Playground Art Discoveries
Let me share with you an exciting new piece that came about from a summer of art play and rediscovering places I want to take my art
This artwork is all about celebrating the simple memories I have from my playground days. Slides, jump ropes, four square, hopscotch, tetherball, and others were always favorites, but mostly I enjoyed chatting with my friends on the swings. I wanted some of the images to be painted very loose and playfully, while others are more sophisticated and elegant. I used watercolor paints, markers and Adobe Illustrator to create my icons. Next, everything was assembled in layers using Adobe Photoshop. I also chose to unify my colorful imagery with a warm glow and added an unusual turquoise sky to symbolize an impending summer afternoon thunderstorm. Enjoying the outdoors at recess was always a treat I experienced growing up on the Colorado plains with the majestic Rocky Mountains seen in the distance.
Why I started to allow myself to really play again in the studio
So, after 11 years of working as a professional artist/designer/illustrator I decided to “go back to school” this year and take some rigorous classes to challenge me more as an artist. I chose to take the “Making Art that Sells” class with Lilla Rogers since it looked like a very intense class for working professionals and it was!
It was great to get class assignments, meet hundreds of top-notch professionals and stacks of reading and videos to complement the stacks of art and sketches that were needed to complete each week’s project. The class was called “Making Art that Sells” and that’s what we learned how to do. It wasn’t as much about getting new information for me as it was to explore new aspects of my creative process.
I have so much experience on the computer in last decade that I really spent the last 5 years of my art making avoiding it in my own personal art (while still using it for client work as needed, of course). However, I have learned that I can integrate my wild passion for painting with my computer art making expertise to generate very unique results.
My creative style is expressed with multiple mixed-media techniques, in which I aim to include a healthy dose of beauty and whimsy in everything I make. My style, which is under rapid re-development, guided this journal cover as it help me select images for this project.
What’s next
For me the learning and creating has no end. I am taking a daring painting class with Mati Rose McDonough this month and Part B of “Making Art that Sells” class with Lilla Rogers this fall. I am also creating lots of new art for my clients, teaching several local art classes this fall and working on an exciting new art licensing directory project. I am one busy bee these days, but I wouldn’t stand it any other way.
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