What if your aesthetic doesn't match the actual work you produce?

So, I'm having sort of a dilemma right now.  It's not keeping me up nights, but it's on my mind a lot.

I have a bunch of time to be creative right now, and I don't want to squander it.  I'm having loads and loads of ideas--so many that I have to jot them down the moment I have them so that I don't lose them in the onslaught of more ideas.  Some of those are gardening ideas.  A bunch are creative nursery ideas (but if I work on those now, will I jinx the process?  If we're totally unprepared will we get a baby really quickly?). But a bunch are also illustrations and book ideas and toys and pillows.

My desk--that I'm trying to keep so so so clean--keeps getting littered with little scraps of paper with ideas on them.  It's great!  And a little overwhelming.

Here's the actual dilemma, though.  My aesthetic is really pared down, the simplest structure and line work as possible--just enough detail that some other person can understand the thing I have made.  My toys have eyes, but never mouths. I like big color fields.  My favorite color is all greys but the lightest versions that slip into pastels.  I hate pastels. I love all things natural as design elements, but also as textures (don't try to sneak polyester or rayon or Splenda or margarine on me.  I can always tell).  I believe that children's toys should appeal to them, but also to the adult that they will become, and I think they should fit into the decor of their family's home--wood blocks, naturally colored dolls.  And everything I make should be enduring.  It's construction and appeal should last.

But sometimes when I sit down to draw, it all gets really complicated or the colors are whacky.  I start with the idea that I am going to follow the things inside of me that define how I judge taste and the objects I allow in my house, and 20 minutes later, I've not followed any of those rules.  What's up with that?

 

These are slices of a series of heads I have created.  What?  I like them, but how do they get me to where I actually want to go? I don't have this problem with the dolls I make.  I buy yarn and fabric in colors that appeal to me.  But something about drawing digitally. . . there are so many options and cool things to play with.

So, help me/us out.  How do you create within the bounds of your aesthetic?  Does it just happen naturally or do you have to make a conscious effort to constrain yourself?  Where do our aesthetics even come from?  And do you think we can live two aesthetics--the aesthetic of what we create and the aesthetic of what we consume?

And maybe most importantly, is it important to have one strong look and feel for your work?  

 

I struggle with that. I love that when I see illustrations by Mercer Mayer that I can always recognize them.  But I also think it's pretty cool that there are Frank Lloyd Wright homes in Oak Park that you would never recognize as his designs if they weren't on the registry.

What if you want to try out loads of different "looks and feels" in your art work?  Is that a lack of commitment? Or is that unfettered creativity?  I don't know.

I'm not sure I can only still be having this conversation with myself. . . Thanks in advance for chiming in!

zukzuk illustration

I have loved this zukzuk print for a year or two now. A Toronto based artist who makes work that feels at once nostalgic and joyfully celebratory. Check out her Etsy shop or her lovely blog.

And I think in the midst of a cold snowy winter, I am also missing my extended Ohio family. I have a new niece now and I'm very tender hearted towards her. I feel extraordinarily like an aunt and I wasn't expecting this--the love, I think I expected, but the feelings of responsibility towards her are a real surprise. And so being far away from her, makes me feel like a slacker. . .

This print reminds me of my brother, sis-in-law and wee Morgan. And it breaks my heart a little.

But here's another zukzuk illustration for good measure:

Clare Owens Drew Me and Mine

Well not actually. Clare Owens doesn't even know me. . . but it could totally be me and Dan. I saw this illustration and it made me go all ooey gooey thinking about loving my boy.



Check out her blog and all of her other great illustrations here!

Milimbo Etsy Shop

I have been finding myself attracted to lots of Spanish illustrators and printers on Etsy of late. I don't have a good explanation for this other than that the work is excellent and much of it follows a similar aesthetic principal of very modern and minimalist. So much of it makes me nostalgic for design from the 50's and 60's. . . from France. Weird, but it delights me.

This print is from Milimbo's shop on Etsy. This one is called "Lost"--little Red Riding Hood. But you have to check out the shop, because he's also created a gorgeous modern picture book of the whole Red Riding Hood story in pictures--no words. Check it out here.

Feed the Birds by Neesha Hunter

this is a perfect illustration. everything is calm and subtle and cute. and it's funny and charming. the expression on the tall bird's face--sort of happy and smug--and the perfect eager tilt of the parakeet?

Yeah.

Neesha's etsy page says that she's working on a career as a children's book illustrator. I, for one, hope she makes it!