Making the Cucumbers: The Process from Cut to Scan
This has been a long time coming. New habits, new obstacles. I tried shooting with two cameras and it was pretty much an epic fail. Not so much in the shooting, although that could have been better but mainly in the editing.
I should have done a lot of things differently. SHOULD, SHOULD, SHOULD.
So instead I will share what I learned. I need to ask myself what is most important: keeping to a schedule or trying something new. I guess here we saw the fail of keeping to a schedule.
This means when I am trying something new I need to practice on a short something instead of content with three hours. YIKES.
Ok lesson learned.
The other problem I am having is still not resolved, which is my struggle with what I am going to do with these. More on that in future podcasts.
For anyone who doesn’t know, Creatives Ignite provides creative solopreneurs with weekly inspiration & honest insights about running a creative business. Encouraging creatives to keep their creativity ignited by exploring new tools and techniques, making messes, and connecting with people all around the world.
Time is something I struggle with estimating. That is why most of my client projects I do not charge by the hour (unless I have done the thing so many times I know how long it takes me.)
I tend to put the me stuff behind the client stuff. Anyone with me here. But I am focusing on me the entire year here. How can I keep getting in my way.
I can find a way. ha ha
I put off things that I think will take a lot of focused time. This editing of this video was just that. But I did learn some lessons.
Here’s what I want to know from you. Do you struggle with making things if you don’t know how they are going to be used?
Do you put things off because you don’t know how long they will take?
AND
Do you like seeing the process? Which parts of this, if any were too long? Which if any, parts were too fast?
Hope this episode gives you some encouragement and hope.
Do you have a project you are noodling on and aren’t sure where it is going but you don’t feel good about your progress in getting there? I want to know I am not alone.
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Watch here for Episode 496 A
Listen here for Episode 496 B
A completely different recording from the video
Links for Episode 496
Koh-i-noor eraser: https://amzn.to/4itPBZv
Elementor: https://bit.ly/elementordiane
Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are ‘affiliate links.’ This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission.
Transcript for Video
[00:00:00] Hey, so I have been making patterns and other things, but mainly making patterns with,
[00:00:13] with these, pieces of art that I’ve been making. So I just thought I’d show you a little bit of the process because I need, what I realized is that as I was making my.
[00:00:29] Item. [00:00:30] So I only had one of these, which I was needing another one of these, and then I only had these two slices, so I thought I would make a couple more slices. And this is the only one that really is this really, bright green. I guess this one’s kind of bright too, but it really stands out.
[00:00:52] So I thought I’d make a few more of these ones. And I just thought I’d show you how. So these are just for [00:01:00] me. I scan them at 600 DPIs. So it’s, they don’t all have to be the same size or anything. And then I draw on the seats. Okay. So I went, I painted a bunch of these a while ago, so this is like a good one for the inside of cucumbers.
[00:01:25] This is gonna be a good cucumber outside. [00:01:30] These are pretty bright. I think I want the brightness because these are bright. They’re a little darker than this, but maybe in this section, it’s not all perfect, the, and you’re just using a little sliver, so, this is inside some of these. I make a really small one.
[00:01:51] I have some small ones.[00:02:00]
[00:02:00] Maybe I can make another circle one, but it’s not really the right colors. I like these colors a lot, and I think that’s what those are. But cucumbers are all different colors. So these have these lines in ’em, which are perfect for watermelons or cucumbers. So we’re gonna do some with these. And then this is another inside of cucumber.
[00:02:19] It’s yellow. This was another inside. So I’m just holding these.
[00:02:28] And then [00:02:30] maybe I could make a little cucumber out of that. I think I’d just save this. I think olives could be good. I’m, working on some olives, so maybe these would be, I don’t know. We’ll see. I have that. And then this also, I think this section could be really good cucumber. This seems more. I dunno if you see this, but this part [00:03:00] up here seems a little bit more watermelon, so I’m gonna focus on this area, but this will be a good one.
