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Tuesday, June 23, 2015

What Boredom Looks Like From a Non-Illustrator

Just a few random doodles created from someone who doesn't doodle often. I hope this encourages you to let your pen wander about a little more!








-Olivia

Saturday, June 13, 2015

How to Make a Triangle Banner

Recently I have severely gotten into doing DIY projects. They are a great way to take a break from every day stressors, unwind with some top quality 'me' time, and in the end you have something finished and tangible that YOU made! In this post I will show you how to make a triangle banner that you can put on the walls of your room, living room, hell it would even look great in the bathroom! Super easy, and looks so fantastic in the end you'll be proud to say 'Where did I get it? Oh no, I made it'. Lets get started!

What you'll need:
- Leather (or any fabric)
- X-acto Knife (or scissors)
- String
- Pen
- Tacks
- A Ruler (a book in my case)
- A needle

Step 1- Mark the bottom center of your fabric 


This mark is simply used to guide you towards the center bottom of your triangle when you cut the fabric. Another step you can do is draw out the other two lines if you want a perfect triangle shape every time. I did this for the first banner I made, however, for the second one I found that I got pretty close to perfect without the trace.

Step 2- Cut out the triangles 



This is where you will use that dot you made as a point of reference. Line up your ruler towards the dot and the end of your fabric. Then simply cut down. Do this as many times as you please till you have a good amount of triangles. This is the longest and most redundant task so I recommend that by now you should put on some nice tunes to zone out to. (Make sure you have something to cut on if you choose to use an x-acto knife over scissors. This is because no matter how careful you are, the surface below will get destroyed. A notebook works, or even better a cutting board.)

Step 3- String them together 


Here you need to string your needle and begin lining all the triangles together. You can decide whether you want your string to be behind or in front of the triangles (in the end of this post I have examples of both). For this banner I decided to put the string in front of the triangles because the string was colorful and it was fun to have it pop through.


Step 4- Wrap the string ends around the tacks 



You can tie the string in a knot or just wrap it around a ton of times. Secure it to that tack!

Step 5- Hang that beauty up and admire your work



Ahhh! Look at it. So pretty. You have completed your banner! Put it above your bed, in the kitchen, make your house have that pop of color it needs! Super fun and looks great. Find some scrap fabric around the house and get creating!


























-Olivia

Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Nine Tips on Being creative


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Constantly staying create can be hard, especially is there is pressure or a deadline looming over your head. Luckily, there are may ways to help push creativity and to give you that boost of inspiration! Here are nine things that I have found help me in my times of artist block.

1. Surround yourself with inspiration 
It is hard to be creative when nothing around inspires you. I find that I am often not spontaneously creative, and if I decide that I want to be, I have to do a little bit of digging around before I can come up with any ideas. To help myself, I like to keep a lot of things that spark my imagination at hand. I follow as many art magazines that I can find. They are filled with endless examples of creativity and are a great reference to look at, even if you are thinking of non visual ideas. A few of my favorite are Hi FructoseMy Modern Metropolis, and Juxtapoz. Another great place to find inspiration is sites such as Reddit, Tumblr, and Pinterest. These websites are great for showing a variety of art, always having new content available and for the last two, a pretty good form of organizing what you want to keep. I like to tag posts and save them for later so if I'm hitting artists block I can quickly click through and get an idea!

2. Get nice lighting 
This is something that I have discovered form my own experiences; the better the lighting the better I work. Even though I find that I am most creative during the night, being in the dark not only dampens my mood, but it makes me tired and agitated. With good lamps on, and white light in the room, I feel like it is still the daytime and that promotes happy vibes. A happy artist is one who will never stop creating! 

3. Listen to different music 
Turns out, putting on your favorite jam to draw to will not help! Listening to music that you like can actually decrease productivity. Instead, try something to new to be less distracted, it will help you focus, and in the end, discover new music!  

