I am enjoying the 100 Days Illustration Challenge on my Instagram account. I usually don't like this kind of challenges, at least for my creative process, due to the fear of failing to commit and let myself down. I didn't know that was the reason until now. With a more detail plan for this creative business I was able to take action and a challenge was a really good point to start trusting the process as well as enjoying it. Here are few of those illustrations:
1. Kiki, the cute and humble cat It was created in Procreate. My granddaughters named him Kiki. I love to draw and paint creatures and cats are always a favorite.
2. The colorful and curious rooster. I almost add this one to the challenge when it was only the rooster and I pushed myself to play with it a bit more. I love that after adding the bird, the sun, the cloud and the rain it turned out that there was a story behind. I love roosters and I don't get bothered by its singing no matter if it happens before the sun rises. I love that I can listen that singing where I live and it reminds me of my grandma's house. I live in a place that rains a lot and I don't know why this took me by surprise because I live very close to El Yunque Rain Forest. Another thing that I like is that it rains a lot but the sun can appear bright and beautiful right after the rain stopped because I also live by the beach. Isn't this wonderful?
3. The Toucan, a beautiful bird This bird is not part of our fauna but I love that big peak where I can be creative with the colors I like. I signed up for an animal drawing class and this toucan was one of the exercises. I added texture and the branches, all in Procreate.
4. My Abundant Self. In this one I was practicing with my face and I took a selfie to use as guide and then let my creative juices flow. I was inspired by an artist I love to add the fruits to the dress, then I added a few more on what could be some tall buildings that reminds me of New York, a place I love to visit but the pandemic has made it very difficult.
5. I hear You. In this one pushed myself a bit more and used one of my first practices in Procreate. I drew one of the girls from my first collage paintings trying to imitate my style, using the brushes in Procreate. Also and after a few practices in Procreate I designed some papers to use in collage, again imitating my hand painted papers. The area of the dress was created with one of those papers. I was inspired to push myself in illustration and in a very intuitive and relaxing process I made some changes to the girl and I loved the result. While browsing in my Procreate Gallery I found a doodling practice I thought could add a good background to the girl. Adding color and a few more doodles this was the result and I am very much pleased. This exercise was a lesson and a mind opener. I think I can push myself and try harder, the feeling is amazing.
I am loving this challenge and the way it inspired me to be better at illustration. I am in the 15th illustration. I skipped a few days because, you know, life happens and forcing the process is not the idea. For me, the most important thing is to get to the 100th with joy and a sense of achievement.
I'll be sharing a few things about my "retiring" from ceramic in another post and how this decision helped me understand the real reason for the retirement and the joy of discovering that new ideas and challenges are happening, ceramics included. Life is a journey and it brings unimaginable surprises. I am open to new directions in my creative journey always trusting on bringing out my authentic self.
I am writing a lot but posting less. I think that forcing myself to post just for having something in the blog is not right. I love to write but I am learning to choose what is ready to post and what needs to be hold until further work or to be discarded or archived if it is not the right post to be shared. This way I can give the best of me. After all I don't know if someone will read what I write. It is not intended to be get viral. I know it will be amazing if it does but mostly I want to fulfill my desire of expressing myself and share my journey.
If you reached to this point I hope it was inspiring. Thanks for reading and letting me share my journey with you.
Be safe and enjoy the ride, even in pandemic times,
...from my heart,
Elizabeth Claire
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