Driving me to chocolate...

It's enough to drive a woman to chocolate.

Let me explain. London has finally gone 100% digital with its TV. "No big deal," you may say. None at all, except if you happen to be married to The Computer Man.

He got all fired up by the challenge of building a multi-media system for the bedroom similar to the (very swish) one he rigged up months ago in the sitting room. Which was a brilliant idea, until it entailed him balancing on the bed at 1am last Sunday morning, after six hours of work,  explaining, "It's nearly there, I've almost got it all tuned in."

He assures me that small teething troubles will be ironed out soon. In the meantime, The Computer Man's project means I have had more time for graphics, and specifically, some chance to mess around with typography, which I haven't done for ages. Making it chocolate-related just seemed to fit the mood of the week.

Enjoy.

Update: Not chocolate-related, but given the comments here, if this post strikes a chord with you, there's more on life with The Computer Man here.

Ducklings!

Not so much time for experimentation this week, but time enough to notice these little ducklings, swimming in a family group during our on-off spring...It's amazing how much the "high pass filter" in Photoshop Elements can sharpen up a mobile phone clip...

Stolen time in the sunshine and a new digital art experiment

The Computer Man's latest excitement this Bank Holiday is a new accounting program. However, I'm not complaining. It's given me chance to finish a new digital art experiment.

And this pic was inspired anyway by a stolen midweek afternoon visit to Kenwood House in Hampstead, complete with spring sunshine. We ambled through the magnolias. And I got to wondering, "What were the original owners like?..."

(For comparison, the actual gatepost, these days , looks like this:

As this took longer than I thought, it looks like all my creative time will only yield about one completed project per week. But hey, it's a start. And, like London buses, there'll be another one along soon.

Saved by Cupcakes, Creativity, and a Challenge

OK, I know. It's been a looong time since the last post. But now an uninspiring winter is past, I'm clear that this space is for fun, play and creative connections...and the magic of cupcakes, creativity and someone else's great idea has me back on track.

First, the creativity. The Computer Man  repeatedly tells me that I am creative. I look at everyone else's stunning creativity online, and am immediately terrified to show anyone anything, lest they start laughing (in the wrong way). Nonetheless, he keeps telling me this. So, my recent efforts include:

1) Attempting to turn back time for a statue:

Or, put very much less grandly, using digital overpainting to re-create this girl....from the face of the statue in the background at Waterlow Park here in London:

And...

2) Gaining inspiration from a cupcake without actually having to eat it (a first in itself).

There was a request for an illustration of a cupcake over at FotoKoi. I screwed up my courage. After all, my stomach has expert knowledge of cupcakes. Surely my eyes had taken in enough of them over the years to be able to re-create one too?

So I did this digital painting of a cupcake (well, like this, but without the background, for web use) in response to the request:

Update: this picture is now available at Cafepress as part of the "Keep Calm and Carry Cupcakes" design.

After this gentle bout of "putting-it-out-there", the question is how to keep up the momentum. Enter at stage right, the Creative Every Day challenge.

I'm already late for this, as this year's challenge started, like 2012 itself, in January. But it seems a fun way to keep creating all kinds of things. Luckily, the time you join doesn't seem so crucial as approaching it as a source of fun, friendship, inspiration and camaraderie.

But don't worry. Even if I actually manage to create something every day, I won't inflict every result upon you. Unless they happen to involve cupcakes.

And if you have any thoughts about creativity, the "Creative Every Day" challenge, or cupcakes, please do leave a comment. Many thanks!

Image courtesy of Creative Every Day.Com

How abstract is *too* abstract?

How abstract is *too* abstract? Or, depending upon your point of view, can there ever be such a thing as *too* abstract anyway?

Just to reassure you, I'm not asking this for theoretical reasons, like some medieval cleric wondering about the number of angels he could fit onto the head of a pin. No, there's a practical purpose.

The thing is, I'm enjoying creating inspirational poscards at the moment, and people seem to like them. So far so good. But  like the rest of us, I've been used to pin-sharp natural photographic scenes as a backdrop to such things, (I'm thinking about majestic mountains with the word "Courage" emblazoned at the bottom, etc.)

So part of me feels constrained by this. The other feels it's high time that inspirational images came in all shapes, and specifically, softer, more feminine, and maybe more abstract choices. Hence my dilemma.

I have no answer to the question posed in the title of this post...