Right Brain Redux: Day 13 of 30-Day Creativity Challenge

Right Brain Redux: Day 13

It's T-shirt Thursday! Ok, so that's how it turned out, anyway. Today, both of us drew T-shirt design projects from our Challenge Jars. Jessica pulled "Design a 'Dr. Who' inspired t-shirt that a fan will recognize, but you can't use any character's name or face." I drew "Design a t-shirt based on/ inspired by a Bible verse."

(Kev) My first thought was to draw an "Armor of God" picture. I've imaged that in several different ways over the years, and I actually enjoy drawing it. But then again, that is a passage of Scripture, not a verse. Since this is a challenge, I elected to select a single verse to interpret. I went with Philippians 4:13.

"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. " (KJV)

The original image in my head was of the letters outlined in white with black and white images of people doing things inside. But it just didn't look right. So I went with the text instead. The tough part of these challenges is getting them done in a short time. The nice part is that we are getting something down as a design, but we intend on revisiting the good ideas and refining them to completed designs after the challenge is over.

The thought of "DO" has been on my mind for the last while, especially when I think of that verse. "Do" puts action to something. It is also a command or instruction. "Do this." We say "I AM a Christian." To me, I just keep thinking about "Being" verses "Doing". Are we "Doing" Christianity for the world to see? When "I am", it is a statement. When "I do" it is action visible to the naked eye. Just my thoughts.

Go Do.

(Jess) When I read my challenge, the first thing I thought of was the "Bad Wolf" graffiti because I love graffiti. And that's my favorite season of the The Doctor anyway. Then I realized that there was already a lot of those designs out there. After thinking a bit, I chose to do "Bad Wolf" in Gallifreyan. I found several sites with the alphabet and showing you how to read and write it. There seems to be a couple of different versions out there, but I settled on one and turned the words into this design. How you write it and form words is very interesting. It's far from just being a simple substitution alphabet. I found myself lost in studying how to read it, and I had to make myself stop in order to finish the project.

And as Kevin mentioned, the good ideas we will revisit and refine later. This is one I definitely want to give a second (and third and fourth and...) go over. I really like the concept, but I want to spend more hands-on time with this design and the writing itself. Most likely with my own hands instead of digitally, so I can give it my style. I like... need that control when it comes to design.

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Right Brain Redux: Day 9 of 30-day Creativity Challenge

Right Brain Redux: Day 9

Coincidences do happen, I guess. One way or another, Jessica and I both have the same challenge today:

"Write a Haiku about something you can see right now".

Jessica drew hers in the living room late in the day, while I drew mine early in the morning in our bedroom/ office. This gave us a very different range of subjects to choose from.

Jess: When I pulled my challenge out and saw it, the first thing I saw was the living room itself. I had the indelible stamp of Little on it. All over it, in fact. Every time I looked back at the room to try and choose a subject, the only thing I could see was the room itself. It got cleaned up at least three times today. (Yeah, he didn't feel well today, so he was a little off his game.)

Epic Destruction

Home Lays In Ruins Today

We Have A Toddler

Kevin: I actually had a time picking my subject for the Haiku. What I can see from my desk chair gives me a lot of possibilities. Too many, actually. So I narrowed it down to my desktop itself. (Single letters are words)

Nine S D Cards Here

Fifteen G B Of Treasures?

Yep Mostly My Kids

Fun!

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Right Brain Redux: Day 4 of 30-day Creativity Challenge

First off, we want to tell Aunt Dorothy: Say hey to Pawpaw Bill for us. We love you. You got your healing when you crossed the river.

Monday. All day. So today gifted us with the challenges of Kev creating a set of inkblots (like an inkblot test) and describing what he saw in them. Jess drew out "Draw a friendly robot". Which immediately caused her to ask "Is there truly such a thing as a friendly robot? They all have ulterior motives." I submit to you Transformers G1 Bumblebee (cartoon version). So friendly you might get diabetes if you hang around him too long...

Anyways.

For my (Kev) challenge, I created about a dozen inkblots using plain printer paper with India ink and some of Little's finger paints.  I pre-folded the papers then opened them back up and applied drops of black ink and in some case some blobs of colored paint. Then I folded the paper and smoothed it out to spread the pigments and unfolded it to dry. A couple of them ended up so full of paint they were almost useless, but I came out with ten really nice ones. Some of them I think made such nice patterns they are practically art and I may explore this as a method/ medium in the future.

That much said, I selected  6 blots to describe. I have numbered them 1-6 and will flip through them and give my immediate first impression of what I see. I will not spend time studying them or seeking patterns, just what jumps out at me.

 #1. Alien woman in a black lace collar and a blue dress with pink ruffles and black shoes.

#2. Hammer-headed lobster

#3. Wolf's head

#4. Pelvis with a vertebra above it

#5. Mothra flying over islands

#6. Blue man with warthog/ elephant head

I give no analysis. Take what you will from what I see.

