Creative Spark

I have something I've wanted to show to more people for a couple of days now.

I've been getting more creative ...

Please. Don't be too scared. I am limiting it to making things of peace that could not harm anyone. (Ok, technically they can like all objects if it hard enough but I'm not planning to do that). Nah, taking over the world is for another day.

So what do I want to show people ?

Yep. I made that. Me. It came about from a comment along the lines of "where is the dragon's cricket bat ?" Red rag. Had to do something for that ! (Especially with she who asked, that's why I've held off posting actually, wanted her to see it before posting it a bit more publicly).

There's a curious thing about creativity. It brings with it a need for approval. Did I do it right ? Is it embarrassing ? Does it meet expectations ? Does it look like something a 5 year old came out with ? (there are some great drawings by 5 year olds) Will people laugh at it and think it's terrible.

I don't have much artist in me (I think!) but I do like to create things. New things. That goes for work, where I'm far more interested in making new stuff than doing things with the old. I'll raid pictures from Google but ... I'd actually prefer to stuff I have already.

And then I go super critical over what I've done, thinking I could have done better. One thing I'd like to use the iPad for is sketches, although there my engineer perfect drawing attitude will fight ferociously with what's appropriate for sketches.

Let's see - from the picture above, it starts out as the Another Monday dragon and in order of how I did things :

Helmet - I don't like the helmet to be honest. It looks a bit too much like one of those melon helmets some sports fans will wear. Does the edging on the brim work ? The edging for the grill is way rougher than I'd like it to be.

Why Pink ? It's remembering back to the Pink Hat season, where I wore a pink cap to remember a colleague lost to breast cancer. I still remember the small smile that The Rose wore, she's still missed. And I have another friend (only seen once but that's enough to remember this lady's character) who is now fighting her own breast cancer. She's in the early days of chemo and if you think that's rough, it's probably going rougher than you imagine. But she's a trooper, is fighting and I really hope that K.E. comes through the chemo and beats the cancer.

Cos we've lost too many good ones already.

Gloves - they look kinda like crayon don't they ? I went with the theme of white batting gloves, didn't get ambitious by adding more colour (although it's there with the green paws poking through) and added on the black from the webbing behind most gloves that keeps them tight.

Pads and the V neck - similar, except that's keeping the angles right.

"Dragon" insignia - England players have 3 lions on their breast, I couldn't resist trying something similar. Looks kinda like someone's sponsor logo isn't it (the one that looks like a crocodile). Not intentional, just shows my lack of drawing skills - haha :-)

As an aside - you're seeing the creative person's tendency to be supercritical of their own work. I follow a few artistic people on Twitter and they all show that self critical, self loathing, self destructive tendency where they cannot see the worth in their own work. I'd like to mention a couple of people there :

Tabby (@tabrakadabra on Twitter) who does super cute drawings. I thought they were good enough to borrow one of them as an avatar for a bit a while ago but I don't think she liked that (I dunno, no feedback!). Look her up, give her commissions. Encourage the talented artist !

Zoey Proasheck of the Yogscast. Love what she does but she's been having confidence issues. She says how she struggles to post videos because she wants them to be perfect. If they don't match up to her expectations, they don't get posted. It shows how the artist's impression of their work differs from the viewer, we love all that she does and the imperfections are part of that. They're what make her stuff lovable.

Back to the dragon !

That bat - oh my. It started out bright yellow and then I aged it down to the brown-ish colour. I was aiming for something that looked like wood. I think it's done ok.

My impression of the finished article ?

I think it looks like something a kiddie would come out with. That's my depressive side talking. I am slightly embarrassed by it but that's my shy side talking. I've shown it to a few people, who say they liked it. And that's what counts.

What do you think ? The little pads and the holding out of the hands as a "Hey ! No nerves !" even though his face is showing "I don't wanna be here" have a certain charm. Although part of that charm is from the genius which was Real Musgrave's talent at making the original pocket dragons.

I think I've nattered enough already !

If you know creative people, encourage them (trying not to patronize because that can be counter productive). Ask if you can use their art. Ask if they'd like to make art for you. Sometimes they need an idea to make more art. In the case of the Cricket Dragon, I borrowed an idea from Cupid's Gift. And it was a good one. That also gave me the all important motivation to create.

I've done stuff for a few other people, although I'm being a little more selective there now. I'd do the doodles for the Yogscast people ... but they're not at all good at giving feedback. Ok, sometimes they do but most of the time it's absolutely nothing. (Partly because they have lots of fans that send them messages, can't reply to them all)

But if it's someone who shows appreciation, that'll keep me buzzing for days.

And making more stuff.

So if anyone wants me to make pictures for them, send the idea along and I'll see what I can do :-).

Of course it may end up looking like a 5 year old's crayon drawing but hey ! I haven't been drawing much lately. Need the practice.

Cya !

PS I was going to post pics of the XWing that's in build at the moment but ... kinda run out of space ! I'm impressed. First Lego I've done for years and ... it's kinda therapeutic. And very high quality. Seems like the quality has gone up. Now to find a place where I can photograph it and show it off (when it's built, 2 more wings to go).