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Inspiration and Documentation

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Kris and I are revamping our Digital Designing class. Sometimes it takes us quite a while to formulate a class, but this one came together in an afternoon. I just love it when that happens. So while Kris was fleshing out the outline, I was looking for inspiration for projects. I’d really love to have our students submit images of what they’d like to learn to create, but sometimes when a student is given such an open assignment, they freeze up. It’s sort of like having a new sketchbook; sometimes you just don’t know where to start. Someone once told me they took an art class where the instructor made a mark in the student’s sketch book, just so it wasn’t blank. But I digress.

I keep folders of ideas. I’ve never been a journal-type person. I wish I were, but it’s just not in my DNA. I scrawl notes on scraps of paper, rip ideas out of magazines, keep Pinterest boards, make written and audio memos on my phone, etc.

 

Last year I did manage to put most of the ideas on paper into a large binder, but it’s not organized at all.

Idea Binder
Idea Binder

Here are a few of the things from my idea book I thought might be helpful for our design class.

 

 

 

 

 

How do you document your inspiration? What would you want to learn in our Digital Designing class? Leave us a comment below by January 31, and we’ll enter you into a drawing for a free class! The winner will be announced on February 1, 2017.

126 responses to “Inspiration and Documentation”

    • I have tried journaling and I also don’t have that in my DNA. I collect ideas from various sources, throw them in a file folder, and usually forget about them. It’s fun to months later go through my folders and “rediscover” all the cool ideas I’ve collected. I get inspired all over again! I would like to learn how to take my photos and other images and use them to create exciting compositions for art quilts.

  1. I love Pinterest to store ideas, it takes up less space and I can find ideas easily. Taking pictures with my iphone has been the best, I’m always finding shapes and textures that are interesting that I might be able to use to create a stencil to use with my paintsticks.

  2. I tear out magazine pictures and put in a file folder. Sometimes, if it’s a picture I’ve taken, I’ll tag it in my “inspiration” folder in Photoshop organizer. When I’m working on a piece, I take a zillion photos of the different configurations I’m playing with. Being able to manipulate a photo rather than pieces of fabric would be good.

  3. When I studied through London City and Guilds, we were required to keep inspiration from a variety of sources for each of our design themes. Inspiration could be our own photos but often images torn from magazines. I had never done this before, and it seemed like such a foreign concept. But I’ve continued to this day. Sometimes, I pin inspirational images and ideas to my design board or a bulletin board of place them in folders. I’ve tried journaling, but for some reason, it’s just not me. Glad to hear I’m not the only one. My goal for the class would be simply to gain more tools to design using PSE.

  4. I take photos of lines, shapes and textures that catch my eye – wherever I am. I fiddle with some of these in photo editing software. Sometimes I lift something from a photo and doodle around these ideas in my blank page book… I keep some Pinterest images – but I’m pretty fussy about what I put on a Pinterest board – have to totally love and relate to it. What would I want to learn in a digital designing class? As I know very little, without knowing much about ‘digital designing’ I don’t think I can answer except to say that I know my eyes would be opened and horizons expanded by everything I come up against in such a class.

    • I fear I’m going to have to do some culling in Pinterest, too, Alison. Right now I have a Misc board that I put, well, odds and ends. I also have some secret boards for, well, who knows?!

  5. I go everywhere with my iPhone; don’t leave the house without it. I capture whatever makes me stop and do a double take…sometimes the best shapes are cast shadows. what I capture is stored in an iCloud account and remain there for times when I am brain dead. This is where photoshop has been so handy!
    I don’t keep a daily journal but have notebooks in every room. They are there to capture brain lightening strikes:-))

    • Oooo! A kindred spirit. Often I see the shadows before I see the object casting them. People couldn’t figure out why I was photographing the wall in our local Chinese restaurant. The light coming through the blinds bouncing off a plant was awesome and changed by the minute.

      • Lol, you and Ellsworth Kelly. He was often seen photographing staircases in Paris alleyways. That is where some of his unique shapes came from.

