Magical Creatures Part 3

The Gargoyle .

Magical Creatures Part 2

As I once did so long ago, here is a second magical creature out of a drawing book I have. I'm not very good at small form detail or hands but I gave it a shot.

Comments welcome!

Magical Creatures Part 1

Last month I bought the book "How To Draw Magical, Monstrous & Mythological Creatures," and today I did my first drawing out of it. The proportions are a bit off, and I lost her forehead, but I don't think it came out that bad.

On to the next one!

The Things I Remember

As a designer, art director, project manager, social media guru, and coordinator of the website I find my processes constantly changing. The other day, I started thinking about all of the ways I initially learned how to design and all of the ways I used to keep my mind creative, and I realized how much I've really changed. 

Sometimes change is good.

Once upon a time I used  to print out pages and pages of imagery that I researched. I would use those images as inspiration, and sometimes tracing guidelines. Today I do the same thing, but I also use these images for industry competitive analysis. 

The more ideas, the closer the solution. 

Once upon a time I used to spend days upon days with pencil to paper on a large amount of ideas. Nowadays I do a 20/20 (20 concepts in 20 minutes) along with other creatives and we end up with 40–60+ ideas to consider. One of the biggest problems is that about a third of those ideas end up being unusable, but still, it's pencil to paper.

I still like to stick to tradition.

Once upon a time I was glued to a light table like it was my only friend in the world. Sketch after sketch, trace after trace. Sometimes it didn't get me anywhere, but then I would remember to turn the paper.  What do I do now? I copy and paste, copy and paste, but what I never do is, turn the 'paper.'  If you have a good idea, but it's not quite working the way you'd like it to, try again. Turn the paper. Rip the paper. Disassemble your sketch and put it all back together again. Sometimes a little rearranging will turn your good idea into a great one, and sometimes it will tell you once and for all that it just won't work.

I try not to get myself discouraged.  

Once upon a time I would complete my entire design on paper using pencil, ink, gouache even (imagine that!), before even getting on the computer. Sounds like a big waste of time doesn't it? I worked this way because I would often get on the computer and not really have an understanding of how I should build my design. Getting everything on paper helped me to map out the build. Today, I've taken a step backward. I don't get everything down on paper first, I haven't in a long time. There doesn't ever seem to be enough time to completely map out an idea, not even in just pencil. The world is in a rush, so computer it is. 

You will never be finished. You just have to know when to stop. 

Once upon a time I would try to refine and nit-pick at every. single. little. detail. I always wanted everything to be perfect. Then someone told me that there is no such thing as being finished, it's just knowing when to stop. Nowadays I still live by that same rule. 

So what does this all mean for me today? It means things are changing and they will always change. There are only two things I can do about change. I can either agree and embrace it, or I can disagree and fight like hell to be myself.

This post is also on Stokefire

Great Control. Great Practice.

How is it people learn to have such great control over such things like a simple ballpoint pen? Apparently I need to work on my skills. Anyone have any advice? In the mean time, check out these illustrations by Paul Alexander Thornton. (Watch the video on the landing page - awesomeness) Check out his blog for more cool stuff!

Blog via Illusion - Scene 360 original Link via Escape into Life.

Creative Fuel

Kids have the biggest imaginations. I can remember when I was a kid, I would make up stories, draw pictures of things that weren't really there, and imagine other worlds that don't really exist. As an adult, have you ever noticed that sometimes you don't have quite the same creative spark you had as a kid?

So, how do you fuel your creative world?

About a year ago, maybe more, I stumbled across a few books that help creatives find their muse. The two books I've been using (and will be referencing for this post) are: "Zing!" by Sam Harrison, and "Caffeine for the Creative Team" by Stefan Muman & Wendy Lee Oldfield. Both give exciting, interactive tips and exercises that help fuel the creative mind. After going through both of these books, I've pulled together some of my favorites; I even have some examples to show you. 

Get off your damn computer.

The biggest mistake I make when looking for an idea, is I keep Googling. Get your research and move on. Explore beyond the internet and actually get out there. Take a walk, sit in a cafe. People-watch, as some would say (just no stalking, please). Take a sketch book with you or a small pad of paper, sit somewhere and sketch or write out words. How are you feeling that day? What are some of the sounds you're hearing? What's the weather like? What types of things are around you? What colors do you see? Did you happen to overhear some weird statement while in line at Starbucks? What are the people around you like? What are they doing? What might you say to them if you wanted to start a conversation? Exploring can open your eyes to new things and in turn spark an idea. 

Do Something Different.

If you're a designer, like me, try reading a poetry blog instead of a design blog. Read something you wouldn't normally read, such as a local newspaper (print, not digital), a book about anthropology or ethnography (as Stokefire's very own Lena Blackstock would say). Eat somewhere new or cook a new meal, make a random turn on your way home or lay in the grass and stare at the clouds (you can find faces in them, I swear). Ride your bike instead of walking, keep a journal. Doing something different gives you a new experience, and new experiences can lead to new solutions.

Get others to help you. 

If you're stuck, have someone else help you. Talk about your ideas, collaborating with someone else can turn your mediocre idea into a great one. Great work rarely comes from just one person, it comes from a group of people. Maybe that idea you had 3 months ago for a different project might just work for this new one, bouncing ideas off of someone else can help that come out. 

Do a group exercise. 

The very first exercise in "Caffeine for the Creative Team" by Stefan Muman & Wendy Lee Oldfield goes a little something like this: "…each of you is going to use a pencil to create a monster. The only restrictions are: [1] once you put the pencil down to start drawing, you can't lift it back up - scribble, scratch, shade, do whatever you want, but you can't remove the pencil from the paper until you're done - and [2] you and a partner are working together to create one monster, so you must both start at the same time on the same piece of paper working on the same monster. You can talk it out as you go, or stay silent and read from one another's direction what you can add to the monster. Make sure you have enough space around a table to move, get different perspectives and see what's been created." 

This very first exercise caught my eye as something fun to do this morning, so I did. My Creative Director (Damir Brajdic) and I gave it a go. 

This little guy (nicknamed Kamir) only took a few minutes to do, he's lopsided, partly hairy and partly scaly, but he has a lot of character and it helped open up our minds for the day. Another book you can reference is "Caffeine for the Creative Mind" also by Stefan Muman & Wendy Lee Oldfield, I have this book at home, so maybe next time I can show off another example.  

There are so many ways to find inspiration and spark your creativity and these are only a handful. So tell me…

How do you fuel your creative world?

I also posted this blog for Stokefire Branding and Advertising.