“Sketching regularly requires you to pay close attention to the visual world around you. With practice, you begin to see things you never noticed before.” —Paul Laseau
One of my favorite creative activities is the Quickdraw Challenge. The idea is to set a timer for a specified amount of time, such as an hour, and practice in your medium of choice.
How to get started:
- Gather your supplies
- Create an intention
- Set your timer
- Now, go!
At the end of the hour, stop whether you feel you are finished or not. This exercise allows you to play and frees up your mind to flow and create without overthinking.
I like to put all my quickdraws together and revisit them at a later time. They are perfect for use as comps to stimulate ideas. You may choose to refine your creations and develop new works of art. Or, you may get lucky and find in the hour you created a piece you simply love.
Starting With a Scrap Image
There is nothing wrong with starting with an image or photograph you might find. Design is just redesigning. As long as the scrap is not recognizable and you have not violated copyrighted material, go for it.
Playing with Graphic Elements
In the Graphic Design Element Series, you can learn about all the fundamentals of design. Line, plane, tone, small, medium, large, circle, square, and triangle are the first of elements that are covered.
You’ll notice in the video below where I provide an example of this exercise I used simple lines to create the Field of Flowers image. I actually really liked the finished piece, so I uploaded it to my online shop.
Video of a Recent Field of Flowers Quickdraw
This illustration only took about 45 minutes from start to finish. It is pretty cool and when I uploaded it to my online store. I loved how it looked on many items.
When you unleash your creative spirit, you can create almost instant gratification and help build your confidence. I invite you to play, have fun, and explore different mediums.
One day you might play with pencils, the next watercolors, the next photo enhancement. The key is to permit yourself to play. Playing is an act of self-love and who can argue with that?!
To see how this image looks on various home items including big pillows, click >Field of Flowers
(Scroll to the bottom of the page after you click on the link and you can see a wide range of items with this design.)
Have you ever heard of “forest bathing”? Have you ever noticed when you walk in nature you just feel better?
I always take my camera when I walk through our local neighborhoods, on our park’s trails, or down to the waterfront. Time in isolation nurtures my imagination.