What I learned this semester (2 of 5)... PAJWLH

Graphic Design...

I can honestly say that in this class I was reminded of the word... HUMBLE.

This was my second of three classes that I had on the first day of school. Since I had the same instructor and was in the same room, I didn't have quite the same jitters that I had a few hours prior with my first class.

Our first assignment was to create a logo for a small independent business. Since I didn't know to many local businesses, I chose one of the only ones that I knew of :) Juiced on Imagination is a local art studio that provides art classes for all ages. Now we didn't communicate with the business itself, so this logo is just based off of my assignment and not off of what Julie (the owner of JOI) stated... actually I think I should probably let her know :)


Here were my original sketches... 

 Through out both my Illustrator class as well as this class we had weekly online critiques that our class would join in on. based on the recommendations that my classmates and teacher gave, I worked through my sketches and added a little more...coming up with this. "THIS" was not as easy as it looked, I had to use a specific swatch book of colors which I somehow managed to mix up (not once, twice... but ALL the time)... But at first glance, they look great, although they would need work if they were to go to print.

  

From here our assignment was to choose one and go with it... So I went with the grapefruit colors from what my classmates stated they liked (although, I kinda like the tangerine color myself).

 

And that led into our next assignment... creating a stationary package... Below is a business card, letter head and envelope based on the logo concept.

 

 

 Our next assignment was to create a advertisement poster for an actual event. Again, since I am not that familiar with a whole lot of local events... I chose one of the only events I could remember. The Denver Chalk Art Festival. I took two different approaches to it being that this event supports street art, yet also is an event that is visited by those who appreciate the arts.

After our posters we were assigned to re-do a book cover and this time we sent it to print. This was one of the most gratifying moments when you actually get to see your work in use, and not just any use... actual purposeful use! Although the design ended up being not my favorite, the fit and cut were perfect which to me... was all that mattered. If I had more time, I would have explored a few more options for design... but overall... I was just so happy that it fit, which meant I could actually make a book jacket if I ever needed too!

Our last assignment was to create and send to print a menu for a fictitious restaurant. I choose a restaurant theme that me and my husband have tossed around. Although there are a TON of places to eat here in town, there is not a true coastal Mexican cuisine (AKA Taco Surf). So this menu is based off of that concept... And of course...there are a few misspellings... apparently I need to quadruple check my work and fire my editor :)

So as I stated before, this class definitely reminded me of the word... Humble. Why? Well because although I have worked in marketing for the last three years, this class literally schooled me. I started the class feeling pretty confident with the material, understanding basic ideas of advertisement, hierarchy, emotive color schemes, understanding the proposed audience but at this point I would usually pass the info, sketch and such onto a graphic designer who would then work with me to create an ad... well now the graphic designer was me. Humility fills you when you realize there is so much more that you could learn. And I continue to learn. Taking this class has opened my eyes to so much more information and knowledge that I had yet to learn. I had no idea how much I would love the printing process. And being the full circle of an advertisement or element as such is thoroughly rewarding.

Prompt:
So let's base this one off of Humility... This can be pretty open. Choose either an area of life that you either:

• A- feel you might be able to take a step back and re-evaluate...perhaps a place in your life that you use to feel confident, yet now you are not sure. Look at the truth of the matter with your eyes wide open.
• B- feel underdeveloped. Something that you have longed and desired to know more about, maybe even about yourself...something that you feel that you can learn or develop in yourself... again... Look at the truth of the matter with open eyes.

Take this motivation and create a page in regards to this, again... no one needs to see this if you don't want them too, so this can be a page that is just for you. Use a simple color scheme and if you'd like you can pull inspiration from one on my projects above as a sketch.

What I have enjoyed about humility is that it allows you to learn. It allows you to grow. There are times where we need to be bold, confident in what we do and know, but that is not all the time. We all deserve a time to step back and look at our skill set and take that next step forward towards bettering ourselves... It's our responsibility :)

I am leaving today for Utah to tape some segments for My Craft Channel, if you haven't heard of them... check them out they have some AMAZING FREE videos from some of my friends, all full of crafty goodness. You will not be disappointed!

