Breaking the Doodle

I was reading this post from Erin at swonderland yesterday.

Then I took a nap.

I guess that post got things marinating in my mind because I woke up with a manic desire to start creating again. I have had the soul of a Creative since I was a wee one. Certain points in my life have definitely been more productive in this realm than others, but it is always with me. I continue to ride the wave of inspiration through the highs and lows.

Yesterday, I felt the familiar rise of the wave. It is like a shot of adrenaline and I can feel my eyes move quickly, mind race with possibility, and heart beat faster. I started brewing all kinds of ideas until I feel like bursting.

But this time? It was different. When I was working a full-time job as a paid Creative, that took a lot out of me. I had ideas for personal projects that I wanted to create, but was never able to put 100% into them because, well? I was working. I was drained.

Now? I still have a full-time job, but it is not billable by the hour, and I am not paid to be creative. SO GUESS WHAT. I am not wasting this valuable creative energy on things I don’t necessarily have a heart for. I can do what ever I want.

WHATEVER. I. WANT.

Sweet fancy Moses.

I got out my sketch books. I found my doodles from when I was a commuter on the train. The lines shaky from the wheels on the tracks.

I can’t wait to bring these pages to life. I am breaking out of the doodle.

The Ah-ha Moment

So I was playing around with the camera, and realized that I am a TOTAL IDIOT. I just learned that I can easily adjust the intensity of the flash so that everything is not blown out. I can’t tell you how excited I am to have figured this out. But at the same time I feel the ache of a thousand photos that could have turned out if I had only known this simple function existed.

I have hated using the flash up until this point, and only did so as a last resort. Now I feel like Flash is my super hero sidekick that exists to make all photos taken indoors a million times better. Life changing!

Although an “ah-ha” moment can give me a healthy rush of feel-good adrenaline, it is always accompanied by a stabbing pang of “oh DUH.” And usually I can’t help but think of how many hours had been previously wasted trying to solve a particular problem. Especially when the solution seems so painfully obvious or simple. This happened to me about a million and one times while learning design software. I can still remember the day that I learned about the “align” tool in Illustrator. Or “find>change” in InDesign. Or how to mask in Photoshop. Life was better after learning these tools, but ohhhh the hours spent in the computer lab before this knowledge…painful.

Ah-ha moments are not restricted to technology of course. I have had them during a creative brainstorm at work, while figuring out how to navigate a new city, cooking a new recipe, and falling in love with Justin.

I guess the moral of the story is to “be cool and stay in school.” If I ever stop learning just because I am not officially enrolled in a class, then I am officially old. Although it can be a humbling process, I am convinced that ah-ha moments are the fountain of youth. I want to have them throughout the rest of my life.

Here are my first photos with my new knowledge applied:

Perfect

The fresh-and-clean first page of a new sketchbook.

I actually drew on it already, but wish I hadn’t. From now on, I will leave the first page of a new sketchbook blank. It is more inspiring to me than anything that could be written on it. Every time that I open it to write a note or sketch an idea, the first blank page will remind me of the great expanse of possibilities yet to come.

Yes and Yes

Oh man, I just love this. They are by Matteo Cibic. Click for the link.

<3<3<3<3<3<3

Ridiculous. I wish I had made this, but they are by UFEX. Click for more.

Eyeballs! Get Your Eyeballs Here!

I just remembered a story that my friend Amber told me about a man selling eyeballs on the street. She might fill you in if you ask nicely.

This is less entertaining, but check out my new eyeballs anyway!

Norpus is excited, too. She ran up onto the porch table and immediately commenced nomming them.

I have BIG plans for my 500+ wiggle eyes...ages 3+

The fleeting attention span of Porp. Onto other nomables I assume...

“Would You Rather”

This is a followup to the question that was  posed during a game of “Would you Rather” during the 10-hour stay in the lovely Austin Airport. This great example of an inside joke that has gone public and out of control. I am on a photoshop role tonight…and have no plans on stopping here.

Would you rather have a Chinchilla Porpus....

...or a Dungeness Schween Crab?

A lot of things like these are swimming around in my head. They are seeping out and landing on the internet. My apologies.

Bonus image: