Explore: Digital Illustration

“Explore” is wrapping up today with a final jaunt with digital illustration. This exploration got cut a little short, but I tried to still employ some of the other methods of making that I’ve learned throughout this exhibition. Illustration has never really been my strong suit. It’s hard for me particularly because of my perfectionistic tendencies. Throughout this exploration, I really tried to throw those tendencies to the wind and just create without judgment.

ANY SOURCES OF INSPIRATION (IMAGES, ARTICLES, VIDEOS, ETC.)?

I relied heavily on this Pinterest board I created for inspiration and to help me believe that illustration doesn’t need to be “perfect” to be great! When I would feel overwhelmed or unsure of where to begin, I would look at some of the images to draw inspiration from the way they’ve approached things.

WHAT WAS THE HARDEST PART ABOUT THIS WEEK’S EXPLORATION?

This week’s exploration was hard in a lot of ways. Whenever my perfectionism seems to take over, I sort of freeze under the pressure I feel to make something perfect. Usually that means instead of practicing so that I can improve, I don’t do anything. Starting is the hardest part. Once I finally started I tried to have some fun with it. I also found that my fear of others’ rejection ran high in this exploration. Even now, I feel a little afraid publishing these pieces on the internet for all to see because I know they are far from perfect. But in moments where I feel that way, I’ve had to remind myself that the outcome was never the focus of this exhibition. The process is what this whole thing is all about.

WHAT WAS THE BIGGEST TAKEAWAY?

I will never again underestimate the power of a quick exercise to get warmed up before beginning a project. In each stage of this exhibition, I have taken a minute to work small and quickly and it has made a world of difference for me and my headspace when I’m working on a project. For this week, I wrote down a list of images and set a timer for 5 minutes. As soon as I was done with one drawing, I would reset the timer and go again. It was amazing how that helped me to get out of my own head a little bit.

WHAT WAS THE MOST ENJOYABLE PART?

I truly enjoyed making the cover image for each stage of this exhibition. This week’s was made using a mix of Illustrator and Procreate with my iPad. It was a fun way to get my mind warmed up and thinking in terms of how different softwares can create digital illustrations.

A final “explore” exhibition wrap up

I want to thank you for following along on this exhibition. Even if it’s been as simple as reading a post or liking an image, your engagement has made this so much more fun! It can be a little intimidating to create work to publish for the world, especially work that doesn’t feel like something you would normally want publish. However, I encourage you to try it! I think i't’s a good exercise for our brains to reduce some of that pressure we put on each project and just have a little fun with it.