[00:03:07] These are just other shapes or things. I’ll just put this aside. This is a blank piece of paper. These look like I could use these for inside of tomatoes. I made a lot of watermelons when I did, so this, I ended up, I don’t even remember [00:03:30] how I ended up doing it, I would draw on top of those.
[00:03:35] But like the, it’s a little bit orangey or peachy coral, so I think that’ll be good. I don’t know why I pulled the yellow maybe to make some lemons. I know I wanna make some of
[00:03:48] this. Not so thick. I’m gonna keep the yellow ones together, but this part of the yellow might be good for [00:04:00] inside of a tomato perhaps. because they do have some yellow bits. So I’m gonna put this to this side. This one I don’t think is gonna work right now. I’m not saying it’s not good ever. I may do another pass with it.
[00:04:18] It just has a lot of white in it, really like the inside of the lemon, it has some in it. So maybe this be good. I’ve really just been folding these in. I [00:04:30] don’t,
[00:04:34] maybe that’s a good inside of, whatever. tomatoes.
[00:04:48] Maybe tomato. Tomato. So maybe this looks too, this looks more watermelon, but I really like the textures. They later, I’m not throwing anything away, and [00:05:00] I did make some cucumber cubes out of some of these because I thought maybe I can make a, but I just think I overworked that one too much. Not good. I would’ve to paint it again.
[00:05:16] And that one’s I don’t know what happened. But anyway, whatever. I think these are probably too pink for the inside of tomatoes. So I did [00:05:30] work on, I gotta step on my stool. I think you can see this. Okay. See, so some of these, ink that I’m using have this. Funky, like it’s green, but it was brown.
[00:05:48] Like I think I used this waterfront dusk for kind of the more purpley and then maybe I was using, I put burlap on top. These are from Birmingham Pen. These are [00:06:00] inks and I like to play. I like to do stuff with it. It really makes some nice, I thought for black olives, I thought it would be nice, but I that.
[00:06:11] It would’ve made that green color. I dunno if I’ll end up using that, I can use it in the future somewhere. But this was like an old sheet of paper and I was like, I like this. It’s good thick. So I’ve made some out of it. But again, I have lots more, I can make more [00:06:30] olives. I’m just gonna put the paper.
[00:06:32] This paper I.
[00:06:42] I’m trying to remember where I got, a whole bunch of pads of paper from Dick book that are, canon and they’re really big. It’s 18 by 24 I think there was a sale. So all these, if I was doing a really [00:07:00] washed out. cucumber. I think that would be okay. This is a good inside a cucumber, maybe good inside a cucumber here. I actually think I have probably plenty. I’m gonna put this one to the side, but this is a good one because it’s a little yellow and I do take pictures of things and try to use my own photos.[00:07:30]
[00:07:33] Of course I don’t see any of the ones I.[00:08:00]
[00:08:04] I do not know where those are who. Anyway, so let me show you my olives for right now. So I drew some in my sketchbook and then I cut some out, right? Like some of these, this is a. I had used some of this paper. This has more texture in it. This is [00:08:30] not as textured. That’s what I cut these out with. But these are all, these can move, these can’t.
[00:08:37] These are, but I was trying some different things with coloring on them with some neo color and just seeing, and I was using a pink also, this one. Some of there’s some pink in there and [00:09:00] I don’t know. sometimes they do come to a point, but I’m, I don’t know, when you photograph ’em, so this one I didn’t watercolor over, I just left it really shiny or, Kinda like I did these and I wonder if this isn’t the way to go. Maybe I’d go back and do some more, it’s olives, so maybe I don’t [00:09:30] need to be quite so crazy. So I want some Kalama, olive olives or whatever they’re called. And I had them, like this, and I just. Out of that more textured paper and I was like drawing the, hole.
[00:09:55] I just think it looks dorky. This one’s okay, but it needs maybe some shine. [00:10:00] some,
[00:10:07] but see then I think that looks a little too, much. So that’s where I was like, okay, I’m back over with some water and my brush and just soften that a bit. Maybe that does look [00:10:30] better. I don’t know. I just think it looks dokey with the hole. I, think it wouldn’t be pointing in right,
[00:10:44] because you’re looking at it. I dunno,
[00:10:51] maybe that’s better, but I still think it needs some,[00:11:00]
[00:11:04] I don’t know. But the pink was giving it some of the color that you see in some of them. and I also think I dunno, I think that you have a darker area and then it’s lighter. And I think I’ve already colored too much on this, that it’s gonna be really hard [00:11:30] to lighten up some of that inner circle.
[00:11:34] But I think that looks terrible. But again, the more I make, the better I think I get and.
[00:11:47] I just think I need to play and then I need to set ’em aside and look at ’em the next day. So the olives are gonna be just drawing in my sketchbook, [00:12:00] because I don’t mind this one. I actually think this one looks okay. but I. Okay, so putting the olives away wanted to show you where I got those.
[00:12:19] So now, one of the things, so normally what I do is I draw in my sketchbook first, and these are from Chatbooks and [00:12:30] I love these. so I put my photos in there and, or like this.
[00:12:39] I take pictures and then I want them, because when I’m drawing, I like to have this. I don’t want it to just be a screen. So it was like pretty inexpensive to do this. it was very, I think, affordable. But I have some that have the cucumber in them, so [00:13:00] I’m looking at my, oh, I see them. They’re under this stuff.
[00:13:04] I really like those. One every two months. but then I put flags on some, but there’s cucumbers, like we were at, we were eating lunch and there were some cucumbers. So actually sometimes it’s helpful for me just to see some in real life. I could cut them also, but I think, but for me, if I’m drawing or [00:13:30] something, either to have some real ones or.
[00:13:35] I look through my little to see, and some things are things that other friends have given me or I’ve taken screenshots of. Here’s something else that’s funny. I have had these, so here are my strawberries that I’ve already, I painted and I cut out. It was the same paper. I have had them cut out since July.[00:14:00]
[00:14:01] So what is holding me back from actually getting, making these, I have felt like a loser. I have felt like I cannot do it. So I was like, this is not gonna be the definition of me. So I decided to just start on Wednesday. I just started making, I, I love tomatoes. Those are my favorite.
[00:14:24] So I decided to start like this. [00:14:30] Tomato, but it’s okay. they’re not perfect. This is where I’m using these tiny scraps for some of the thing which fine, this one doesn’t look.
[00:14:44] So excited about this one. It doesn’t look as good when you get really close, but from far away I think it’s pretty good. some of these are terrible, but it gives me maybe the size, and I’m figuring out color sometimes. [00:15:00] In this, I, I already made a bunch, so I’m good with cucumbers.
[00:15:05] Tomatoes is next, but if I never start, I can always cut more. this is a lot in here. These are gonna be the, tomatoes, and I’m just doing traditional kind of tomatoes just in case I forgot, I.
[00:15:28] But I haven’t been holding myself [00:15:30] back. I’m tired of it. Absolutely tired of it. So I guess that’s a tomato. But I dunno where all my,
[00:15:43] now I had some more in here. Okay, so there’s a squash, cucumber, cucumber.
[00:15:57] I like some of these. I think these are, [00:16:00] watermelon leaves, some of this. Okay. So some lemons that don’t look very good. And then some cucumbers, which I like. I think that’s a cor as we call zucchini. But again, I’m getting color like I don’t think that one looks really good, but eh, but this one I think is pretty good.
[00:16:22] These were watermelons. A watermelon man. I have some cucumbers to look at. I actually don’t have any insides except [00:16:30] just this, but I do wanna do another one of these. Then I had one more sketchbook that I was doing at the same time. So a couple pairs. An apple, a strawberry that looks not so good.
[00:16:47] Some blueberries.
[00:16:52] A cute little watermelon. That was really what it looked like in my garden. So let’s get back to business. [00:17:00] So I need some more cut like this. So I’m gonna work on some, I’m gonna just start with small. So I’ve got these, oops. Really small things that I could cut and make some of the slices.
[00:17:20] Cucumbers aren’t actually perfectly circle. They’re more circular than What if I go back? Is it in this one? Yeah. [00:17:30] Oh no, they’re not perfect. They’re not perfect, but maybe a little bit more perfect than what I’m cutting, so
[00:17:42] I don’t like that bump. Okay, so now these little pieces I throw away so I could keep going and cutting. sometimes I’ll just cut, a [00:18:00] sideways one. So maybe this is a,
[00:18:05] I don’t really need anymore this shape or, but I could use the side so it would be more like. then maybe the top is cut straight and then I can use that to make something like that one. This one looks just to me too much like a watermelon. So I’m gonna [00:18:30] put that one over to the side, just the stripes.
[00:18:34] that one to the side. And this again, is another small one. I really don’t wanna work this small, to be honest. But you know what? You get confidence when you’re doing something maybe smaller. This maybe looks a little too flat color-wise. So I think I would’ve to use my neo colors [00:19:00] or my or my watercolor paints or something.
[00:19:05] So I’m gonna put this. Probably would be okay for something like this. Maybe it is long, so this curves up. So I’m just gonna, I don’t, I know I’m gonna need it cut off later. We’ll see. Maybe it’ll be like that one. [00:19:30] this seems a little light, but I’m gonna. Maybe I’ll do the same thing with this one,
[00:19:43] making smiles. The others are gonna be, it’s gonna be covering over some of this, so cut it a little bit more later. I what my dog wants,
[00:19:59] this is.[00:20:00]
[00:20:02] Kind of wanted something longer, so maybe I cut it. anyway, this is definitely gonna be a long one.
[00:20:12] They’re a little too boat shaped right now, but again,
[00:20:19] they’re gonna be cut over. I’m covering over part of them, with the lighter paper.[00:20:30]
[00:20:32] I guess make this into a circle pretty easy.
[00:20:40] And I know that some of the ones I have already, like these are not perfect circles and I think they look fine. And so maybe they’ll, these will go with that one pretty easy. Any really hard corners.[00:21:00]
[00:21:00] I like that one a lot.
[00:21:11] Now, I still haven’t done one like this. I guess I could, oops. What up? I guess I could use this part, be that. But I don’t think I have enough.[00:21:30]
[00:21:30] The ones that you know, I’ve painted all on.
[00:21:50] And you back to the start,
[00:21:56] it’s been high not to feel good, Even on [00:22:00] day I from the get go. So go. You hit, never going. Come on out.[00:22:30]
[00:22:36] Better Now I’ll use something else, so I’m not gonna draw on this one.
[00:22:58] In[00:23:00]
[00:23:03] the.
[00:23:22] Okay, so I’ve got another long one. Definitely different. I like this one, but I’m [00:23:30] looking for my red eraser. Yep. Found it. I ordered some new ones Of those I really like these. It’s Coke, KOH dash i dash NOOR. They have ’em on it. Flip in their different colors. I really like the red, but it has a nice feel the way you hold it.
[00:23:51] So anyway, I’m just gonna erase those lines[00:24:00]
[00:24:00] and I could do it in Photoshop, but the more I have it done, the better.
[00:24:12] so I’m gonna try that. You are still playing with the.[00:24:30]
[00:24:51] It.
[00:24:59] But [00:25:00] I do some of the lines that are happening. I’m, gonna take some of this stuff.[00:25:30]
[00:25:59] All right, so now [00:26:00] I’ve got all these pieces and now I need to cut. This one’s done. I’m just drawing it. Now. I need to. I’m gonna start with the small ones. These ones I think are a little bit easier. I’m gonna do these first and there’s really not much to these, so I’m gonna get, I have a couple pieces, so I have, this is a little bit [00:26:30] greener, this has a little bit more yellow, which I actually think is a little bit more accurate.
[00:26:39] It looks greener,
[00:26:43] but maybe not that green. More of this, and then I have some yellow, yellow green. This could work too. So either one of these two, I think. Okay. So this is how [00:27:00] I work it. So now I have to cut smaller than these. So what I need is something that is smaller than this size. So I just. Trace it and I know I need to go inside.
[00:27:15] You are still.[00:27:30]
[00:27:30] Let’s.
[00:27:45] I hope I can tell which one is rich, but I again like to make a cut.[00:28:00] [00:28:30]
[00:28:42] City, everybody here, only one still in.
[00:28:59] [00:29:00] It’s a little big on that side, but maybe then I make it so that I’m, it’s like I’m seeing a little bit more and I cut a little bit more of that off. I actually don’t even mind it. I’m gonna trim it a little. And then I’ve just been using yuhoo sticks, which weighs the open side. But anyway.
[00:29:25] You can pull these up a little bit for a little bit. You have a little bit of [00:29:30] time.
[00:29:59] Okay, it’s [00:30:00] ready.
[00:30:15] A little close on one side, but it’s, that one’s not
[00:30:25] gonna cut that sharp side.[00:30:30]
[00:30:36] And.
[00:30:51] Always go a little thinner. This side, it can be like that one.[00:31:00]
[00:31:03] That’s it. Then it’ll go here just a little bit off this, and then I’m gonna trim a lot off.
[00:31:24] It looked perspective wise, maybe not perfect, but it’s okay.[00:31:30]
[00:31:39] Everybody here, get the head down. I’m the only one awake at night. You’re still walking in a lot. Mid
[00:31:49] the.[00:32:00] [00:32:30]
[00:32:51] Which is a Tombo N eight nine. It looks like quite, it is so light, [00:33:00] but. It’s what works. And then, I can look at this and really, it’s the outside, but I was just drawing the shapes. So I’m gonna just keep doing that. So I’m gonna, I could do better by.
[00:33:21] My dog is outside the door, Brian,
[00:33:26] because these are more like the holes, [00:33:30] not really the seeds. That’s okay.
[00:33:36] Oh, there’s another one. It is been hard, feel good even on day from the get go. So
[00:33:49] Headspace head come.[00:34:00]
[00:34:04] Get back.[00:34:30]
[00:34:35] Everybody here head down. I’m the only one awake at night. You’re still walking in lot mid.[00:35:00] [00:35:30] [00:36:00]
[00:36:02] You are still playing with the never going your head. I’m still trying not to be nice things, everybody living.[00:36:30]
[00:36:34] It is been hard
[00:36:39] from the get go.[00:37:00] [00:37:30]
[00:37:30] Everybody here get head down. I’m only night. You’re still logging in a lot Mid.[00:38:00] [00:38:30]
[00:38:57] You are still playing with the[00:39:00]
[00:39:02] I’m still trying not to. Nice everybody.
[00:39:29] [00:39:30] It is been hard not to feel good. Good day from the get go.
[00:39:40] Headspace head come I.[00:40:00]
[00:40:26] Everybody here get head down. I’m the only one night. [00:40:30] They’re still logging in a lot now.[00:41:00] [00:41:30]
[00:41:53] You are still playing with the gonna your head. I’m still trying not to be nice. [00:42:00] Everybody living.
[00:42:25] It is been hard, not feel good, real good, even on day [00:42:30] I from the get go. So
[00:42:35] MySpace, come on.[00:43:00]
[00:43:21] Everybody here get head down. I’m the only one awake at night. You’re still in a lot.[00:43:30] [00:44:00] [00:44:30]
[00:44:49] You are still playing with the gonna me. I’m still trying not to Nice everybody.[00:45:00]
[00:45:14] And.
[00:45:20] It is been hard not to feel good. Good even on day from the get go.[00:45:30]
[00:45:33] Come.[00:46:00]
[00:46:17] Everybody here get head down. I’m the only one night still in lot.[00:46:30] [00:47:00] [00:47:30]
[00:47:44] You are still playing with the gonna your head. I’m still trying not to be nice. Everybody living.[00:48:00]
[00:48:16] It is been hard. Feel good. Good. Even on day from the get go. Headspace, come.[00:48:30] [00:49:00]
[00:49:12] Everybody here. I’m the only one still logging in mid I. Okay, so I’m gonna draw The insides of these that I have are really little, [00:49:30] and I’m always gonna start with the little ones. These ones I’ve already done this sort of look more like a lime, but I’m gonna go for it. but a few like that.
[00:49:58] So now I’m gonna [00:50:00] continue with this one. So here I’m just making some seeds.[00:50:30]
[00:50:40] You are still playing with the hat? I’m trying not to.
[00:50:58] And now I’ve got ’em all done. [00:51:00] Now it’s time for scanning. So if you don’t know how to scan, I have another video on scanning, but this is what I’m doing. I’m just putting ’em down on my scanner bed and at 600 DPI and scanning ’em. It takes a little bit. I sped through that and then I am gonna clean up.
[00:51:21] Little bits that need to be cleaned and then I’m gonna cut them out.[00:51:30]
[00:51:47] So I was just in colors. Because it felt a little funky and now I’m just going in and cleaning up the other little bits[00:52:00]
[00:52:01] and the shadows ’cause I’m going to
[00:52:07] do those on my own in Photoshop.
[00:52:25] But I just kinda wanted to give you an idea of how, what I’m doing, I’m cleaning up each one so that I can use [00:52:30] them and they are high res. and then I go through and I use the Polygonal lasso Tool a lot, and I just delete, and then I go back and clean up any real. Pointy parts.[00:53:00] [00:53:30]
[00:53:48] Alright, and that’s it. Now it is time to go and make some patterns. We’ll see you on the next video. Thanks for watching. [00:54:00] Give us a comment. Have a great day.
Transcript for Audio (Episode 496B)
[00:00:06] diane: Hey everybody. Welcome to another episode of Creatives Ignite. It has been a long time coming. This video, as with others, or audios, I guess with others, is going to be, I’m learning, I’m figuring this out, so you actually have a different recording for the audio. So if you’re listening to this, it’s really just an audio and pretty much [00:00:30] I’m telling you what happened and what I’ve been struggling with.
[00:00:36] This is episode 496. I am calling it the same number. I guess this is 496 B, A is a video. So this has been a long time coming. The last episode I put out was February 19th. Super unproud about that. but. Where there are new habits, there are also new obstacles. And with [00:01:00] this video, I tried shooting with two cameras and it was an epic fail.
[00:01:05] not so much in the shooting. that was, it wasn’t great. I could have shot a little bit at a different angle on one of them, but I have an overhead camera that John has set up for me and I have a fluorescent light over that. And I always have to do a little bit of editing on the color. But then I also use my phone could have been better there I’ve realized a [00:01:30] ton of things, but one of them was the editing, and Chris has done my editing for so long and now I’m back doing it because I don’t know how to tell him what to do with everything that I have to do.
[00:01:43] So I am back to editing, and it’s been probably, I don’t know, five years or more that I haven’t been doing my editing. So I’m outta out of the rhythm, i guess. And I should have done a lot of things [00:02:00] differently. Should, Should, Should, I know. So instead, I’m gonna share with you what I learned and it’ll make sense just in an audio portion.
[00:02:08] So I need to ask myself, when I’m doing one of these, what’s the most important thing? Is it keeping to a schedule and publishing something on a regular basis, or is it trying something new and then sharing about that? I would normally have said it’s important to stick to a schedule, but we saw [00:02:30] here that was an epic fail.
[00:02:31] My goal really is to do one a week, but I could do maybe one of these a week, but I can’t do a video and edit and make stuff that. it’s just a to ton of stuff that I’m doing that is hard. It’s a lot of newer things. instead I am going to just share what I’ve learned here and hopefully maybe give you a little bit of insight.
[00:02:55] Definitely learning about my process. I am struggling with [00:03:00] knowing what to do with these things. So I’ve made a whole bunch of cucumbers. I’ve made a whole bunch of. Watermelons, I’ve made some olives. I am working on a pattern with these or working on an illustration, and I think it is because I do not think like an illustrator, I think like a designer.
[00:03:21] And how that’s different is I might come up with an idea and I might come up with a phrasing and then [00:03:30] I go to see what images exist that are. In the realm of what I’m looking for, or I would shoot something with my camera when I’m illustrating, I am just working on a subject matter and maybe other illustrators do different things.
[00:03:51] I don’t know, I just know about me, but I know that because I’m a designer, I got some great advice to work on. Oh, a seed [00:04:00] packet or a. packaging or something. And I guess I just so had it in my mind, these are gonna be part of a pattern and maybe the patterns aren’t as effective as I want them to be yet.
[00:04:12] And I’m definitely still working on cucumbers in a pattern, with olives and olive leaves and all kinds of things. I’m, working on it, but I also am like. Seeing potential. So with A DHD, I tend to move forward in my [00:04:30] mind, oh, this could be a problem, this could be a problem. then let’s not do this.
[00:04:35] So I sometimes don’t even start something because I’ve already in my mind, thought that there was something that was gonna go wrong. With the editing, I, am outta practice. And I should probably have started with, if I’m gonna record something with two cameras, I should have done something that was like 15 minutes and then edited, that, or five minutes even.[00:05:00]
[00:05:00] But I did something that I had three hours of content on, which not a great idea. I learned a lot. So another problem that I’m having is. what I was saying was not to, I don’t know what I’m gonna do with these, and I do think that I’ll hopefully resolve some of that or continue to talk through that.
[00:05:20] but right now I have a whole lot of paper art that I really like. But I think it’s because I don’t have a [00:05:30] composition. I’m just creating assets. And maybe that’s because I’m a designer and I’m like, okay, somebody can do something with this and these are assets and these exist on their own, but they don’t really create a composition.
[00:05:43] So that’s gonna be my next step this week, is to really create a composition. I think about other artists that I follow, artists, designers, illustrators, mainly illustrators and artists. They really are definitely starting with a sketch and [00:06:00] compositionally, they work on that first. After they’ve gotten their little assets or their little characters or whatever.
[00:06:08] But I think that’s what I’m not doing. It’s not that I can’t do it in my process, do it with cut paper and then pull it into Photoshop and compose it. ’cause I totally think that’s doable. But that’s my next step. I know, I feel like I’m doing it wrong. Oh Here’s another one. Chalk up.
[00:06:29] [00:06:30] Another thing that I’m gonna be learning, but what I promised this year was to share where I was struggling, even if I don’t have a resolution. And welcome to today. So for anybody who doesn’t know creatives, ignite is a podcast series video series that I’ve been doing. This is, it’ll be 13 years in June, the beginning of June, and it’s where I.
[00:06:55] Give or provide, creative solopreneurs. A lot of people who are [00:07:00] solo people working on their own a lot of this is people who are figuring this out on their own, like, I am. And it’s supposed to be weekly inspiration and honest insights about running a creative business and encouraging you to keep your creativity ignited by doing.
[00:07:18] Trying. Maybe something that I do explore some new tools or techniques, making messes and connecting with people all around the world. So back to the episode is that time is [00:07:30] something that I struggle with estimating. It could be because I have A-D-H-D-I got diagnosed in my forties, and that is why most of my client projects, I actually don’t charge by the hour unless it’s something that I’ve done for.
[00:07:43] Forever. I know how long it takes me. So then I’ll charge something by the hour.
