I hope everyone is having a great labor day weekend! Not sure what happened though the day the contest started. I was in a wedding in Montreal, Canada. Honestly its been a very busy and joan of arc lead kinda of marathon these last few years. At this point. I'm just happy I'm making a living with what I love to do but also understand that the illusion and euphoric starts of any art career has long faded. Though I'm working on retaining the magical part of creating that is the essence of it all. To be in that space, you just got to draw something everyday. No matter how bad it looks or how you feel. You keep going!! haha.
Being in the top 50 for this contest is certainly a huge surprise! There were so many entries!! I don't have any expectations I always believe in challenging yourself and having fun. So thats the attitude I took on. I'm happy I did it. Because I have a sneaker fetish and this was perfect assignment. Here is some pictures of the process. I set up the studio with flowers I got from the market that day and just played with the art and sketching in sketchbooks to painting some florals and just went with it. I really love the floral patterns that are trending on shoes to sneakers and leggings these days so I went with that. The cat came to me in a dream with butterfly wings. I wanted to experiment with black and white florals so I played with it. In the end the complete collection was designed in illustrator with a few coordinates. Then arranged onto the shoe. The shoe layout, I wanted it to layout like how I would buy it online. It was very simple. I didn't really think too much. My plan B was if I did not get in I would just turn this into fabric on spoonflower or add into my portfolio. This was such a sweet gift I'm so thankful. I really needed this push right now after summer has ended. Pushing through goals is one thing though reaching some is seriously cherry on top! Happiness comes from discipline for sure..
You start somewhere, Showing up at the blank page is 80 percent of it..
Something so cozy and meditative to curl up with your sketchbook, study an intense flower and just draw.. Not worrying about the outcome.. That really is magic of art making to me.. Believe and let go.
My Ellie ;-)