Sometime in the past couple of years, while waiting to move to our homestead, while most of my things were (are) in boxes (:::sigh:::), I began using the iPad and its pen for artsy things. I don’t gravitate to digital art, but it’s all I had (everything else in a box), so out of boredom and creative need, I made things, but not anything that I intended to Put Out There.
You know how things go – one thing happens, then another…
I first put a photo near me and drew a Great Blue Heron that I’d seen on the Coast of Alabama. Here’s the sweet boy…(or maybe girl, idk).
Then (I know it’s rather cheating), I traced over a photo of a fern. That led to multiplying the tracing, which led to learning how – and making – a pattern of it (below), which led to using it as a screensaver on my phone, which led to using it as a cover for a notebook of lines and one of dotted ‘lines.’
So, thanks to boredom, creative need, the Heron (I think of him as “Hank”), and the fern, and all that has been learned in the time since, I made a little “publishing company” (I think of it in large terms, because it’s a giant leap for me) which I call Scripted Earth. Here’s the logo I created:
It’s so much fun that I’ve created a whole bunch of things! Little lined 6×9 notebooks, a multiplication workbook, 8-1/2×11 dotted line notebooks (my favorite), and 8-1/2×11 planners: one for homeschooling and one for home.
I haven’t created the website for Scripted Earth yet, and I don’t have dozens of books completed yet, so this is what they call a soft launch, I think. I don’t know anything about marketing. I just thought I’d tell you because I want to tell someone.
If you want to, you can see the planners and lined notebooks over there.
I hope you’re doing something creative, too! It’s such a pleasant way to improve our world.
Lori, I love it! My girl has delved into draw alongs of animals and dragons. After a disappointing arts and crafts class for her, I told her we would do art together on Tuesdays. First up will be chibi animals. 🙂 Then trying our hand at gouache painting and maybe some hand sewing.
I love your idea so much. She’ll get much more out of it than in the class (that was our experience). We have beautiful memories of creating together, and you will, too!
“Then (I know it’s rather cheating), I traced over a photo of a fern.” Tracing is never cheating!. That’s how most children (and adults) learn! My art teacher, Judy Morris, MS, who taught art at our local high school for 30 years and then “in retirement” went on to teach watercolor painting in every State in the Nation, and internationally as well – said that she started her art by taping a photograph or an object to a well lit window with a piece of art paper secured on top. When it comes to art, anything goes. There are no rules. For example, a piece of fabric can be used as a repeating pattern for a still life background, or a digital projector can be used to project an image onto art paper and then traced, or if texture is desired (like for a brick wall) a juicy wash of paint can be brushed onto art paper and then sprinkled with kosher salt and then scrapped off with a plastic credit card after it’s completely dry. The sky is the limit as long as we give ourselves the freedom to just create!
I agree fully. Creating is time well-spent, no matter the method.