  6. I am not a journal keeper. The needed skills are not in my dna. I use a pinterest board. I put paper things in a folder. I should have more than one. This class sounds great.

  7. I’m not sure how to define a journal. Many years ago, I watched a friend ‘read’ a magazine. He paged through it and ripped it apart, keeping anything he was interested in an throwing the rest away. I’ve done that ever since. I now have four sketch books filled with photos and photos of others’ artwork. Some pages are devoted to color schemes that made my heart sing. Others are trees, flowers, faces, dancers, children, etc. etc. I try to group the photos according to a theme that interests me, with notes on how I want to use them. When I flip through these books, I really get a thrill. I know I won’t make even a small percentage of all these potential works, but I am never without inspiration.

    • I tried to organize my folders, too, Sandy. But it worked better if I just put the idea in. Then, when I browsed through the folder, it was like Christmas. I just never knew what I would find.

  8. Like you keeping a journal does not work for me. I go everywhere with a camera in hand and take photos of whatever grabs my interest – often textures, lines, movement. i font loose them as they are all on my hard drive. When I want inspiration I troll through my photos but I do need to organise them better. However I would like to learn how I can use them for designing purposes using IT rather than printing them, drawing etc. I have played with manipulating images but actually designing with them – lots to learn still.

    • I think it’s hard for us to make time to just play, Rasa. It seems like I don’t take the time to just create unless I have a specific project. I think that by developing the class, it will force me to actually “design” with the inspiration I’ve saved.

  9. Deb, I got the impression that the design class is for those who want to design fabric for reproduction- is that the case, or are you talking about design in a broader context?

    • Good question, Sue. For me, it’s designing anything. We tend to focus on fiber, because that’s where our people are. Often times, well really not often enough, I’ll just play. Not knowing where I’m going or what I’m going to do with the end product. I’ve made some torn paper collages that I scanned into the computer. I’ve played with combining them, changing them, I’ve even done some test prints on fabric. I’m not sure that they’ll become anything. Linda Colsh once said in a lecture (and I’m paraphrasing, embellishing, or misremembering), don’t think of it as playing, think of it as practicing your art. Just like a musician would practice an instrument.

  10. I take photos with my Nikon, my phone, my tablet, and put them in a folder on my desktop. I tear pictures out of magazines and have a manila folder for those. I have scraps of paper and texts with hastily scribbled notes that are sometimes indecipherable but I love them anyways. I confess I have many more “backgrounds” of texture and color than I will ever be able to use.
    I like to play in Photoshop with layers and transforming but I have trouble getting the results onto cloth. Dying and painting are often not precise enough or appropriate for the images I want.

  11. I have some journals, but can’t make myself put the first mark in any of them!
    I have several folders of images I’ve collected, but they are totally disorganized. Would love to make use of them!

    • Marcia, I just glued some images onto a few pages and started to write around them. Dumb things like, I like the aqua colors of this water it makes me feel relaxed. I found that I only wanted to write on the pages that had “stuff” on them. (Of course the journal writing didn’t last long)

  12. I would love to learn adding text for texture. Also maybe ways to make a good poster type image from a photograph – one with a silkscreen look.

    • Text makes the most awesome texture, doesn’t it. I have a whole digital folder of those old travel posters–not to mention the books. Someday I’m going to take the time to really look at them to see what makes them unique, then create my own modern posters with that vintage look.

  13. I do keep a sketchbook, and I also keep photo inspiration in a folder on my phone. I would love to take a class from you because my friend, Kathy Loomis, has sung your praises ever since she took a class from you all.

    • Thank you, Beth. We had such a good time with Kathy in our class. Always asking questions and keeping us on our toes. But each time we have a new set of students, Kris and I say to each other, “this class is really good.” I guess it’s like kids, they each have their own personality.

  14. My ideas/inspirations are pretty much like yours. Could I digitize instead of binderize all the bits, notes, and scraps?

