Today's 2014 IFJM wrap up comes from Ellen Ward. She's an artist who teaches university classes as well as workshops for artists of all ages.
Ellen provided me with a jpg of one of her journal pages—she explored the graphic novel format as her character worked within multiple frames on her pages. The jpg also gives her goals and impressions of her project.
Ellen publicly posted her fake journal on her blog Rough Sketch. You can read more about her wrap-up thoughts and see other pages/panels from her fake journal there.
Ellen's approach to stick with black and white (there were shades in the earlier art), and marrying that approach with her love of typography created an intriguing piece that will have you smiling and mulling things over for quite some time. I encourage you to go and check the rest of her pages out at her blog.
Whether you join in the fun of IFJM next year or not, consider following Ellen's example and setting aside 15-25 minutes each day to explore some "oddball thing" in your own way, just because you are moved to do it.
Ellen's acceptance of the waxing and waning of her productivity really stuck a chord with me. I find I need to deal with that more in my own journal. Some days are inspiration filled and others are a desert.
ReplyDeleteThanks Ellen!
Dana, I think this is a great point and something we always need to be looking at in our "real" work from time to time. I think it's also important to switch the focus from how our productivity might falter from time to time and look anew at all those times when it really picks up!
ReplyDeleteI find that if I keep this in mind and make sure to sketch at least something on those "desert" days that I'm much more "balanced."
I think what you did Dana with the small journal and your 15 minutes a day was a great way to deal with this issue too.
Yes indeed! Staying in the swing of things for me means being able to acknowledge that events and schedules can monkeying with the best laid plans. When I am most exhausted by work and personal stuff, that commitment to my 'self'...even if it is just to make some marks on a paper for 10 minutes...has amazing sane-making value. One of the great values of this project lies in the idea that you are seeing a month and your time differently, making some very conscious choices. What if one were doing it ALL YEAR!!!!!
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