Here is a sneak peek of two of my segments which we will be using as art journal prompts as well! You will love the way they shoot their videos, they are so much better than the way I shoot, lol... check them out. You will love what they have to offer.And it's free :)

 Thanks again for following along on this journey :) Again, I am not a therapist, counselor or anything like that so I hope that these prompts do not come off as suggestive to that matter... I just share what I have learned (even the hard way) in hopes that it helps.

~Liz ♥

What I've learned this semester (1 of 5) ....PAJWLH

As some of you may know, this semester was my first semester back to school in 10 years. 10 years ago, my husband and I graduated from Long Beach City College and were on our way to transfer to CSULB. Little did we know that that summer we would find our lives to take a different turn and we would be married, moving into our first home and awaiting the arrival of our first child all within 9 months of graduating. Our decision was that my husband would continue on with his education and I would stay home and raise our children. These last 10 years have been amazing. I have become the mother and wife I have always wanted. I have enjoyed a wonderful career in the arts and craft industry and have worked with some amazing companies along the way. I guess what I am trying to get to is that although through this all I have felt whole, felt like my purpose was being fulfilled... but deep in my heart, God was stirring something inside of me that was waiting for just the right time to emerge.

This school year all three of our children began attending school full time. At the beginning of the year, I was working and well having them all in school really didn't hit me until about November. November 1st, 2012 me and my husband decided to have lunch downtown and along our way, we passed Colorado State University. In that instance it hit me. I needed to go back to school. It was time. My time to pursue my education. Before this point, I had this yearning in my heart for something more. It was as if I had a whole bunch of pieces to a puzzle circling my head, yet I had no idea what this puzzle was to be. It was driving me crazy, made me cry at times... made me sad, even depressed at the thought that I knew that I had to be doing something, yet I had no idea what it was. Once I saw the school I knew just what it was that all of these pieces of the puzzle meant. I knew that my purpose was far more than what I was doing at the moment and I could see the path laid before me... as clear as day. I knew just what it was that I was to be doing.

Now don't get me wrong, my full love in life is my family, my husband, my children. All I have ever wanted in my life was to be married and have children (you can ask any one of my ex-boyfriends who for some reason fled after I told them this, lol). But something inside of me stirred beyond this. My family will always be my first priority, but I know that God has a very specific plan for me (and my family) and it involved me going back to school and studying Art and Counseling.


So with this little preface explained... I want to share what this semester has brought me... some of it will be obvious class knowledge... and some, well more like the smack you upside your head knowledge (the DUH! moments).


Starting with my first class... Adobe Illustrator...

This part of my school journey, well, let's just call it... THE PROCESS...

I have to admit, my first day back I was nervous... like heart pounding out of my chest nervous. I was lucky enough to have a quick chat with my friend Sesil right before I went into class, and her encouragement helped to sooth my heart. I also had some sweet emails, phone calls and text messages from some very sweet people (Shout out to Margaret and Holli!) which of course didn't hurt :)

So getting back to my first class... Illustrator... I have to say, we were not friends at first. Below you will see my first assignment which was to be a texture project using the pen  and line tools. If you have ever taken an Illustrator class, you will know that the pen tool can easily be used as a torture device. But my instructor assured the class that we would need it in the future so eventually, me and the pen tool became pretty tight.

 

Second assignment (my favorite) was to create a water colored piece that reflected a nursery rhyme or fairy tale... anyone that knows me knows that I LOVE Snow White... so well, this is what I came up with. In this project we had to develop our own symbol sprayer element as well as three new brushes.

 

 This assignment was a dream scape. We worked with gradients and masking in this assignment. This was to be based off of a re-occurring, prominent or recent dream that we have had. Our objective was to take note if we dream in first person, color or black and white. While the rest of the class illustrated images of them falling... I on the other hand had to record my most frightening dream ever, that of a man eating chicken pecking at my feet. I was 5 when I had this dream, so can you really blame me? This dream has continued to effect my life as I still to this day have an aversion to bird, foul, or anything feathered. As well I have a very hard time allowing my feet to be in murky water that might have slimy things in it... Eeeewwww (This is the time when you can officially think of me as a little crazy, go ahead... I have come to terms with it).

