LYSA FLOWER’S DAILY DESIGNER DIARY

ILLUSTRATING FIND THE CALM IN THE CHAOS : : DAY 6

Hmm… That dang F! I’m moving a few things here, a few things there but it doesn’t quite feel right yet. The word “FIND” doesn’t quite have the angle I’d like BUT I did move the angle of the “CALM IN THE CHAOS” which feels better.

I’m wanting this illustration to be able to work at 8x10 and 8x8 inches. So I’m asking myself if I should spread out the surfers? Either way, it’s time to take a step away and have a do nothing day tomorrow. We’re going out to see Big Sugar play their full album full album Five Hundred Pounds tonight and I don’t function well without enough sleep. I think I shall lay in bed with the cats and snuggle instead. I know, it sounds rough doesn’t it!

 

LYSA FLOWER’S DAILY DESIGNER DIARY

 

ILLUSTRATING FIND THE CALM IN THE CHAOS :: DAy 5

 

Yesterday I woke up and felt really in my head. Foggy and grumpy. To get back on track, we hiked up the mountain we live nearby. This spring has been spectacular! The weather was wonderful, sunny and breezy. It did the trick and I was left sweaty and back in my body. Refreshed.

I enjoyed the afternoon and evening in my studio. I added some roundness to the ends of the C, the A, the O, and the S. I made the F smaller and the D larger. I thought it would make more sense since all the other words are like that too. I need to rethink the F, it’s being a bit tricky.

Today I didn’t listen to music but listened to a playback from an online course I’m at taking called the Content Cultivation Course. There were some great nuggets in there!

 

LYSA FLOWER’S DAILY DESIGNER DIARY

ILLUSTRATING FIND THE CALM IN THE CHAOS : : DAY 4

 

Want to play a game? Spot the differences! The illustration on the left was at the beginning of the day, the one on the right is at the end of the day. There are 9 differences. The Answers are at the bottom. No peeking!

The playlist for today, I hope you like 100 Gecs!!! :D

And this is what I did this evening: Shout out to my friends Kari (@theprintmakerandherdog) and Tara (Tara.Lee.Bennett) stunning show at @newleafeditions on Granville Island in Vancouver.

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*Answers: On the right illustration:

  1. no surfer on the F

  2. a surfer instead of a flower

  3. a surfer from the left had been moved to on top of the D

  4. no surfer in the right corner

  5. surfer on THE

  6. surfer moved from the M to a dot in the I

  7. surfer now on the C in Chaos

  8. the surfer is larger and between the A and the O

  9. surfer larger and on the S

 

LYSA FLOWER’S DAILY DESIGNER DIARY

ILLUSTRATING FIND THE CALM IN THE CHAOS : : DAY 3

I always start out with an idea but I know I have to be open enough to let it evolve. Which means a lot of playing. It’s getting closer!

Here’s what’s on today’s April 17th playlist!

 

LYSA FLOWER’S DAILY DESIGNER DIARY

ILLUSTRATING Find the Calm in the Chaos : : Day 1

Today I’m trying something new. I’m going to start posting about what I work on everyday and here’s why:

My friend Hana, when she was diagnosed cancer, started going outside everyday. A love of gardening was something we shared, although she was much more enthusiastic about raking leaves than I ever was. Everything about someone getting sick is heartbreaking. When she got really sick, she’d say, when I get better, we’ll get together. All I could do was send her texts, telling her she was in my thoughts and I was sending her love, along with photos of my garden. Knowing she was going outside each day, I decided I would go outside each day too. It was my only way of feeling close to her. I would think of her each morning, knowing she’d be so pleased to see things budding or how busy the bees were on the dahlias.

In November, when Hana passed away, I kept going out every morning, comforted with my thoughts of her while I dug a little over here and I clipped a little over there. I went out with no plan, just what ever felt good to work on that day. I’m out there first thing every morning, rain or shine, anywhere from 10-30 mins every morning. We both live(d) on acreages and there’s always a lot to be done, to the point of being overwhelmed… but now instead of resenting it or feeling like it’s a chore, I crave my time outside. What a wonderful gift of a daily ritual Hana left me.

Then I thought, what if I applied this daily ritual to my personal work. Usually I get a deadline and dive head first in and I don’t come back up for air until I’m done. I do love a good deadline but this way of working has left me depleted in the past and what I’ve been craving is consistency. So here we go, an experiment! Every morning I’ll work on new work, a little drawing here, a little painting there! Here we go!

Okay, here we go:

Today I’m starting a new illustration for the Goin’ Surfin’ collection. It will be called “Find the Calm in the Chaos”. Job one is working on the lettering. I’m taking my LET GO letters and converting them into the letters I need. Which means making eight new letters by making a/an:

 

Here is the playlist I listened to whilst working away : April 15th, 2024 Ha! Whilst! It’s such a funny word!

 

LET GO : : deep thoughts by Lysa Flower

I always have an vague idea of what I’m wanting to do with a piece. The journey, like many creatives have written about, is U shaped. Starting at the top of the U: "This is such a GREAT idea! (sketching and inking)". To the bottom of the U: "Ugh! Why is this falling apart in my hands (realizing it feels a little flat)". To climbing up the other side of the U: "Okay, that’s interesting, (breaking it on purpose, pushing the scale super large or super tiny) what if I?… to Wow! I LOVE THIS!".

That U feeling; it’s kind of like riding a wave I suppose... AND like the ability to LET GO of expectations, disappointment, each moment. When I really started to think about it, the need to LET GO might be the purpose of life… Whoa, that got deep fast! All I was trying to say was that I LOVE when hand lettering and patterns go together ;D