A wannabe who may be...

It's a glorious Saturday, but let's be honest,it's going to be better than usual for the next 22 days. I'm on sabbatical (WHAT!?) for a short time and since the odds of it happening again match the lottery winning cadence, I'm going to revel....and be aware. 

I can't just be on sabbatical without a plan so I'm taking this course. Once and for all, I'm going to devote the next 22 days to making art. 

My selfie and for right now, logo of rebekaha designs

(And if I get nothing else out of this, I'll have at least learned something, right?)

So my "ahas" for the week:

-I hate the word "deserve". There is nothing in life we deserve. Everything is a choice. 

-In order to G.E.T., we must A.S.K. (I've been talking about sabbaticals for a few years, but never thought to ask for one. Duh...)

 

-Believe in yourself. Be scared. Just do.

-Sometimes, just finishing something, can set you free. I felt so much pressure to finish week 1's assignment that I declared myself done yesterday. I was so tired of trying to make it "good" and stay within the rules that I forgot to have fun.

-Sometimes experimenting can lead to a happy accident. 

-"Step" size in Photoshop= polka dots!

Week One's assignment was to design a bolt fabric using fruit and casserole dishes in a vintage-y kitchen theme. Meh. None of it was inspiring to me but I reminded myself that illustration clients don't care if you're inspired, they just want finished and fabulous. 

I started doodling....and had no idea what would come out of this. I had no idea how to design these doodles AND keep my style, my preference for clean graphic fabric, and the subject matter within the rules. 

(Note, none of the above doodles made the cut.) My assignment was done! Loved it; boldly graphic, was very much me, and had a message-SUCCESS! 

Until Friday, when I watched Lilla's video to our class. I heard 2 things in that 19 minute video; "your talent is not finite" AND "I don't want to see polka dots. Any in-house graphic team can create a polka dot. Use your icons, make it special." Yep, I'm a polka dot offender. BUT, I did finish and frankly, I love those damn dots. 

Since I was done, there wasn't any pressure to create something new. So, I sat down with my coffee this morning and messed around with my design. 

I started a new polka dot pattern and filled a layer with a pattern instead of filled a new layer (sorry, photoshop geek talking) and what happened was a bold graphic vintage-y pattern. I went with it and I'll be damned--love this one more. 

So, that's week 1, I had NO idea this was in me last week. Life is short. Lick the damn bowl.