I’ll admit it, I can procrastinate with the best of them sometimes. It was a holiday weekend, and I had other things to do than contributing to my blog. Besides, I’m putting far more energy into procrastinating about filing my taxes and paying bills. On top of that, “Dip” didn’t spark my creative urges to make something. Potato chips and dip, strawberries in chocolate, skinny dipping, Dippety Doo are all possibilities, but it seems that by the time I was tired of procrastinating, other people had already done things along these lines, and my best idea was for skinny dipping, and that just seemed like too much effort.I might make the skinny dipping picture, just not today. I don’t feel like whipping out that idea just to meet Illustration Friday’s deadline. I want to take my time and savor the experience. To dip my paintbrush into… hey, wait! An easier idea!
This is a little illustration, about 2 ½” x 4”, in acrylic on wood. It’s part of a larger piece with similar little paintings which makes up a game board. Since it’s on a big piece of wood, it’s hard to get a good scan of it because the wood sits above the scanner bed by 1/8” or so. Somebody ought to tell HP to make it easier to scan rigid things. Ummm… maybe I’ll procrastinate about that too? Anyway, some fussing in PhotoShop, and here we are.
I know we can all face ennui and procrastination. The important thing is to figure out good coping techniques when we face it. Often, I’ll call Mary Lou (http://myjournal--thelandofwhimsy.blogspot.com/), and she’ll kick me into action or brainstorm with me a while. She’s sick this week though, and her kids are home on spring break, so I had to think in a vacuum.
That’s okay too. I am capable of scrounging around in my brain for ideas even when I just don’t feel like it. Doodling and word associations often get me going in the right direction. Looking through old files might remind me of something that I always intended to do, or sometimes doing something completely unrelated will free up my mind enough to let an idea pop in.
I’m interested in hearing about other people’s ideas for coping with procrastination too. We all need to let our creativity loose!
I like your attitude :)
ReplyDeleteArtists need to hang together :) I like what you've got on your site.
ReplyDeleteI really like this!
ReplyDeleteTaxes? We don't need any stinking Taxes? Nice illustration, what's the game?
ReplyDeleteI love the colour and simple elegance of your pic. Lovely.
ReplyDeleteIt's a card game that's kind of like tarot cards for dummies. You lay the cards down on each illustration, and read what the placement of each means. There must be something about me that makes people think I'm good at this kind of thing. I also made a game for astrology where you drop stones on pictures for the same kind of result. I successfully avoided the taxes yesterday, but we've still got 2 weeks, right? Thanks for the comments!
ReplyDeleteNice illustration. I like that kind of dip. Satisfying and not fattening :)
ReplyDeleteSometimes I simply have to force myself to sit down and get going. Music and headphones always helps. Great job here btw!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I'm fantasizing about eating Vickie's spaghetti and listening to Steve's music :)
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