Thursday, May 31, 2012

Day 146 :: Friday May 25 :: Ottawa

Create a visual definition for a word chosen randomly from a dictionary. Try choosing a word you don't already know!

Finding which word to use was definitely part of the fun on this assignment - it took about ten minutes of flipping back and forth in my dictionary before finally settling on the word serape: a bright-colored woolen blanket used as a garment by men in Mexico, etc. This little pen sketch was fun too :)




Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Day 145 :: Thursday May 24 :: Ottawa

Make something incongruous. Use an unexpected material to make something familiar (a feather made of wood, a stool made of sponges, and so on).

Once again, it's late and after practice... I really liked the feather idea, but since wood might prove a little difficult at this hour, I opted for paper. This took wayyy too long, but I'm really happy with the result! This little blue feather stands 6.5 inches high. Time for bed :)




Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Day 144 :: Wednesday May 23 :: Ottawa

Use your feet as your hands and/or your hands as your feet as part of whatever you do today.

The first thing that came to mind when reading today's assignment was how when I was younger, my mom always seemed to have those charity/fundraiser greeting cards featuring artists who painted with their mouth or feet. I remember studying the paintings and being completely amazed at the level of detail and technique. So today, I thought it was time to give it a try! And since my Wednesday ultimate league team is called Super Heroes In Training, what better to paint than a little superhero flying over a city?




Day 143 :: Tuesday May 22 :: Ottawa

Make something in which the sense of taste is the essential component.

Taste... yummy food... candy?? Luckily, I stopped at Sugar Mountain (bulk candy sold at all the same price, making for fun mixing and a different outcome every time!) a few days ago and stocked up, allowing for today's chocolate/gummy/candy star. Om nom nom!!




Monday, May 28, 2012

Day 142 :: Monday May 21 :: Ottawa

Cut holes in the pages of a magazine or book so that what you reveal beneath creates something new.

Johnny Depp looks so much better with sparkling cuffs, teal nail polish/lipstick and ginger highlights, don't you think?




Day 141 :: Sunday May 20 :: Ottawa

Make a paper pop-up.

Ugh... This one was a bit frustrating. I tried to adapt a wicked pixelated heart pop-uptutorial i found online to a star shape, but it was pretty frustrating and the results weren't so great. This is the best I could do... this could be a challenge to revisit someday where I have a bit more time and patience.




Day 140 :: Saturday May 19 :: Ottawa

Create a rebus (a visual puzzle in which a combination of images, and sometimes letters, are combined with plus or minus symbols to lead the viewer to read specific words or phrases). Bonus: try using real objects instead of drawings of them.

Another throwback! I lived with my cousin for a little while many years ago, and often when we would leave each other notes, we made sure to write them rebus-style. Sure, it made saying you were out for the afternoon take half an hour to write down, but it was all part of the fun.

Can you decode the proverb below?




Friday, May 25, 2012

Day 139 :: Friday May 18 :: Ottawa

Make something that will decay over time and document it until it's gone (or too smelly to keep).

I really wanted to use an apple for this, but unfortunately the only fruit that was lying around were cherry tomatoes! They were a little tricky to carve with a paring knife - i did mess up a few attempts, which made for a delicious snack - but I finally succeeded in making two star-shaped holes and not destroying one of the 'lids'. The time/date for each of the three pictures is indicated below it.




Thursday, May 24, 2012

Day 138 :: Thursday May 17 :: Ottawa

Make something inspired by a fictional character. Maybe it looks like them, or perhaps it's something they might own, or ...?

I'm currently reading the fantastic book The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern. The circus in question, Le cirque des rêves, performs only at night, and everything in it is black and white - tents, performers' outfits, animals, everything. One of the main characters is Celia, a female illusionist. The book describes her performance outfits in great detail, and somehow it made me think of those little paper dolls one can dress up. I'm far from a fashion designer, but these two little black and white outfits would be perfect for Celia.




Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Day 137 :: Wednesday May 16 :: Ottawa

Look at the morning sky when you first get up today and make something inspired by what you see.

I got up a bit later than usual for a weekday this morning, which meant that the sun had already risen. However, looking out the window I saw a bright blue sky with a few fluffy clouds - which were fun to reproduce with cotton balls on my light blue living room wall!




Day 136 :: Tuesday May 15 :: Ottawa

Create a life-size person using your clothes and/or whatever else you have at hand.

It's late, post-practice and I still have ultimate on the brain... so here is Sock-dude laying out!




Day 135 :: Monday May 14 :: Ottawa

Make a rubbing by placing paper over rough objects and using charcoal or chalk to pick up the details. Gravestones are the classic source for this technique.

Since there are no gravestones nearby, I chose to use various leaves from my backyard for the stars texture; and a punched metal shelf for the background. Since I strayed on the subject, I decided to stray in the medium too and used wax crayons :)




Friday, May 18, 2012

Day 134 :: Sunday May 13 :: Ottawa

Reinterpret your favorite childhood story.

This left me scratching my head for a few minutes... i can't recall a particular 'favorite' story, as i did go through a lot of books in my younger years – and i still do, to be honest! Perhaps mom or dad could jog my memory? :) Thinking back as far as i could, one book popped into my mind. It was the story of a girl who had a new coat with pretty buttons, and as she made her way home one day she managed to lose all the buttons (one got caught as she slipped through a fence, etc). It does have a happy ending as she retraces her steps and finds them all, and her mom sews them back on. And below are my sewn-on buttons!


Thursday, May 17, 2012

Day 133 :: Saturday May 12 :: New York City

Make a word out of object in your environment or with letters found in natural formations outside.

This one was so! much! fun! I shared the assignment with my friend Jess, who was roaming the streets of New York City with me today. We had a blast finding suitable letters to spell out 'New York' – a great way to commemorate our trip. We even photographed extra letters that we found along the way! This is definitely something i would do again.

For those who are curious:
N = Messenger bag at the Freitag store (i confess to being a Freitag junkie!)
E = Railing on Liberty Island
W = Detail on base of the Statue of Liberty
Y = Jess's shadow on the dock; we were aboard a cruise boat
O = Wooden pillar at the above-mentioned dock
R = Unknown soldier monument in Battery Park
K = Trees in Battery Park


Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Day 132 :: Friday May 11 :: New York City

Make something surreal. (Look up the art of Magritte or Dali online or at the library for some inspiration.)

How about having something surreal done to me instead? Honestly, this entire day has been surreal, in the 'unreal, fantastic, having the disorienting quality of a dream' definition of the word! I got up at 5 this morning, hopped in a car to the airport, then a plane to Newark, then a monorail, then a train, then a cab and i finally arrived in Brooklyn, NYC for the tattoo appointment of a lifetime. I've been completely in love with Loic's work for months (search for 'Xoïl, Needles Side TattOo' on Facebook if you wish to see image galleries), and when i heard that he was doing a guest spot in NYC, i simply couldn't resist as he's normally based in France.

Five hours and fifteen minutes after being stenciled, here is the final result. The quote reads 'You placed the stars in the sky and you know them by name', it is from a Chris Tomlin song that is very close to my heart.


And here's a close-up showing the level of detail. Very happy with the result!




Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Day 131 :: Thursday May 10 :: Ottawa

Create something on a t-shirt and wear it for the rest of the day.

A tiny bit of rule-bending on this one... I did indeed design this jersey, but not today. However, i did wear it all day :)




Day 130 :: Wednesday May 9 :: Ottawa

Pick a piece of music you love (or hate) and use it as the inspiration for today's piece.

I picked one of my favorite songs of the moment, 'Shake it out' by Florence + The Machine. A few days ago, I wrote about about feeling a bit overwhelmed by my daily project; today i feel like this song's uplifting beat, coupled with inspiring lyrics like it's hard to dance with the devil on your back, so shake him off was the perfect pick-me-up.

And this is simply dry brushing and pen for a blurry, shaking it out effect.




Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Day 129 :: Tuesday May 8 :: Ottawa

Make a passport, travel poster, monetary unit, or other item for a fictional country or another planet. 

I pondered this one for quite a while, and the idea finally came late in the workday... so i quickly laid out this little 'visit Jupiter' poster before heading home. Hope it makes you feel like visiting this wonderful planet!


Day 128 :: Monday May 7 :: Ottawa

Write a ten-word autobiography. Bonus: Illustrate it! 

Ten words isn't a lot, but i found this to be a very low-key, relaxed, fun assignment. I tried to play with it a bit, which is why the final reads "Caring frisbee-loving displaced Acadian with unusual fondness for cupcakes bacon stars." – still 10 words total, but expressing a bit more :)


Tuesday, May 8, 2012

A creative funk :/

We interrupt the usual creative posts with some not-so-happy thoughts. I hate to admit this, but i'm struggling a bit with the assignments lately... flipping back through my book, i'm a bit disappointed with myself on how some pieces are basic, quickly made or not as thought-out/elaborate as i'd like. I'm standing on the edge of a new summer of competitive ultimate, which are known for eating up so much of my time so quickly, and i'm worried about not being able to produce something each day – or worse, that the assignment become a chore... something that i do half-heartedly every night, something standing in the way of getting some much-needed sleep.

