Design Inspiration taken from time spent on the Canvas…
1 Creative Exercise: “Fill the Canvas”… 2 Different Approaches
There is something about sitting down to an empty sketchbook or staring at a blank canvas. Maybe it's the excitement of the unknown with a myriad of potential possibilities? One of my favorite creative exercises is to clear my head and sit down and either sketch or paint with both my dominant and none dominant hand with no expectations of a subject or mood. I continue mark making, consciously and subconsciously switching hands. I also make a deliberate point to cover as much of the canvas as possible at a rapid pace. Often, I then put the piece away and come back to it a few days to a week later. I am always surprised as to the outcome and often derive several design concepts from this process.
The second approach is the reflect on a particular object or experience and use abstract lines and stokes to convey the particular reflection. Again I use the “cover the canvas” method often painting on top of and over various elements to create a sense of texture and mood.
STAY CURIOUS!
Currently I’m putting some finishing touches on an upcoming autumn / winter 18/19 collection. I was thinking about the different phases of the sun throughout sunrise and sunset cycles and the array of colors. Here in Arizona we are fortunate to have spectacular sunset skies. This is particularly notable during monsoon season which brings periodic heavy rain pours for often brief periods of time which in turn creates awesome color variations within the sky. Here are some examples of my reflections expressed through a few abstract paintings. Hope you enjoy!
HAVE FUN AND EXPERIMENT!
My biggest takeaways from these creative exercises reminds me to:
1) Stay curious.
2)Embrace and Enjoy the process.
3)Always continue to experiment!
Stay tuned for part 2 where I reveal examples of design concepts derived from these creative painting exercises.
Embracing Color, Pattern, and design,
Esther Shavon
EMBRACE THE EXPERIENCE!