sketchbook

Introducing Finding Your Creative Voice (and why I created it) /  by Esther Loopstra

I am SUPER excited to announce my new in person course FINDING YOUR CREATIVE VOICE. This is going to start out in February as a 6 week in person course but eventually I would like to create an online version so everyone can have access.

This class is especially for those who are held back by fear and probably have said to other people "I can't even draw a straight line" or "I don't have a creative bone in my body". Or maybe you are struggling to get back into art or writing and you are feeling "stuck".

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Drawing Fall, an Exercise in Play /  by Esther Loopstra

Happy Fall! I hope you all are having a terrific Fall Season. Since the leaves have been changing, I've been enjoying my walks in the evening the beautiful colors and patterns. I get so busy working during the day that having a little break to reconnect with myself, my husband and nature have been essential. 

I normally spend time in the morning drawing an inspirational phrase in my sketchbook that I feel I need to remember that day and some sort of freeform pattern. This helps get me out of my head and all of the things I need to do, and connect me with my creativity.

One day on a walk, I began picking up some of these leaves. I had an idea to draw on them instead on in my sketchbook. I wasn't sure how or if it would work. But I like to pay attention when I have the question "WHAT IF....?". This question is the beginning of play and is essential to inspiration.  

I loved how that first leaf turned out, so I've been creating more and sharing them on my Instagram feed. This isn't some giant success story, my Instragram following didn't suddenly grow to 10,000 and I didn't get offered a book deal or anything. I just created something that was fun for me and people seemed to enjoy it too. And it fulfilled my need for play, fun and exploration.

So much of the time we are paying attention to deadlines and our to do list and we don't give ourselves time for fun. I find when I haven't made time for it I get grumpy. That's just a sign that I need to do whatever it takes to fulfill that need - soon! Play helps us learn and gets us out of our stuckness. Why don't we do it more?

What do you that helps you get out of your head and into the realm of creative flow? It could be cooking, dancing, playing with your kids. See if you can commit to 5 or 10 minutes of play/ exploration this week and see how it impacts your life and your imagination. 

Practical tips for finding an Illustration style /  by Esther Loopstra

Hi Everyone! I recently began working in a different style of illustration, one that I've been thinking about and playing with for a long time. I thought I'd share a bit about my process and my creative "breakthrough". I feel that I have a consistent style as far as my illustrations go, but my paintings are a bit more free flowing and intuitive.

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What I learned by drawing the same thing for 100 days /  by Esther Loopstra

This summer I jumped into The 100 day Project. This was started by Elle Luna & The Great Discontent as a way to create ANYTHING for 100 days and share on Instagram what we have made. It was a way to love the PROCESS of making and not so much about the goal of creating one beautiful thing. 

We all know that if we want to learn something new or improve our skills we HAVE to do one thing: KEEP DOING IT. I’ve always struggled to keep a sketchbook consistently, so this project helped immensely. My project was to create lettering and a food illustration every day. You can see my Instagram feed here.

Here is what I learned while in the process:

1. DONT’  TRY TO DO TOO MUCH AT ONCE

When giving myself a goal - I always try to do TOO much. I wanted to include all of the things that I love to draw in my daily drawings - food - lettering - pattern AND I was trying to draw a whole meal. This proved to be fine on some days and overwhelming on other days when I didn’t have enough time. Later I kept it simple and chose certain vegetables and fruit with lettering. 

My advice: don’t take on more than you can chew, start with something simple, because you don’t want to feel overwhelmed and give up. The key is to choose something SUSTAINABLE.

2. THINK DIFFERENTLY 

I don’t know about you, but as a creative person I get BORED. This assignment forced me to figure out new and exciting ways to create lettering or to layout my illustrations. This lead to some very interesting new work and ways of working. Coming up with new solutions to problems is what we do as creative people and having a practice that FORCES you to think differently is invaluable.

My advice: Don’t be afraid to try something new - that’s the whole point of creating! The question, "What would happen if I did THIS?" is one of the most important questions we can ask and helps us enjoy this process. One idea leads to another, leads to another and pretty soon you have a whole new way of working!

3. GET INTO A ROUTINE

At first as you can imagine, it’s exciting to begin a project like this and you are full of energy and ideas. But after a couple weeks, I started to get a bit bored and anxious. But something else happened. It became AUTOMATIC. I knew I had to finish an illustration a day, so I would keep my sketchbook handy and whenever I had time (on the train, doctors office, etc.) I would start sketching. And guess what? I STILL do it even after the project is over. They say it takes about 21 days to create a habit, making creativity a habit is the ONLY way to improve our skills.

My advice: Just do it! Whatever it is that you want to start or get better at, the only way you ever will is if you practice. Don’t be afraid of how bad you are, just keep working at it, day after day.

This project was such a great experience, I learned so much, met wonderful people and came away with new artwork and illustration gigs.  Thanks to everyone who joined in!

Fun with lettering /  by Esther Loopstra

The more that I get into my 100 day project of sketching food and lettering on Instagram, the more I am blown away by how doing something so very simple like drawing food and practicing lettering is changing and invigorating my illustration. I tell my students that drawing in your sketchbook every day is a good way to refine your style and get new ideas and this is proof! Simply having to come up with different ways of seeing and creating something new every day is helping me to think outside the box and I can see my hand lettering taking on a whole new life. 

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