I'm hoping this is just a passing mood and i'll be able to bounce back. You, reading this – has this happened to you? Do you have any suggestions on how to beat this? I really don't want to give it up, yet i still want to be proud of what i produce. Help. And thank you in advance.

gstar

Day 127 :: Sunday May 6 :: Ottawa

Mail art! Take an existing postcard and alter it, then send it to a random address (or anonymously to a friend), after documenting it, of course.

Huh. I love that this assignment fell on a Sunday - the day my favorite blog, Postsecret, is updated. If you're not familiar with Postsecret, it's a collection of secrets that strangers mail in on postcards (there are two criteria: 1. A secret you've never told anyone; 2. That it be true). I love reading the secrets every week, especially when I find a bit of myself in a particular secret - and who hasn't? For a long time, I've been meaning to craft a postcard and mail in my own. I finally did this today, but will not be posting the resulting postcard since, well, it's a secret :) But it does tie in a bit with what I did for my assignment.

For the last two weeks, I've been struggling with a close friend's imminent move out of Ottawa (which coincidentally happened today). Sure, it's temporary, and only four hours that way, and we'll still email and see each other on weekends once in a while... but the distance will suck. There's a certain comfort to knowing someone's in the same city as you... this won't be the first time one of us is in Ottawa and the other isn't for an extended period of time, but somehow this feels different. We hung out last week, talked about the summer, took a bunch of silly pictures that won't make it to Facebook because I just want to keep them all to myself. And so this afternoon, it seemed fitting that I'd happily doodle on a postcard and mail it to my friend's summer address. 




Day 126 :: Saturday May 5 :: Ottawa

Make something that can fly and test it out.

Yes... that is a Lego-size paper airplane. It crashed quite fast when launched, unfortunately!



Monday, May 7, 2012

Day 125 :: Friday May 4 :: Ottawa

Triangulate. Only work with triangle shapes today - or make a giant triangle with a bunch of stuff.

Have I mentioned lately how much I love Sharpies? :)




Day 124 :: Thursday May 3 :: Ottawa

Make something seem like it is passing through a wall or other solid material that it normally wouldn't or couldn't.

It took forever to figure out what to do for this one... in the end, how could i not go with the classic arrow through the head?




Friday, May 4, 2012

Day 123 :: Wednesday May 2 :: Ottawa

Work with or be inspired by an eggshell. If you want to keep the shell intact, make a pinhole in the top and a larger hole in the bottom. Then blow through the smaller hole and aim the bottom toward a bowl to collect the contents (be sure to wash the egg to keep it from getting stinky).

What i learned today: don't put your eggs in the fridge when you're halfway done because you have an ultimate game and plan to finish being creative later... smudging guaranteed afterwards due to condensation. Doh! That's what i get for being lazy and not blowing them out first :( The style of the design on the eggs was inspired by Yvonne's Zentangles (this week's Facebook group assignment). And why BFC? Because Bytown Flatball Club is the touring competitive ultimate team i'll be playing with this summer. Super excited!



Day 122 :: Tuesday May 1 :: Ottawa

Make a working musical instrument. It doesn't have to look, sound, or work like any existing musical instruments!

Have you ever been on a turf field? You know those little black rubber pellets that get into everything? The ones you find in your clean socks, your bathroom, your carpet? Well, they are now the noise-making component of this new percussion instrument: the pellet shaker!




Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Day 121 :: Monday April 30 :: Ottawa

Do something with only tinfoil today. How many different ways can it be used?

After a thorough search, it appears that the only tinfoil I have is two small bowls and a bunch if those little oven element circles thingies... I tried to do a relief on one of the bowls (childhood throw back #15, from art camp where we'd 'sculpt' sheets of aluminum or copper), not fantastic but I do still like it. It was a challenge to work on, as the surface is only 3.25 inch across!




Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Day 120 :: Sunday April 29 :: Ottawa

Make something in a box. (Any type of small box will do: shoebox, cigar box, shipping box, even a small suitcase can work.)

It's a beautiful day outside, so I went for a walk, hoping to find inspiration for today's assignment. A few minutes in, I passed some pebbles in someone's yard - and the lightbulb went on. Various things were picked up over the course of my walk (and people do look at you weird when you're pocketing grass!), and once back home, it didn't take long to make this little bunny duo in their field of clover. Aren't they the cutest?




Day 119 :: Saturday April 28 :: Ottawa

Create an animal that has never existed before.

I used to doodle this little dragon-wolf hybrid everywhere back in high school... so while it wasn't technically created from scratch today, it had been years since I last sketched one.

And why pencil? Earlier this week, I was fleshing out a logo design in pencil, and felt like I hadn't used the medium in years. I even completely lost track of time... always a good hint that i should pick up pencils more often!