    • Absolutely you could digitize them. What a great idea (Duh, she says to herself!!) The only things I wouldn’t bother digitizing is the color inspirations. Monitors/scanners/cameras are all like making a copy. Sometimes it’s a good reproduction, often it’s not.

  15. My inspirations are scattered everywhere: some on paper, some photos, some collected on Pinterest, some sketches, some that only exist in my head. I would want to explore all those special effects to change an image, develop and transform it into art. Would love if you show me what each effect does and great if you have a sample how it was used to good advantage. Or dissect a great image backwards: answer how did she do that.

    • That’s what I would love to help you with, Ellen. My goal is that people would share some of their inspiration and we could dissect it and figure out how to recreate it digitally. Copying the masters is one way to learn.

  16. When the assignment is too open, it’s hard to find somewhere to start, especially when someone is in the “I want to do it ALL” phase!

    • Don’t I know that one Margaret!! I think that’s why having students start with an inspiration project would be helpful. What tools does one need to create that specific look. Of course we’d have to figure out what make “that look.” The more we look at things the more we see.

  17. Ah. A kindred spirit. I keep ideas in many different places both tangible and in the Ethernet. Often cannot remember where I put them. Your proposed class sounds like an awesome idea for those of us who can’t stop capturing inspirational ideas.

  18. I use my iPhone,other graphic internet sources and items that come through my actual hands. Once I get pretty excited about an idea then it goes to a folder containing a standard worksheet that I fill out. “What is the inspiration?” “What must be in it? What can I delete?” “What do I want to try out?” Etc. Once I get to that worksheet stage I print out the worksheet, my initial inspiration and keep an eye out for more photos, textures, stencils,etc. Everything is kept in a notebook with plastic sheets or the actual design board with pins. This makes sure I keep up with what I wanted to accomplish.

    I used to work organically but with this method I get so much more done and I don’t lose the thread of what I wanted to say with a piece.

    I would love to do more work with PSE and find ways of incorporating more possibilities onto fabric. Here in my corner of South America there are few of the luscious fabric choices most of the rest of you have so I need to make my own. (A good/bad constraint) But also no classes so I’d love to get a chance for one.

    • I wish I could be so organized, Suzie. Usually, I’ll jot a couple of words on the clipping to remind myself what I found inspiring. But sometimes I don’t. Then I wonder what was I thinking. Other times I’ll look at the words I wrote and think, “but what I really like about this image is…”

  19. A lot of what I would want to learn would be the “digital” stuff. I’m quite inexperienced with electronic stuff…I know there’s lot’s to learn there. Lots of great ideas in your examples above…I want to learn everything!!!

    • We do offer beginning Photoshop Elements courses to get the hang of the digital. Essentials 1 is a”project based” way of learning the tools Essentials 2 is learning the tools by using paper dolls.

  20. I use a couple kinds of digital “idea bins.” To collect writing ideas, I simply throw a few words into an unpublished draft on my blog. I use the sticky note program on my computer to keep ideas that pop into my head as TOPICS or themes for a quilt piece. My most organized ideas bins are in Evernote (can include pics, words, links, etc.) which is accessible on phone, ipad or laptop. I am not as good as I could be, but I can usually find the things I tossed in there.

    I also use real sticky notes… near my laptop, on the wall near my design wall, and next to my sewing machine.

    I find some of my best inspiration in things that have me really confused or “pissed off.” Occasionally it will be something that I find wonderfully funny or ironic. Then I see/ sketch something that makes a good visual image to serve as an analogy for that strong feeling. If the feeling sticks around for awhile, I know it will make a good piece.

    • You sound like a wonderfully organized person, Candy. I love sticky notes, too. Sometimes, when they’ve been on my desk/computer too long, I’ll just throw those into my idea folder, too.

    • I also don’t have the DNA to keep a journal. I gather ideas from various sources, throw them in a file folder, and usually forget about them. It’s fun to months later go through my folders and get re-inspired. I would like to learn how to use my photos, along with other images, colors, and texture, to digital create art quilts.

