Persistant Threads

I had a bit of spare time to myself last night; kids were busy and quiet for a change, the other half had a pile of paperwork to deal with so I snuck away whilst no one was looking to have another shot with Illustrator. The thing I'm most interested in is blending the textures I create so easily in paint and collage into my line drawing and digital work. Vector art is not something I have the patience for (whoever says digital art is cheating and easy clearly hasn't tried it or isn't doing it properly) but Illustrator has tools that for a jack of all trades artist like myself that are like an aladdins cave. All I have to do is work out how to get the genie out of the lamp!

So I think I got a step closer last night - the above piece is by no means complete, I see it more like of of my journal pages. I am already familiar with transparency layers and have worked with them before with photos and line work but Illustrator's trace and fills offer up other possibilites that really excites me.

Anyway I am digressing - the title of this post refers to a new flickr group I was delighted to be invited to by the wonderful Gilfling. It seems that everytime I hit another hurdle I find a group or blog or project (or it finds me, I'm never sure which) that helps me over. And this one is no exception. Called 'Persistant Threads' its about finding the common themes that run through your work and other personal influences, photos you've taken over the years, older work, life.

I've rambled on plenty before about how I feel my work isn't always connected or consistent so this will be an interesting task - I've already come across old sketchbooks from college days and spotted themes I had started to explore that have continued to this day so lets see what else I can dig up! The flickr group is here, go and be inspired!