project the Brooklyn Art Library sends each participating artist a sketchbook - plain-jane, simple and blank. Each artist fills his/her sketchbook with art and sends it back, at which point all the sketchbooks tour the country for folks to enjoy.

I've wanted to participate since I heard about the project a few years ago, but this is the first year I've committed the time and money to fill a sketchbook. I had to choose a theme, which was difficult considering the many enticing themes to choose from. I ended up with "Mysteries".

I thought profusely about which route I would take with my theme. I had to scrap several grand ideas before I ended up with what I have now. My first take on the theme was to create an entire mystery story surrounding the sketchbook, which would transform into the journal of someone who witnessed some type of crime. As the journalist strove to find out the identity of the criminal, the mystery would be revealed. That's about as far as that idea went.

My second idea was to illustrate mysterious truths about God in the style I began to work in in my post Process Paradox. I really liked this idea, but I realized that with the school year starting I wouldn't have the time to sit down, get out all the materials, and create this type of work. I needed something simpler, something more portable.

I decided to simplify and go with pen and pencil to begin. Here's the first page: