Realizing a Vision

Sounds awfully dramatic when put this way – “Realizing a Vision.” But, having the ability to translate what I imagine in my head, onto paper, is still a big deal for me. Often things don’t turn out exactly how I envisioned them – but not always for the worse. Once I start drawing and designing things often take on a mind of their own.

With this project, it came out exactly how I envisioned it. It really made me pause. A few years ago I would not have been able to do this. I wouldn’t have been able to create what was in my head. There were a variety of reasons for this – lack of confidence, not persisting enough, and not having practiced enough to achieve what was in my mind – I guess you can call that lack of skill.

It’s kind of funny that I’m making such a big deal about an illustration for a garage sale flyer. But, I think it’s important to recognize milestones.

A friend asked my to design a garage sale flyer for the school. I’m a graphic designer so it wasn’t surprising that she asked, nor was it a big deal for me to bang out a flyer. But, in my mind I immediately saw it as an illustration project. Since I’m currently sketching “everyday objects” every morning – I began to think of all the things one would sell at a garage sale.

I pulled out paper and began drawing. I focused on the individual elements – not on how they would be arranged. I drew the way I do in my sketchbook in the morning – objects going this way and that, repeating an element a few times to get a better version. Then I scanned every page and arranged the objects in Photoshop. I designed the flyer (not shown) in Illustrator.

Kind of makes you want to pull out your junk and have a sale, right?