 

This project was a psychological self portrait. We worked with text treatments with this assignment. My first attempt to this was a sketch that I came up with (you will see it below as I used it for my final) that was based more on fear and pressure. At the time that I was creating this, I really felt that I needed to get back to the real me, so I decided to go this route instead. Although my life at the time was a bit chaotic and out of whack... it wasn't me and I needed to remember that. So rather than to be defined my circumstances, I chose to remember my character and work off of that. I would like to think that I am a glass half full kind of girl, so with that in mind I remembered some truths that I hold to my core and went with that. So this is me :)

This assignment was a day to night assignment. This assignment I was really excited about, being able to change lighting and staging to share a narrative of a certain place through a certain amount of time. Well.. that was the plan at least. Unfortunately during this time I had a massive flare up of Acid reflux. I have been battling it since December, and it has been kicking my butt.  I know that it doesn't sound like it would be that big of a deal, but it effected every part of my life, eating, sleeping, standing, walking... everything I did hurt. So with this assignment, I didn't get a chance to put as much detail into it as I would have liked to. I do have to say that I loved loved loved learning about blends in this assignment.

 By this assignment, I was feeling a bit better. This assignment was an abstract interpretation. I chose to do an objective abstract as I really wouldn't know the first place to start a non-objective abstract. We explored filters for this assignment. I really loved this assignment, as it was open for artistic interpretation and I was able to use simple shapes to set a scenario.

FINAL- Narrative Triptych

For my final, I decided to show myself in my three primary roles in life. Home, School, Work. This was a very tough one for me as each picture kind of sends different emotions through me. I will leave them for you to interpret.

Home

 School

 Work

I debated on posting my final images as there are a bit personal, but I would imagine that there are a few out there that can identify with me on these, so for those... I posted them, know that you are not alone. 

So this PROCESS... you can see has been an up and down journey. My first illustrations I really wanted to quit after that. I thought for sure that there was no way I could ever learn Illustrator (darn pen tool). But I stuck with the process, I figured I was paying for the class, so I might as well stick with it. 

So this is what I hope to share from this... PROCESS, it is so much more than just an instance of failure or a highlight of success, it is the full journey. the full race from start to finish seen as a cumulative rather than a series of errors sprinkled with a few successes. We ALL have these moments, we ALL have these days. As moms, students, artists, employees, designers... in everything. We have to remember that there is a larger story to be told. I bigger picture that we are a part of, even our failures.

Prompt:

• Pick a moment when you felt like giving up. 
• Make a list of reasons to stop, or to carry on
• Use a digital element (this can be anything, even a word doc... you don't need fancy software to create a digital element, just print something  and BAM it's digital)
• Choose the appropriate color scheme to now paint these elements into your journal so that you can remember this.
• This page will act as a reminder, good or bad doesn't matter. These reminders help form us. They remind us of where we use to be, or where we want to be. Either way they are there for us... just for us.
• Remember, you don't need to show anyone this page...if you chose not to.
• Remember process... the next steps may be tough, but they are your steps and your steps are worth so much more than you know!

PHEW! Sorry for the long wind... I hope that this gives you an idea of what I have been up to while I have been MIA these last few months.

Overall I loved my Illustrator class, I learned SO MUCH and am grateful that I stuck with it. I met some amazing friends whom I have grown to know and love. I am grateful that my insecurities didn't get the best of me this time and that I stuck with it... I have to remember that sometime in the future, this will all be worth it.

Thanks again,

~Liz ♥

Winner of NSD Scrap Kitchen Giveaway!

Thanks to all of you who participated in our fun little blog hop. I hope that you have found some new blogs and inspiration to explore :) Thanks to those of you who are knew to my blog and signed up for my newsletter :)

Our lucky winner is....

Here are your random numbers:

22 

Timestamp: 2012-05-07 03:12:29 UTC

 

Trudi HarrisonMay 5, 2012 10:44 PM

Hi Liz, Happy NSD!!

ReplyDelete

Trudi- Email me at primadonnaliz@yahoo (dot) com and we will work out the details :)

Thanks again to all for participating :)

~Liz ♥

NSD Blog Hop with 50 prizes!!!

Today is the Scrap Kitchen's NSD Blog hop!!!

You have a chance to win one or more of 50 prizes from 50 different blogs!!!

This is the EASIEST BLOG HOP EVER! All you have to do to win a prize is to PLEASE LEAVE a comment under this post. I would also love it if you would become a follower of my blog, you can do this by signing up for my newsletter by using the link to the right. I will pick a winner and post it on Monday May 7th 2012. The winner will win a collection of Clearsnap, Prima and Creative Imaginations goodies (international winner will receive a $25 USD gift card for product).
The winners details will be posted on here so make sure you check back to see if you have won!