[00:07:48] So time I’ve been able to. Estimate things not with time, but by projects with things. So it hasn’t really gotten in the way of my professional life. but when I’m [00:08:00] talking about things either for the podcast or for my business self promo, I tend to put my stuff on the back burner and I do my client stuff first, or I’m also a professor, so I do my school stuff first except grading.
[00:08:12] ’cause i really hate grading and that usually gets the very last bit. But I’ve been doing better this year, I’m very thankful. So if you are like me and you put your stuff on the back burner, it’s been really, that’s, this is something of many, years I’ve done. [00:08:30] Maybe you’re with me, maybe you’re not.
[00:08:31] But this year I’m focusing the whole year, 2025. The podcast is on this. Journey of surface design and illustration. And so I am focusing the whole year here on me, and which is also difficult, but anyway, but how can I keep getting in my way? you know what? I can find a way to get in my way. I can find something else to put in front of me but I’m working on [00:09:00] it.
[00:09:00] I also put off things that I think are gonna take a lot of focus time, even if it doesn’t. So I, remember recently I was like, okay, I have to fix this client’s website, something. They had gone in and done something and it took less than five minutes for me to fix it, but I thought, I thought it was gonna take four hours.
[00:09:19] It. That was awesome. But that usually doesn’t happen. Usually I think it’s gonna take five, five minutes and it takes four hours. So I’m trying to do better. I’m trying to work on that part. So the [00:09:30] editing of this video, not this video, but the editing of the video that goes along with episode 4 96,
[00:09:37] the editing of that was exactly like that. I did not think it was gonna take that long. And I did learn a lot of lessons. So here’s some things I would love to know from you. You can either go back to the YouTube video, which will be linked underneath, or you can go to the page on the website and add a comment there.
[00:09:57] Or you can add, I don’t know if you can add a comment. I think you [00:10:00] can in your podcast browser maybe. I don’t know. but I would love to know. You can send me an email, diane@creativesignite.com. But do you struggle? With making things if you don’t know how they’re gonna be used. If you’re an illustrator and you’ve gotten through this, I wanna know, I need to talk to you.
[00:10:20] okay, here’s another question. Question number two is, do you put things off because you don’t know how long they will take? I just wanna know that I’m not alone. And question number [00:10:30] three, there’s probably question number four, just so you know. If you’ve watched the video, not this little audio clip, but if you’ve watched the video.
[00:10:38] Do you like seeing the process? Which parts of that video, if any, were too long, which, if any, were too fast and you wish you had a little bit more knowledge? ’cause I zoomed through like at a thousand times the normal speed for the scanning and cleaning up of [00:11:00] the images. I. I wasn’t sure that was interesting, maybe to a student, there are still things that I’m learning that I am telling you. But you’re running a business, you’re a designer, an illustrator, or some sort of creative entrepreneur, so some things you may already know how to do.
[00:11:17] The last question is, do you have a project that you’re noodling on and you aren’t sure where it’s going, but you don’t feel good about your progress in getting there?
[00:11:28] diane: Like you wish it was faster or [00:11:30] you don’t feel good about letting it go and not doing anything with it? I really don’t feel released from this project. I feel like I’m supposed to keep making and. There’s some, been some blockers in just the making. okay, then go make a whole bunch of tomatoes.
[00:11:45] diane, I feel like I’m wasting time and wasting time is really hard for me. Maybe ’cause I don’t grasp time as much as anybody else. But look, there’s always a [00:12:00] link. You can get the episode delivered to your inbox and hopefully it’ll get back to every week. But for right now, we’re going for every, other week, twice a month.
[00:12:12] And hopefully you get something out of it and or you just like seeing me struggle. I am not giving up. I am. I’m gritty. I’m a gritty kid and I’m gonna not give up and I’m gonna figure this out. But I think what I’m gonna work on is [00:12:30] composition. So that’s what I’m doing. See you next time.
[00:12:35] Thanks for listening to two or watching two. There’s nothing to watch here. But anyway, thanks guys.