week 1 - Welcome!

Hello and welcome to week 1!

During this first week or module, we will be putting our art materials to a side for a bit. Let’s start this journey by exploring the source of our creativity: what inspires us.

We are constantly being influenced by everything around us, sometimes we are very aware of these influences, we even choose them, and sometimes they are more unconscious.

I think you can all relate to seeing an image that you really like, maybe even getting obsessed with an artist, and wanting to emulate what they do. And somehow, your results do not bring that instant excitement, or they don't feel like you.

I will stop here in a short cliffhanger, because I'd like you to do the first assignment before we jump into the second part of this story!

Side Note: It is possible you have done these exercises before, but I would like to encourage you to do them again with a fresh perspective. And if you want an extra push, you can find an extra task every week.

An extra word about ‘mood-boards’

If the word makes you cringe, like it did in the past to me, think about them as a collection. I think mood-boards can, and should be, evolving together with us. They are not static, as our taste changes, either through new knowledge or experiences.

In case you are interested, you can find here my Pinterest account. You can see I have many boards, raging from inspiration for ongoing work, specific themes and some just plain random! I like to sometimes open a board and look at what I have and switch things up.

Description

It's important to take a step back and analyse what we have in front of us before we jump into breaking things into what we really like or don't like. I have made a list of things you can consider, but these are suggestions, add as many notes as you see fit!

So, let's take our inner researcher out for a spin ;)

• Line: What type of line work do your images have? Is it thick and bold? or maybe clean and simple?

• Texture: Can you see brushstrokes? Are there patterns? or flat colours?

• Movement: Do the images show movement or are they static like a portrait?

• Colours: How would you describe the colours?

• Category: If you would have to choose standard categories, which ones would fit your images?

The Why

Now that we have a general description of your choices, let's now dive into why you choose these images.

Pick 5 images and write down the reason why you like them:

• it can be how they make you feel,

• what they represent,

• or something simple like a colour combination. 

Try to find at least 3 reasons per image. (Are you starting to see a pattern? ;) )

My Choices

Even though we like everything on our board,  it does does not mean that this is what we should be making!

Huh?

Stay with me! Make a short list of 5 drawings or illustrations you really like from your board, or use the ones from the WHY exercise.

If you could recreate one thing from these images, what would it be?  (1 per image) example:

• the artist use of colour

• the feeling it conveys

• textures etc.

This is the perfect place to start next weeks step!

Well done! That’s week 1 for you!

Fill in the form if you’d like to have a chat about your findings with me through e-mail. I’d love to know what your discoveries are so that they can help me guide you further.

Please send before Wednesday the 22nd to receive feedback and discuss during the call.