For those of you who are new to my blog, this year we are working on a free year long art journal course. You can find these prompts here. Besides working in the art and craft industry, I also am an art student. This semester has given me fresh eyes towards creating as well as opened up so many opportunities for new techniques to be created.

Here is a sneak peek at something I created for my art final. This project uses a really fun technique for image transferring. I tried to record before today to share a video of this with you, but my camera died. I am hoping to get it done this week and posted.

I hope you will join us in our free art journaling workshop. This next week we will have a new prompt full of art and inspiration.


Here is a list of the blog hop participants for more chances to win. Make sure to show them some love :)


BLOG HOP Participants (in order)


Sherry Mendoza http://sherryscreations.typepad.com/sherrys-creations/

Katherine Prefol www.scrapeverything.wordpress.com

Kristie Taylor http://kristietaylor.blogspot.com/

Melissa Harris Goodman http://melsartjourney.blogspot.com.au/

Jenny Burns http://burns900.blogspot.com.au/

Tina Dalton http://tdscrappin.blogspot.com.au/

LeAnne Payne http://australianscrapbooking.blogspot.com.au/

Sheree Power http://sheree412.blogspot.com.au/

Michelle Clarke www.blueshell.typepad.com

Jamie Dougherty http://www.jaylynnscraps.com/

Liz Hicks http://blogerisms.blogspot.com/

Heidi Kelley http://seesterk.blogspot.com/

Irit Shalom http://iritshalom.blogspot.com/

JJ Sobey http://1-goodthing.blogspot.com/

Scraptherapy http://scraptherapysessions.blogspot.com.au/

Gerry van Gent http://gerryscrafts.blogspot.com/

Cheryl Bodkin Waters http://blog.artsyfindings.com/

Mel Connell http://mouldsbymel.blogspot.com.au/

Gine Kristofferson Silvera http://ginesscraproom.blogspot.com/

Sarah Moore http://sarahmoore-thescrapjunkie.blogspot.com.au/

Samantha Hauzer http://justlovescrappin.blogspot.com.au/

Drew Scott http://www.scrappyhappiness.com/

Jennifer Priest http://hydrangeahippo.com/

Jordie Craig http://combatcardswa.typepad.com/today_is_a_gift/

Kathy Hall http://kat-meowsmusings.blogspot.com.au/

Melissa Elsner http://theprofoundbrunette.com/

Michelle Thomas http://scrapbookdivas.blogspot.com.au/

Trina McClune www.trinamcclune.typepad.com

Nadia Cannizzo www.samnadia.blogspot.com

Lynne Erskine Forsythe http://lynneforsythe.blogspot.com/

Gloria Stengel http://www.gloriascraps.blogspot.com/

Leanne Allinson http://leanneallinson.blogspot.com.au/

Wendy Crafts http://wendycrafts.blogspot.com/

Agnus Kasprzak http://www.a-place-in-my-dreams.blogspot.com.au/

Natasja Cats Verbeek www.vintagetearooms.com

Kim Jeffress http://www.glasshalffull-kim.blogspot.com.au/

Gina Rodgers http://gingerbread.typepad.com/

Trudi Harrison http://scrappinwitht.blogspot.com.au/

Steph Devlin: www.stephdevlin.typepad.com

Beck Beattie: www.justmebingme.blogspot.com

Melita Chow: http://simplyscrappingbyhisgrace.wordpress.com/

Emeline Seet: www.scrapvilla.blogspot.com

Crece Thomas: www.crecet.blogspot.com

Rebecca Boyer: http://rebeccaboyer.blogspot.com.au/

Emma Rose Sabourin Rayburn: http://auntieemsscrapbookingbeading.blogspot.ca/

Brandie Partello: http://parttotell5.blogspot.com/

Marjie Kemper www.marjiekemper.typepad.com

Susan Pyrcz Weckesser: http://mysweetearth.blogspot.com/

Iris Babao Uy: http://irisbabaouy.typepad.com/creativecorner/

Susan Mintmire: www.papercrafterscorner.com

We would also love for you to come and join us in The Scrap Kitchen on Facebook here.

Thanks for joining us today!

~Liz Hicks