anika mari

I had a hard time coming up with viable ideas for the “fluid” theme for the Creativity Boot Camp. Initially I had an idea to some how use flowing hair, but the more I worked on that idea, the less I liked how it was looking.

In the end I went with water. Water is one of my favorite things, so I don’t even mind that it’s obvious. Once I’d settled on an idea, the rest went pretty quickly.

To start, I actually took inspiration from an old drawing of mine of green waves.

I liked the loops of the waves, but I changed my approach to make the drawing more fluid.

The lines were drawn with pencil instead of pen to keep the contrast low. I only darkening a few of them strategically. I also used a more fluid and elongated stroke. When I had the lines in place, I wasn’t entirely sure what I’d do for the colors, but as I was working I decided to go with a soft and subtle color palette.

This isn’t the most complicated piece of art I’ve ever created, and I really don’t have a lot to say about it. It was just an easy, relaxing drawing, and it’s pretty nice to make one of those once in a while. I think it looks quite serene. Plus, it didn’t take too long, and I only drew one drawing for this theme–all things that make me happy.

The next theme is “fly” which I hope to work on tomorrow if I can find the time.

I had to spend a couple of days working intently on a web design project, but today I had some time to get back to the Creativity Boot Camp themes, and I finished up a drawing for the theme, “grow”.

This is the first year I’ve really paid attention to how seeds grow into plants, and I was amazed to discover that the first pair of leaves that sprout up are practically identical for all plants, and that it’s the second set of leaves that are unique to the variety. I was completely charmed by the miniature leaves, and kept exclaiming deeply insightful gems such as, “wow these little chard leaves look just like big chard leaves, only tiny!” and “look at these mini-parsley leaves! you can really tell that it’s parsley!”

Although you might not have guessed it from those excited comments, I do know a thing or two about plants and gardening. I find it completely fantastic that I can still be surprised and learn new things.

When the theme of “grow” came up, the first idea that sprang to mind was to represent my new discovery, so it was just a matter of having the time to do it.

I first drew the little plants in pencil, outlined them in black, and then filled in the leaves with various shades of green.

Shown are swiss chard, parsley, nasturtium, and basil seedlings. After scanning in the drawing, it seemed too flat, so I added some details to the leaves.

Adding detail was a good call since it makes the plants a whole lot easier to identify in the drawing, at least in my mind. I briefly thought about filling a pen with white ink to draw the lines on the nasturtium, but the desire to just get it done won out.

At some point I realized that the drawing was perfect for a repeat pattern, and it was more than halfway there already. In Photoshop the only adjustment I had to make was to the positioning of some of the individual plants in order to get the repeated pattern to look balanced.

I repeated the pattern once more to get an idea of what it would look like smaller.

I’m very happy with the result, especially since I didn’t specifically set out to make a pattern, but to simply draw my interpretation of “grow”. In the drawing itself, I’m most satisfied with the swiss chard. I think the basil and parsley could be a little better, but they are ok for now.

I’m looking forward to working on the next theme which is “fluid”. I have a couple of ideas, but I’m not totally sure about which direction I’m going to take just yet.

Day two of the Creativity Boot Camp, and I was a bit stumped. I had lots of ideas, but they all seemed so obvious. When I’m faced with a project like this, I try my best to come at it from another perspective, not just go with the literal imagery that tends to pop up right away. Usually if I give it enough time a unique idea will surface, but not this time. All I could think of were sandwiches and paper plates and ground cloths and ants.

I wanted to stick with the schedule of the boot camp, so I went ahead and created a few drawings. Since I couldn’t think of any ground breaking ideas, I decided to approach the assignment in the simplest way. To boil it down to the basic elements.

So what are the basic elements that I would need for a perfect picnic? I quickly discarded the ants because they would not make my picnic perfect. Soon I had four essential ingredients for any lovely picnic.

Bright blue sky and puffy white clouds would indicate sunny weather that wasn’t too hot.

Soft green grass to walk on barefoot, and on which to set up the picnic would provide a comfortable setting.

A pretty ground cloth would add a touch of color and cheerfulness to the gathering.

A basket filled with yummy food would be the most essential part–otherwise it wouldn’t be a picnic!

Not only did I simplify the theme to basic elements, I also simplified the drawings to be representations of the items in pattern form.

I was happy with the outcome, and I was glad to finish the drawings on time. The next day, however, something was tugging at the corner of my mind, and it wasn’t ideas for the next boot camp theme.

You see, I actually did have a different original idea for “picnic”. It involved lines of ants inter-weaving to create an intricate pattern that might resemble a doily or some fine china, but I discarded the idea almost immediately for 2 reasons: ants seemed obvious, and I didn’t want the final image to look too much like the drawing I’d just finished the day before for the theme of ivory.

