by Linda | Jan 27, 2010 | DIY printables
I know it’s considered pretty geeky to watch and subsequently become obsessed with anime series. Stories range from classic romance to funny, whimsical characters and even quirky or downright weird at times. I’ve certainly gone through my fair share of passionate obsessions. I have a 200GB drive filled with subbed anime from my college years! Although it’s impossible to follow all the series, the bright side is that there’ll always be something new to watch.
One of the more popular stories that made it’s way to the USA audience is titled Trigun and you might have heard of it already. I learned a great phrase from that series…“love and peace,” says Vash, the main character (I’m pretty sure this is not the first time I am mentioning him on the blog). It might sound childish and simple-minded, but hey, it makes me happy and I have no issues learning life lessons from cartoons. I totally love watching the newer generation of animated movies like Shrek and Wall-E that aren’t so classical fairy tale like.
The image you see above is a desktop wallpaper I designed for myself. I thought it would be nice to share it with you as well, perhaps you can print it out as a card or even wall art.
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I got the idea of offering free art from illustrator Stephanie Fizer (an artist I totally admire) and she offers occasional free downloads and pick-us-all-up messages, too. I really like her free art for the IndieFixx Feed Your Soul Project – you can see the print here. Enjoy!
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by Linda | Jan 25, 2010 | my creative journal
An American abstract expressionist artist born in Rotterdam, Willem de Kooning is considered one of the most important artists in 20th century. There’s a Pulitzer prize winning book about his personal and professional life, de Kooning: An American Master (affiliate link to Amazon)
, which is the next book on my reading list. I was intrigued to read the book after learning that de Kooning was always in doubt with his work. What? A great master in doubt? I find it very humanizing and started thinking perhaps it’s necessary for artists to doubt…otherwise we would never experiment and push ourselves to the limit in order to grow – always seeking that something…that feeling when you know a work is complete and the excitement that surges inside of you.
Willem de Kooning, Elegy, 1939
De Kooning’s work also came to mind as I’m experimenting with more freedom in painting and techniques that stem from spontaneity. Abstract expressionism is sometimes called action painting – perhaps they aren’t the same thing really – but the idea is to spontaneously drip, splash or smear paint onto the canvas to emphasize the physical act of painting itself rather than the finished work. De Kooning actually destroyed some of his ‘bad’ paintings, which is so weird if he was supposed to be concerned more with the action rather than result of painting. It was mentioned that he regretted destroying works later in life, more interesting stories compelling me to read the book and find out more! I’m just so attracted to the idea of not having to plan – sort of stream of consciousness painting and seeing what happy surprises pop up. Perhaps this is an opposite reaction to my past job as a project manager? Of course, this style of painting is also really messy and fun…maybe it’s just regression, going back to finger painting! As I ponder my thoughts, I keep looking at de Kooning’s work, taking in the energy and visual inspiration.
Willem de Kooning, Pink Angels, 1945
Hope you can draw some energy from the idea of action painting as well. Thanks for stopping by, now go splatter some paint somewhere…feels good, doesn’t it?
Willem de Kooning, Gotham News, 1955
by Linda | Jan 20, 2010 | DIY printables
Looking for some free printable Valentines? Check out this funny illustration – my heart beats for you!
As the days draw nearer to Valentine’s day, I have been thinking a lot regarding love-themed designs. I started sketching out some ideas and first came up with a bunch of medical themed, geeky sentiments. Something like “gimme a shot of love” for medical folks. Yes, I’m easily amused! Working on some other themes as well but I thought today would be a good opportunity to offer a freebie card in the same vein (OMG, I did it again!)
I present you with “my heart beats for you” – literally! Download the free printable valentines below, just click the image for the full-size version.
Hope you like it! Enjoy!
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by Linda | Jan 18, 2010 | my creative journal
This lovely Monday morning, I am looking through the work of illustrator and graphic designer, Lara Brehm. I have to say wow, wow and wow again because I love her work in illustration and pattern making immensely! Lara’s blog provides a lot of visual inspiration for any artist or crafter, just for sheer beauty of her color palettes and cute whimsical illustrations. I love how her look is so clean, yet full of vibrance and color at the same time. She is another artist I look up to and aspire to be…hehe…hope I’m not sounding too geeky and starry eyed at this point.
via Lara’s blog
I also really enjoy seeing her mockups for various products and the variety of which she creates with her designs, really showing how versatile illustration work can be. From patterns to scrapbooking pages to printables and tactile products…all the things I would like to work on realizing myself as an artist.
via Lara’s blog
Not to mention her work is always joyful to me, something that really picks me up no matter how crummy a day might be. How can you not smile at these uber cute illustrations? I hope they can brighten you day as well. It’s nice to know there is so much positivity and goodness in the world.
via Lara’s blog
by Linda | Jan 14, 2010 | my creative journal
I mentioned yesterday that I wanted to save more complicated bookbinding for an art journal because I prefer to use something that opens out flat – easier to paint and draw on as well as leave to dry. I learned that coptic stitch binding creates that effect and is supposedly pretty easy to do as well. To keep my art journaling goals more approachable from an almost daily perspective, I decided to create a smaller journal size.
I should also mention that I’ve never learned bookbinding from a teacher, because complicated means more than stapling a booklet! A friend of mine took a bookbinding class, so I’ve been exposed to some of the techniques and tips. I watched this Coptic Stitch binding tutorial on Youtube and was able to follow along and complete my fat, but smaller sized art journal that lays out flat very nicely!
I actually created the cover back in 2003 from some Italian patterned paper I bought in Florence glued over some hardboard – just recycled the bottom board of an used notepad. I tend to make little pieces of projects and they sit around for occasions like this. I cut, folded and punched some heavy ivory paper, enough for a year of journaling and sewed it all together with my metal-twine. It was actually pretty weird, because the metal in the twine causing a lot of unnecessary twisting and you can see some parts of the metal sticking out already as the twine part wears down. I made some mistakes and tightened the covers too much, but it’s holding together nicely regardless.
I think it’s pretty cute for a homemade journal and I encourage everyone to make a small and approachable-sized journal. I got the idea back during Art Every Day Month in 2009, where Jennifer Lee from Life Unfolds blogged about her tiny art journal that made it convenient for quick and daily spurts of creativity. Fabulous idea, grazie!
