... Hoping to get going once again, drawing more frequently - actually hoping it will be that hour a day.  
... Perhaps, taking a course will be the (wanted) pressure needed to hold the pen to the paper.
....Here are a couple of sketches which I hope to include in some upcoming work!

   This is a big year for me - for a number of reasons, none of which I will share - some of it's ordinary "life happens" things -  Good events for many, not so good for others.  I though, am looking forward to not only a new chapter, but actually a number of new chapters ahead....  I haven't forgotten my goals and my original resolution/idea - the hour a day.... although that almost never happens as an every day thing -- it usually comes with a burst of time and energy on the weekend and I surprise even myself with all that I can get done. I still believe in that idea and that discipline....An Hour A Day. ("... As an experiment, I suggest the following strategy...you must actually spend a full-un-interupted hour, each and every day doing the critical inch of that business....if you pick a business that you love, and faithfully spend your hour doing the key parts of the business (not simply busy work), that within two years you will be well on your way to complete financial independence....")

   I haven't forgotten the 30 day deal either.  I am starting this year with the challenge to stay away from sugar or anything that turns too quickly into sugar....   I like the self-challenging challenges.  Funny thing though - this is a challenge I gave to myself a long, long time ago, well before the concept of 30-day challenges came about.  It worked well then - let's hope it works again.

To end I will include an "Hour" project that took a number of hours to finish and as I look at it now, I am not so sure that it still doesn't need a number more.....
Oh well - maybe next weekend....

That hour a day ("Finishing with an hour to spare") was and still is a great idea - have been using that idea in a number of areas of my life - maybe should say I've been using an adjusted version.....an hour a day with a 30 day theme.   I love the 30 day idea.  Start a wanted change, either adding something or removing something from your life.... ie adding a diet or removing TV (lots of other ideas if you stop to think into it).
So, been doing some "adding" and "removing".....BUT - in the meantime, finally caught up to this blog and Illustration Friday once again - Here's a sketch I submitted for the topic of "Liquid"...enjoy.

An Hour to Spare - Should I work and can I squeeze in a quick nap?

Seriously, after an exhausting day being creative at work it is soooo hard to get enthusiastic about being creative at home - even if it's just for an hour.  Sometimes I can muster the umph to sit down and "play" but sometimes it's all I can do to just stay awake.   If I can remember that when I do muster the umph and I do begin to do the art I love so dearly I usually find that other world that not only takes me to another place but all the energy I've lost during the day comes flooding back.  Isn't it wonderful?
I did check off another thing on my "2-Do" list.  I found some great portfolio books at a local art store and I put together my "Design" book.... I also did a lot of set-up work for a "Cards" portfolio book... the big nut seems to be the "Illustration" book.  For that I have to get serious... and stay awake!

The Artist's Way ... Julia Cameron

I am reading The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron and thought I would share some of her "rules."  BTW - a great book.  I started it almost 20 years ago and couldn't get into it.   It's been sitting by my bedside all this time waiting for me to pick it up once again.  Some would say that I wasn't "ready" before and now I am.

don't forget design!

I have started looking at my portfolios, beginning with the one I work with the most - my graphic design work.  I work in graphic design everyday, have collected a very large sampling of it all and yet I have not put it together cohesively, to show.  SO, with that said I now have an on-line portfolio with a sampling of my samples.  I learned how to slideshow in a blog and kept it very simple so as to highlight the work.

Take a peek: 

www.cathyparkerbreese.blogspot.com

new order

I reordered my "2-Do" list once again... After watching some kiddy shows this past weekend I became enthused with my original idea of doing some motion work with a children's story. It brings me back to the list of all the things I have to learn and all the steps involved in finishing the stories and illustrations I began, what seems like so long ago. If felt a little like I was cleaning out a cluttered closet....Consolidated some of the list and then re-ordered the priorities to put the motion idea back at the top of my list.  It's great to feel redirected, refocused and enthused again. 

surviving a christmas card...

This year's Christmas card (which has a more involved design than what is shown above) took me a great deal longer than I had thought it would or really that it should, BUT it began with the concept of moving one step closer to the writing and illustrating of a children's book.  I wanted to do a complete project using some of the concepts and lessons I have learned so far. The poem woke me up one night and from there it all became a delightful, deeply involving project. After I completed the card and mailed them all out, I tried (in vain so far) to put the card to motion, in both Flash and AfterEffects.  I actually did both but I still haven't figured out how to make it look good on the internet.  My idea was to present the card, in motion here on the blog.  I haven't given up yet, but to be honest I can't figure out what I have done wrong.  The file "renders" either too large (way too large) or the graphics just aren't very crisp.  Even though this hasn't worked, the process of taking time each day to write, illustrate, design, and then to learn some Flash and AfterEffects has been great.   Inch by inch, I love the learning process and just imagining what I could do next!   By next Christmas I hope to have the "motion" idea down pat. 

Hour by hour this already has been such a great journey so far.

One Christmas Check off

It's done! The Christmas card is ready!  Printing & mailing this week!  One more project crossed off this list. 
HOUR TO SPARE note: 
It worked particularly well this year with my card.  Of course to be honest, in the beginning, I didn't spend one hour each night in any disciplined manner.... more like 3 hours one night and then none for three nights - then 12 hours all in one day!  But the putting together & tweaking was done in hour spurts and that was what pulled it all together.   Once I get them out in the mail I include the drawings in the blog!
Merry Christmas!  (in case I don't get anything posted before then.)
Ho-Ho-Ho!

inching along...