4. Keep an art diary
I find it extremely important to be constantly doodling, collaging, and overall producing art for myself. Whenever I need to do something a little creative and I am out of ideas I can always go back to my sketchbook. I might find inspiration from some words I wrote down, an image I drew, or even just a few colors that I put together on a page. No matter what you could get out of it, I find that getting anything from it is very important, especially if you are drawing a blank. Find a sketchbook or journal that gets you excited. Slowly collect art supplies you find in elementary schools like glue, watercolors, markers and even fabric! Get inspired and just wreck that book! 

5. Produce work that you don't like 
This is such an important concept, and yet, it is something that I (and I'm sure others) really struggle with. Not everything you think of or make will be perfect and beautiful. It's impossible to not fail, and when one does, it's something that not only needs to be expected, but embraced. So what, that photograph was way too bright? Now you can learn to change the shutter speed next time, and even use this photo as inspiration for others. Lets learn from our mistakes and use them to benefit ourselves for future projects.

6. Change your setting
Get out of the house! Go to a library, park, or even a coffee shop. Let the smells of the outdoors, old books, and caffeine stimulate your brain. Studies show that coffee shop chatter can actually help you focus, and that the color green promotes creativity (wow Starbucks you know your stuff)! I find that going somewhere to do a task not only pushes me to begin the project but to finish it faster while also doing a great job. 

7. Take a break
Sometimes it is best to step away and take a break if you really are stuck. It can help to stop thinking because sometimes the problem is overthinking. One example can be found in my own experiences. I had a final film that was due and I was stressing over it because I had high expectations for myself. I was deliberating everything and could not come up with an idea, so my friends told me to take a break and go to the zoo with them. Turns out, when I went there I actually saw some great shots to take and got an idea! Another great idea is to take a nap. Studies show that naps between 1-3pm can stimulate better brain function, resulting in more creativity! 

8. Experiment with it
It is always important to step outside of the box every once in a while and create your own rules. Experimenting will make you produce things that you don't like, maybe even things you hate, but, it will also make you produce masterpieces! Trying new things will show you what you do and don't like, and give you inspiration to keep moving forward with new ideas. Even art that you hate that can give you ideas to create something you love!

9. Do it 
It's important to remember that if you are out if ideas, just start. If you are writing an essay, start writing words. Get to the conclusion first, or maybe from a random point in your thesis. Don't even write about the essay topic! If it is art related just start doodling. Even if you draw 200 circles again and again on a page you may find an interesting shape in the lines and get a brilliant idea! In the end, let's all take Shia LaBeouf's great advice and just do it.

-Olivia






Thursday, June 4, 2015

Runway: Valentino pre-fall-2015

This year (in January), Valentino had their pre-fall 2015 collection walk the runway. After seeing just one outfit, I knew I had to make a post about it because I was melting from love and inspiration.
Let me begin by stating that the collection was 97 looks in total (so you can imagine how hard it was to pick just a few) with each article looking as arduous as the last. The overall theme of the show was to present the idea that there is a fantastic future ahead of us, hence all of the peace and love vibes coming from the designs. Nature is very apparent in this collection, as well as hearts, colors, and even an exploration into space. Perhaps these themes are attempting to address the concept how we are all connected as humans? How each of us can be an individual alone, while still being unavoidably part a whole race? 
Perhaps not, however one thing I know for sure is that love was a huge part of the clothing. One designer who worked in collaboration with Valentino was Italian pop artist Giosetta Fioroni. She had designed a heart pattern that became a dominant statement that appeared on everything from sweaters to gowns (example to the right). In the heart there was the phrase, 'Your eyes are the eyes of a woman in love'. How romantic! What a bright future Valentino designers see ahead! 
Overall the designs are pretty varied and make it hard to form cohesive theme, however, each piece really does stand on its own beautifully. With all the embroidery, craftsmanship, and general talent that was poured into these clothes, it's easy to appreciate and admire the end result. 







 












-Olivia
Photos: courtesy of Valentino and Style.com

Monday, June 1, 2015

Weekly Playlist - Summer Beach

School's out (for most of us) and summer is here! Time to hang out with friends, plan future road trips, and find excuses to shop our hearts out. With our new found freedom, there's no way we'll pass up the chance to take a trip to the beach! Here's a fun little playlist to help you montage your way to the waves.



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-Olivia