It wasn’t until I was discussing the Creativity Boot Camp with my brother and sister-in-law that I realized I should have gone with my original idea. I mentioned the drawing with ants that I never drew, and they both thought it sounded great. The more I thought about it, I came to see that I had been hasty in moving on from the idea, and decided that it would probably look pretty neat. Far from obvious, it would have been a unique interpretation of the theme.

I spent the following 2 days drawing little ants, letting the pattern evolve as I worked.

I drew all the little “bodies” first, and then I added the legs. As I was drawing the legs, I liked how it looked like the ants were invading the pattern; maybe crawling onto a plate looking for crumbs. I decided to limit the number of complete ants (bodies + legs) to maintain the feeling of a crawling invasion of ants.

Although spending so much time on this second iteration of the picnic theme has now set me back on three new Creativity Boot Camp themes, I really like the result, and I’m so glad I saw it through.

I think both picnic solutions are a representation of my style, but I particularly like the ants drawing because I pushed myself in a different direction.

The next theme is “multilayered” and at this point I’m actually considering trying to continue the radial-pattern-style drawing throughout the boot camp. I realize that I might hit a road block if there’s a theme that I just can’t figure out how to fit into a circular format, but I’m up for the challenge, and I can remain flexible and change it up if I need to.

Yesterday I started Creativity Bootcamp. It’s the first time it’s ever been held, so I was probably not the only one who didn’t know what to expect.

Our first assignment was to create something to do with the inspiration prompt, “ivory”.

I saw the word and had no idea of what I would do. I had to get ready to catch a movie with a friend, so I set the whole thing aside for the moment. Luckily I had a half hour drive to get to the theater. When I’m driving, my creative gears always start turning. I have my best ideas and insights in the car. I came up with so many different ideas. Some were way to involved to possibly finish in a day, so as I was driving back, I thougth, “ok, you have to think of something simple.”

I got home and didn’t have much oomph left in me with which to create something, so I watched some tv. At about 11:30 I decided to go to bed, and as I was passing my creative work area, I had the internal conversation that ended up with me sitting down to work on the theme. Three and a half hours later, I was finally finished.

So much for simple!

The idea behind this piece was to emulate ivory carvings which area often so incredibly intricate, I can’t imagine that a person actually made them. My drawing isn’t at the same level of intricacy as some true ivory works, but it took long enough anyway! Plus it’s elephant friendly.

This drawing is slightly lighter than the original. I got a closer match with another version of the image, but I liked the lighter tone, especially considering the theme.

Late at night, waiting for the image to scan, I absent mindedly started doodling, and ended up with a sketchy version that’s kind of similar to the original drawing.

I’m aware that making the sketch second is a little backward from what might typically be expected, but sometimes a backward step can still be a step in the right direction.

I’m looking forward for inspiration to strike about today’s theme of “picnic”. My first idea was ants, but I want to see if I can push it a little further, but don’t be surprised if you see ants here tomorrow!

Whenever I let someone flip through my sketchbook, more often than not, I’m surprised by what grabs their attention. I draw all kinds of stuff when I sketch, from rough sketches to little doodles to more finished drawings. Some of my drawings are pretty, some are kind of ugly, some are surprising, and some turn out just plain weird. Sometimes I draw stuff that I think is unremarkable, and yet sometimes that’s what gets the remarks.

When my friend Anita recently wanted some of my art framed for her new apartment, I let her choose whatever she wanted. As she flipped through my sketchbook she singled out a page of doodles that surprised me because I think they are a little odd, though perhaps somewhat endearing.

I looked at it quizzically, and she surprised me even more by the particular part she liked the most. She pointed it out, and all I could ask was, “really?”

Without hesitation she replied, “yeah. I like it. I think it’s totally my style. Don’t you?”

“Well, yeah, I can see your point,” was my response.

I probed a little further, “you really want that framed?”

“Yes, absolutely!” she assured me.

After my raised eyebrows had relaxed, I went ahead and redrew the weird creature and plants to fix up the composition a bit. I moved the creature up a smidge from the plants to balance the spacing, and changed the line quality just a bit. I also added more stippling here and there and made the critter’s “beard” longer.

Anita also chose a companion drawing.

I’d say it’s a little less odd, but I’m pretty sure she loves it just as much, and I think they will look really nice hung together in her new place.

Skeptical though I was to begin, I was actually pleasantly surprised when all was said and done. I think both drawings look really sharp in the frame, and they will undoubtedly be interesting conversation pieces hanging in Anita’s new apartment.