When I (Jess) pulled out "Draw a friendly robot", my initial thought was cutesy robot. But then I gave it a second thought and mulled over the idea of a robot that was friendly/ helpful but didn't necessarily look friendly. My first thought after that was of the terminator in T2. But even that character, though he was a father figure, wasn't really friendly. Picture an endoskeleton holding a balloon. Then I thought of Handles. Yes, we watch Dr Who. A lot. Cybermen are very very bad. But handles started out useful and even though we didn't get to see but the beginning and end of his story, he spent a long time with the doctor. At the end, he was clearly counted a friend and not just a tool. So without further ado, I give you "Handles." Well done, Mate.

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Right Brain Redux: Day 3 of 30 Day Creativity Challenge

Sundays are busy days for us, so time for the challenge was definitely part of the challenge. My (Kev) Jar pull for today was to write a poem (length and type unspecified) on a subject chosen at random by Mini-me. He chose for me "Spider-Man". I debated for a while over what kind of poem to try. Now, I'm no poetry aficionado. I do enjoy a limerick every now and again, and I can appreciate good poetry. As far as writing goes, I'm merely a dabbler. So here you have it:

Superhero when he crawls the walls

Peter Parker when he walks the halls

Intent for evil brings his attention

Dumb crooks in police detention

Extra headlines for Triple J

Really makes for big payday

May never knows where he's been

Always honors his Uncle Ben

Never lets evil doers win!

C'mon, Monday! Bring it on!

Kev

Jess // Day 3 Challenge: Take a Photograph of Something Intriguing

I had originally thought I'd try to ride around to find my photography subject. I had an idea of something involving old bricks, unexpected pops of color, and/or something you'd most likely pass by with no second thought. Those subjects will surely find me another day though as I'm always looking for them. Like Kev said, Sundays are our busiest days, and by this evening, I was also feeling rough... that sinus infection is coming for me. So I grabbed my camera and headed outside before I lost the daylight. Hope for a couple of pics, probably macro shots, I had, but what I didn't expect was later choosing 1 of 80 shots.

I find unattractive things intriguing. I'm obsessed with rust and chipped paint. Algae, moss, and rotting things make for perfect subjects. Maybe it's drawing out their intriguing qualities that makes me feel like I've redeemed them in some way. I'm sure I could analyze why that's so, but to make this blog entry a little more succinct, I'll move on. Here's the picture I finally decided to post (no small task due to incurable indecisiveness.)

Here's where that indecisiveness hits again... what I like about it: color, rust, paint chipping, something you'd likely pass by or not notice, a bonus spider web, and even a hidden spider to find. Do you see it?

I might get this one printed, and I'll probably post a few of the other 79 shots at some point too. Day 4, I'm ready!

Jess



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Creativity Challenge: Day 1

Right Brain Redux
30-Day Creativity Challenge
Day: 1

Kev: Fill a page with doodles

Idea Source: Emily Potts, "5 Drawing Exercises to Turn Anyone Into an Artist"

Jess: Complete a drawing based on a toddler scribble

Results to come, so check back later.

Right Brain Redux

Right Brain Redux

(30-Day Creativity Challenge)

Redux- adjective 1. brought back; resurgent; 1650-60; < Latin: returning (as from war or exile)

In honor of back-to-school, Jessica and I have decided to subject ourselves to a creative experiment. I know, School started yesterday and we are a day behind. Trust me, that's early for me.

With so many things going on in our family life over the past year (Moving to a new house, moving to a new state, Starting a Kids' Church Ministry from scratch, Remodeling a house in the new state, moving into the new house in the new state, major surgery-- all while juggling the rest of the usual stuff of living and working and raising two awesome autistic boys.) our creative lives have really taken a hit. We've tried to eke out time to art here and there, but often we just haven't been able to find it. Or we're too worn out from chasing a toddler who has decided he will only answer to "Hurricane" for the day.

So here's the challenge we've set for ourselves; together, we have created a list of creative challenges to be performed one per day over the next thirty days. There are about forty in all and have been printed on slips of paper which are folded and placed into Challenge Jars.

Each of us has our own jar with the exact same set of papers, but to keep it interesting we will each select one challenge per day from our own Challenge Jar. This way, we probably won't be doing the same challenge on the same day, but we should have done most of the same projects over the course of the challenge. The projects cover everything from drawing and painting to photography and writing. One day I might have to write a haiku on a subject chosen by my son while Jessica draws a friendly robot or finger paints with the boys.

The randomness of the challenge is designed to flex our creative muscles and give us a workout. The projects are simple enough to complete in the course of a day. The one-day deadline is to keep us moving. We will be posting our challenge for you to see each morning, and the results each evening. You can feel free to join in and try your hand at each day's challenge if you'd like.

It's gonna be a crazy-fun month!

Kevin

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