  21. I am not good at using stuff I collect for inspiration. I thousands of pictures on my hard drive and I am trying to organize them. I have thousands of pictures printed before digital camers mostly in albums. I save magazines like quilting arts in binders but I don’t read many other magazines as I like to buy reference books.
    Up to now I haven’t had time to create a body of work but a few pieces a year. I feel like I have been learning to put tools in my tool box of Fiber Art. Having a class on Design would help me on a technical end as I have not had training in this way.
    I loved your two classes on photo shop and want to do more digital design in my work. Organizing ideas might become more of a habit when I learn what direction I want to head in. I have a love hate relationship with technology. I love it when I know what I am doing. I hate it when I am not getting why something won’t work.
    I think the classes I have taken from you hands down were the best courses I have taken online. Not only did I learn a lot but I also followed through with the work!
    I recommend your courses whenever someone will listen!

  22. I do most of the things Deb mentioned. I also collect photos from the internet, but I am religious about including the source/photographer. If I can’t document it, I don’t save the file.

    • That is so good of you to document the images, Naomi. I cut out an image from the Economist magazine years ago. It was an article on China and Russia and the illustration was a “modernized” blue and white (blue willow-ish) porcelain pattern. Since the illustrator wasn’t acknowledged, I always wonder if it was the same person who designed the Catastrophe Ware that I discovered on the internet years later.

  23. My inspirations come from the “world” I am in at any given time. Walking on a street with broken sidewalk, adorable animal etc. I take pictures with my iPhone all day long. I download them and keep an INSPIRE folder on my desktop to always go to when the mind goes blank, which is too often. I also tear everything I can out of magazines and newspapers. Also, my friends are great, they are always sending me stuff for inspiration.

  24. I collect ideas From anywhere all the time but not too formally.

    I have a picture from a Tommy Bahama catalog on my refidgerator (the blues in the water are stunning and a great color palette) and everyone asks me who the guy is. I wish I knew him, he might be another inspiration.

    I am always looking for light, how it hits, reflects, moves through my sight lines and I draw quick sketches on whatever is near. I take pictures daily with my phone each time I see something interesting. I also have a sketchbook, though I don’t always have it at that right moments.

  25. I use my phone to take photos and download them to my computer into folders called “Inspiration” or “Yard” or “Cats” or “Floral” trying to keep them topic-organized. Quilts are saved in “Other Quilters”. There are torn-out pictures in a file drawer, too. I have Corel Draw Graphics Suite but don’t know how to use it. Perhaps starting with something simpler like PSE would be advisable. I need hands-on instruction!

    • Martha, I started off with CorelDraw years and years ago. While I sometimes revert to corelDraw for vector drawings, I never did get used to their photo editing part (CorelPaint). I’m not sure PSE is “simpler,” but we like to think we’re good at teaching beginners 😉

  26. I do sketches in pencil on post-it notes, the 3″ square size. They are readily available at my day job for doodling and are not intimidating, I don’t feel the need to come up with a masterpiece on a 3″ square. I would like to learn how to manipulate my sketches digitally.

  27. Post it notes are wonderful ideas, Pat. I like your comment that they are not intimidating. I guess that’s why I like my little notebook that’s not much larger than a business card. We’ll sure work on manipulating sketches in our design class.

  28. I document my design inspiration on my blog sometimes, especially if there are photos that I’ve taken that inspired what I’m working on. Otherwise I gluestick things into collages and write out my inspiration in a journal.

    I’d love to learn the Text into Texture thing in your class, that sounds super interesting to me.

    • Good luck, Lisa. As busy as you are, I’m sure there are other things keeping you from organizing your ideas. 😉

  29. I have been collecting ideas for art projects for years for magazines, calendars, notes from blogs or tv quilt shows, etc. My collection is kept in many folders and is very disorganized. Currently I’ve been thinking of using a drawing my dad did in charcoal of an old oak tree and add some visual interest to make an art quilt. Any of the topics you mentioned would be of interest to me.

    • Cheryl, I think one of the good things about having a disorganized folder(s) of ideas is that you have to go through the whole thing to find anything (the thing you’re looking for is always last, no matter which end of the stack you begin with). And then you find tons of other things that you forgot about.

  30. I’ve been collecting ideas and for years. Unfortunately my collection is disorganized and in several folders. All of the topics mentioned in your blog sound interesting to me especially creating transparent effects and drawing freehand.

  31. I keep lists and folders in paper form and on the computer, and in a collection of notebooks, but I’m always just grabbing what is handy, so I often don’t rediscover a great idea until I stumble on it accidentally. Fortunately I have millions of these great ideas every day, so there is always something close to hand! 😉 I would love to take a design class, and the PSE course I am in presently is the best online class I’ve taken yet!

  32. Every couple of years I buy a pretty book to “journal” in and only the first few pages ever get used! Now I use pintrest and have a magnetic board that’s covered with notes and pictures.

    • Ooooo! a magnetic board. I was just at a industrial supply place with DH. I saw some large stainless steel sheets that would be great for a magnet board. Hmmmm.

  33. Photographs are the primary way I document my inspiration sources. From time to time I test out ideas in a sketchbook … but working through the PSE1 lessons I can see that this is going to change!
    When it comes to the digital design class I want to learn about ways I can translate some of my art quilt pieces into fabric designs and wearable art.

  34. I”ve kept a sketchbook for several years–a habit started when I took drawing and painting in college–it was a requirement to hand in a completed sketchbook at the end of the semester. I’ve also used it to work out ideas for pieces, try out stamps–and glue in lots of exhibit tickets and notes from various lectures. I’d have a hard time picking something from them.

  35. I use a sketch book. I also Google my ideas to see what’s out there.
    While I play around in the sketch book, the end result never looks like what’s in it.
    A design class, to do this digitally, is a great idea and I would be interested in it.

    • Marge, but isn’t that what your inspiration is supposed to be? Just a starting place. Kris and I had an inspiration piece of fabric for a quilt we made about her dad. The piece never made it into the quilt. (I think it was because we put it somewhere we wouldn’t forget, and then forgot!)

  36. I also tear pages from magazines, keep flyers, draw on napkins/paper towels and do pinterest boards. What I want to do most is create and quilt a whole cloth design.

    • Cara, I think there are two kinds of people, those who are organized, and those who are too busy creating to be organized. (Don’t tell Kris I said that 😉 )

  37. I tear out magazine pages and I take photos…but then I can never find what I want when I want it. My organizational side needs a little jump start.

    • Jaqui, as I mentioned in an earlier comment, I think the not being able to find something can be a blessing in disguise. You end up finding lots of other useful ideas. (I tell myself.)

  38. I’ve learned so much from you two! Signed up for the next PSE class and would love to win another so I can take the design class…. truth be told, I’ll probably sign up anyway, so you might as well give it to someone else! LOL

    • Diane, I did LOL. While DH was driving. I had to read your comment to him. We’ll put your name in the hat any way.

  39. Organizational skills are just not something I am strong in. I have unlimited ideas though! Would love to win a class!

  40. Thanks so much for all your work that you do with the
    classes and Blog. I really learn a lot but it doesn’t stay with me very long so that is why I am always taking refresher courses. Ha!

  41. pictures taken from phone became the major source of my inspiration. I like to learn to merge different images into one. I really appreciate the approach you take for the PSE class, very practical, get to the point right away. I like to take more class from you ladies.

  42. I have all kinds of notebooks and sketchbooks full of writing, clippings, photos, scribbles, etc. I like to see them on my bookshelves and flip through them looking at things I liked at one time. It’s interesting to see if I still like them and how my taste has changed. I use Pinterest too. I make a secret board for a specific project and then make it public when I’ve got my design worked out. What I would like to know more about in designing is how to control the color shift from my sketches to the digital environment. To keep the same color feel even if it’s not exactly the same colors.