Hour by hour, inch by inch I am working my way down the list.  My newest (and really, my oldest) lesson has been time and the time we think each project will involve.  Because of the calendar (December & Christmas) I moved my Christmas card up the list and, of course, that has taken much, much more time than I planned.  In fact, yesterday I spent the day (almost 12 full hours) doing the final sketches and color work on my card.  I am going to include one of the drawings here and will put all of it up after I can get the cards in the mail.  I came up with an ambitious idea (my usual dilemma) and now feel compelled to get it done.  Anyway, here's a glimpse.  I am heading back to hour by hour (maybe I can get this finished within the next hour!)

Working behind the scenes

I realized this weekend that it looks as if I haven't been busy if you only look at my posting dates...

Not true.  Actually, I have been doing the "Hour to Spare" -  honestly, not every night but most nights.  In one way or another, sometimes silently either at the drawing board or behind the scenes with some writing or tweaking I have been pretty consistent with putting the time in on this project.  The biggest problem I am finding is keeping on track, following the"to-do" listing (2do page on this blog) in what I had originally thought was the most organized way of getting everything finished.  Forget that.... the projects and their priorities seem to jump around, depending on ideas and issues each day.  I can work an hour on some writing if it's being carried with me - I can do some computer work if I can't sleep at night... Little hours stuck in here and there fulfill the self-requirement of an hour each day (sorry, almost each day), but there are times it's definitely not in the prioritized order.  This brings me to the realization that the jumping around is what made getting things done so difficult and so very unproductive in the first place. I knew this, and I know this.... so back to the list and the "drawing board" I go.

Cross Another - OFF!

I sold some of my note cards this weekend, and I have to say - it felt good.... which, of course, sent me off track once again.  (It really doesn't take much to get me running in another direction!)  On my "...an Hour to Spare" list I am supposed to be finishing the portfolio for my note cards - I haven't finished that yet.  Instead, I opened an Etsy account. Check it out!
www.etsy.com/shop/redbootz

(Of course there are something like 145,000 cards for sale on etsy - who will ever find me? But then, it's been said, "...if you build it, they will come,"  or something like that.)

A thought:  This "Hour to Spare".... works.  Amazingly, I have found is that even when I am soooo tired, thinking I am TOO tired to sit, disciplined, for an hour, once I begin the time flies by and I find I have to be disciplined enough to stop!  

Illustration Friday - Week of Oct. 15th

"Spooky" - This is my first attempt at "Illustration Friday".  Not really "spooky" but I am hoping the touch of clever might create the link....  I am looking forward to the next topic!

1st Illustration Friday / "Spooky"

Sketch only so far...

Honestly, I have been working...

And if you believe that I have some other lies to tell!  I took a lovely vacation with family and enjoyed myself tremendously!  But, now I know I have to get back to serious stuff.
I wanted to make note (even if it's just to myself) about Illustration Friday... a website that offers subject content and some great inspiration from other artists.  Each Friday they offer up a subject which makes your mind spin a little - After the imagination keeps you up at night (it does it to me all the time), you get to do some artwork and even share it.  The best part is that the sharing connects the looker to your own blog, so you really do "share"...
Check it out:  www.illustrationfriday.com

Check off one...

     Checking off the first thing on the list of "2 Do's".  Ready to begin the next project over the weekend.
The discipline of "Hour to Spare" has definitely worked this first week although it turned into more hours than I thought it would each night. (Thanks to my own obsessive nature.)  If the idea is to only sit down for ONE hour each night I would have to call this week a failure.  I probably could do nothing all next week and catch up to the extra time I put in this week!  BUT, the accomplishment washes away the implied limitations of the guidelines.  The extra time is exciting and so worth it.

So far, no spare hours...

An hour to spare - it's just not enough time when you get going!  Although I figured out SO much tonight... it's been more than an hour! WAY more than that.  I wonder if it's possible to save all the extra hours (of problem-solving obsession) so that one of these nights I can get other things done!

A Template Lock-Down?

Already I have disobeyed my own rules. Instead of only working for only an hour I have become obsessed in solving a problem and have worked for close to two hours on designing this blog. But, I think I have learned something. After all of this work and wandering through the "create your own blog" screens I think I might have taken the seemingly easy path (certainly NOT my usual style) of choosing a template. The template seems to have locked me into some set boundaries and creative limitations. Tomorrow will be a go-back-to-the-beginning night to find out if using the basics might be a better way to work. My biggest problem is that following the template for the first page, I can't change any subsequent pages...So, if all else fails - go back to the beginning.

Day 1 / Hour 1

The experiment has become frustrating already, just in this first hour.. which if I remember correctly either shouldn't be stressful or shouldn't be worrisome or whatever.  It's been both stressful & worrisome!

I thought I was someone who knew my way around computers and such - wow... ego should definitely be left at the door.  So, with all that said, my first hour towards "finishing," my first step into the world of blogging has gotten me to the point of pushing the "publish" button with the fervent (sp?) hope that this works.