forward progress = happier me

I finally got a block of time over the weekend to tackle some of the art projects that were building up. This first one is for a monthly nature journal page swap.
This one is for the Steampunk journal swap. Only one more swap member's book to finish... and I already have a good start on that one too...YAY!

And finally, I made a massive leap forward on the 53 fatbook pages for the Artfest fatbook. I don't know why I decided it would be a good idea to participate... Oh yes, so I can have a 50 page fatbook full of wonderful creations from other artists! This photo is the front and back of my page (at the bottom of the photo) and the front and back of the tag that pulls out (at the top of the photo). I reworked this little project at least three times, and I finally had to settle on a plan and move forward.

This is all of my little finished pages and the last 18 that only need a tiny bit more work before the project is done!

As I was working, I realized that I think I work best when I think less. When I work fast and intuitively, I seem to make better decisions than if I torture myself over the placement of each thing. The resulting work may not be my best work, but it's certainly less frustrating.

The process to complete some of the work shown above went like this:

1. Quickly (almost frantically) sort through stash of collage materials
2. Select materials that look like they might work and throw them into a pile
3. Establish a background
4. Hunt through pile for things to create characters with (This part is my favorite - I especially like the part where I think "hey, I need something that looks like a wing shape" and then quickly sorting through my pile of stuff looking for anything that could work.)
5. Create the characters and position on background (without gluing yet)
6. Determine surrounding details and place loosely into position
7. Glue down character and details
8. Embellish with text or doodles

Steps 3, 4, and 5 also happen at almost a frantic pace. I don't dwell on twelve places where I could put a collage element. I position it in one or two spots, and if it's not working, it gets discarded back into the pile.

I'm going to keep trying to work using the quick and frantic method and see what happens!