    • Great comment, Lucy. We’ll have to keep the color palette lesson in new class. It’s so much fun.

  43. I would love to explore using words in designs & textures. I am also interested in color values and intensities.

  44. I would like to explore various design styles for example taking a photo and making a cartoon of it, or imposing an impressionists style on it – or cubism even.

  45. The computer has opened a whole new world of inspiration for me…I love to view photos of animals and places that are uncommon to me….as well as nature; plants and flowers are an inspiration; I have been trying to document ideas with quick sketches & notes to remind me of inspirations that come to mind…I have created some hand made books that I stitched together (with different types of artist & drawing papers)… I love to jot down a quick idea or inspiration to come back to later when I am ready to tackle a new project.

    • Terry, that is another thing I’ve wanted to do again. Handmade books. I’ve even got a pinterest board with book inspiration.

  46. I loose paper, I have billions of photos that eventually I can’t recall what inspired me. It’s like the tide, comes and goes…. I would love some type of system to revamp my processes

    • Yeah, I’ve started writing on the images, or noting in my digital organizer why I saved the image. “What was I thinking,” is something I say a lot.

  47. I am most interested in color theory and I record color and/or patterns in my journals. Of most interest to me is creating a limited color palette using PSE. I would love to explore color themes. I love to look at “Paint by Number” images and would really like to explore this on PSE!!! It’s all about color and value to create form.

  48. I used to keep a box or two with scraps of paper I had collected with ideas but that was not a system that was easy to go back and find something, so I find that I pin a lot of ideas on Pinterest. I would really like to learn more about how I can incorporate my own photos into my quilts, either as an additional element, layered or altered and then printed on fabric.

  49. Computer adventures began in the late 70s while I was working at, not for, IBM. Then a class in Basic. Now can’t imagine living without computer technology, where I find many design ideas. There is a box in my clothes closet with torn out pages of ideas. 5 ring-binder notebooks filled with clear sleeves hold numerous suggestions. And when beginning a new piece the normal design source is my mental vision; it’s in my head demanding space in reality! Probably all the listed files have influenced what shows up, but is rarely conscious in those designing moments.
    Yes, both of your Photo Shop classes expanded my capabilities; however, actual cut and stitch creating occupies more time than computer designing practice. I admire multiple layered designs, while neglecting my own abilities to follow through with these techniques. Another class will encourage further development.

    • My adventures started with Fortran and punch cards. But I really do anything creative with computers until CorelDraw. Like you, I know that all the things I’ve seen, cut out, doodled influence my work, whether I pull out the inspiration files or not. I guess things I like just stay in my brain longer.

  50. I am not a fan of journaling. It takes more time and discipline than I have. My journal is kept near my tv chair and yet it remains virtually unused. What works for me is keeping a notebook with pictures cut from magazines and newspapers. These give me ideas but I don’t copy because of possible copyright infringement. I keep 8 x 10 copies of photos I have taken. I also keep wrtten lists of ideas. This works best for me. I can look at the list and contemplate ways to do the quilt.

    • Sounds like you have a system that works for you. And kudos for respecting the copyright of the artists and designers, whatever their medium.

  51. The Essentials I is fabulous. The classes have given me inspiration to help create fabric and quilts on the computer. I am so glad the I signed up.

    I collect my inspirations with my oil paintings, watercolors and photographs and dyed fabric. I want to learn how to make repeats and print my own fabrics to use in my Art quilts and learn to design my own line of original fabrics. I love fabrics that look like watercolors or paintings and want to use my own art on fabric.

  52. I cut and paste photos, notes, drawings into a sketchbook and use Post-Its to flag items of current focus. I also scan drawings and notes into my computer. I’d love to have one single system but haven’t been able to figure that out yet.

    • Marya, I think you’d have to be a special person to have one system. We’re artists, after all. We’re better with right-brain stuff (like creating) than left-brain stuff (like organizing). Although I like to think of myself as balanced, it’s organizing my ideas that I really fall down.

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