Week 13: Day 1, Sketches, Doodles & Art

This week I am continuing with the new format and will be using week 12's photo for inspiration.  This week my focus will be on Sketches, Doodles & Art:

One thing that sea shells always remind me of is the golden ratio.  It is something I learned about design while in school - the ratio of 1.618 to 1. It's found in both nature and architecture. The golden ratio is found in the nautilus shell, pine cones, roses and sunflowers to name  a few.  The Egyptians and Greeks used the ratio in architecture (Great Pyramid of Giza, and Parthenon). Even our bodies have the golden ratio in the  relationship of our eyes, nose, ears and mouth.  

The mathematician Fibonacci developed the Fibonacci Series based on the ratio (it's not exact, but close): each number of the series is the sum of the two preceding number.  

So now you know how my brain works...show me a sea shell, and learn all about math!  I am what I am!  I'm not sure exactly sure what this has to do with my sketching, doodles and art.  Stay tuned to find out!

Week 12: It's a Wrap

It's the end of week 12.  Three whole months of blogging (minus a couple of weeks in the middle). With the changes in format, I have found the joy in my creativity without the stress of feeling like I bit off more than I could chew. In addition to getting through the week, I added 3 cards to the collection.  Are you inspired too?

Inspiration Photo

Random Thoughts and Ideations

Color Palette

Color Palette

Patterns - Circular

Circle Patterns

Patterns - Geometric

Geometric Patterns

Freebie Cards

Freebie Cards

Next week: Sketches, Doodles & Art

Week 12, Day 5: Freebie Card

It's back!!  It's freebie card day! And there are 3 different designs.

The first 2 are based on color scheme and patterns I have been creating this week.  The final card is a special request for my girl.  KK wanted me to change the colors around a bit....so you may want to get your sunglasses out!

Card 1 – Download Link

Card 2 – Download Link

KK's Card – Download Link

So which one do you like best?

Week 12, Day 4 More Patterns

So continuing with patterns, I went with a hexagon today in Illustrator.

I found a tutorial on how to make this cool retro/honeycomb pattern from Veerle's Blog.  So I created this shape and made it into a symbol, then I duplicated it.

After matching it up, I duplicated again and again, to fill my page

Now it is time to crop and fill the page with the background image/pattern.

Next, I found a cool tool in the symbol palette that allows you to change the colors around with the press of a button.  Here are some of the different variations.  

Isn't it interesting to see the difference a little color can make, and how the different colors react with each other?

Week 12, Day 3 Circle Patterns

Using my color palette, I created some circle patterns in Illustrator today.

The first pattern I created was using a halftone screen effect .  I started with a simple gradient.  Then I rasterized the image, and through the effects, I created pixels.  I had to try several times to get the right size for what I wanted.  Then I copied the layers in different color, flipping some of the layers 180°.

The second pattern utilized my color palette and then I created this circle pattern, intersected the circles and filled them accordingly.  As I am describing these, I am realizing that showing you the steps would probably make more sense, so tomorrow, I will try to do that!

This pattern is also overlapping circles when I then intersected so I could have each piece separate.  Originally I wanted to use all the color but as I started filling in the shapes with color this one just worked, so I stopped.

Week 12, Day 2 Color Palette

In keeping things simple so I can find time everyday to post, I created a color palette from the colors in the photo. The palette shows the approximate ratio of colors to each other. I was actually surprised that I didn't find an orange in the mix, just different variations of brown!  

Random Thoughts and Ideations

You may have noticed my prolonged absence from posting to my blog.  I have been contemplating how to proceed in a way that will allow me to continue on my creative journey, and to also inspire your creativity too.

When I set up the format for the blog, I didn't realize how much time it would take to complete every day.  There were some days that I was spending 2 to 3 hours working on the projects.  And, whereas I loved the challenges and I love creating, I also have a family, house and business to take care of.

So, I have decided to change to change up the format to something that I can manage to post on a daily basis. I like the format of the blog, so it will be similar, yet different. I am hoping to post more photos of my process and how I find solutions when things don't go the way I had hoped.  It is going to be on a 3 week cycle based on one inspiration photo: Week 1 - I will work with the color scheme and develop patterns; Week 2 - I will sketch and then create an inspired art piece playing with both 2 and 3 dimensional media; Week 3 will be the week I design a card.  I've had lots of downloads from the ones I have posted and really love sharing that with you.  I also want to complete the collection that shows my journey.

Week 12: Inspiration Photo
I recently had a weekend getaway to the beach.  Early on Saturday the beach was beautiful and sunny, so I enjoyed an early morning walk looking for sand dollars and sea shells.  This is a photo of my loot:

When I went back out later that morning it was quite blustery.  I sat out there for a while and when I finally went back in, I felt as though I had gotten a sandblast facial.