Star Wars Remix

Just wanted to announce that a new project I've been helping out with has launched today!

Star Wars Remix is the brainchild of my friends Emma Beddows and Scott Walker, who asked if I would use my Skull-A-Day expertise to help them get the ball rolling.

Basically the idea is to get people making Star Wars characters, scenes, props, etc. out of everyday materials. I helped out with the banner for the site as well as several original creations, which they will be posting over the next month. I've had a lot of fun returning to materials and techniques I tried out in Skull-A-Day. In fact you may recognize today's post's concept from this piece and material from this piece.

I also got several 365 friends to participate as well including Everything Burger's Charlton Yu and Freehand Profit from MASK365, so expect to see some great new work over the next few weeks.

I hope you'll check it out AND consider making and sharing a Star Wars Remix of your own!

Posts & Badges

Just a reminder that I would love to share your project! To be clear, weekly projects are acceptable, as are daily projects that are only scheduled for a short time (i.e. 30 days, 100 days). Submission details are HERE.

Also I still have a handful of embroidered 365 Merit Badges to give away. If you'd like one of your own you just have to make a short video about your project, details are HERE.

365 Merit Badge: Running Three 65

Kevin has won a 365 Merit Badge with this video about his Running Three 65 project...

Follow Kevin's progress on his blog HERE and see his original interview for this site HERE.

And don't forget you can get a merit badge of your own just by making a short video. Details are HERE.

No More Moon Poems

My friend Josh Hockensmith in Pittsboro, NC is making daily poetry in  "No more moon poems."


He explains, "For "No more moon poems" I'm sharing a haiku or other kind of short poem each day.  Many of them are new, but many are also culled from notebooks that I've been keeping for years and years.  It's been a great way to be consistently productive, but also to go back and rescue a lot of stuff that I may never have revisited otherwise."

 

 

red

sunset

the breakdancer

so smoothly

spins

to his feet

Why did you decide to do this project?  My friend Luke and I were commiserating about how we:  a). weren't as productive creatively as we wished, and b). were too self-conscious and critical about putting our work out into the world.  I told Luke about Make Something 365 and he was really enthusiastic about it.  We decided to both start a project at the same time so that we'd feel accountable to each other to keep it going.  So far so good -- we've both been going since early July.  You can see wonderful daily videos of Luke's music project over at http://lukepaynemusic.com.

new pen new blue new words
new name for new gnosis
I knew names knew blues
knew words knew Nothing-ness
but now no nothing, no,
know nothing
now no nothing not new
not now
I know
no
news

--

night

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? It has kept me focused on one area of creative production really well.  I've always been pretty productive, but scattered.  I'd write a haiku here, some fiction there, work on a translation of something else...  That's fun, but it's hard to create anything substantial that way or to improve at one thing.  This project has me thinking about haiku consistently enough that it's helping me to broaden my understanding and practice. 

Since I have to post something new each day it's also making me less perfectionistic and more willing to experiment.  I've been trying new ways to compose haiku.  And I've been discovering "visual haiku", which are haiku that are made of images instead of words.  I haven't posted any of those yet, but I'm working on it.  I'm looking forward to stretching more and more as the year goes along.

The funny (and most rewarding) thing is that even though I'm maintaining my focus on haiku, my work in other areas hasn't dropped off.  I used to feel afraid to commit to something like this for fear that it would siphon all my energy and prevent me from achieving other goals.  But the opposite is true:  creating something gives you MORE creative energy for the next thing.

robin
pauses

hops under


fluttering
yellow
CAUTION
tape

Read all of Josh's poems HERE.

ATC-A-Day

Diane DeMers Chen in El Cajon, California is making an ATC(Artist Trading Card)-A-Day...

Why did you decide to do this project? I like making art but have a hard time with things holding me back mentally: I'm not good enough, the subject isn't beautiful enough (or meaningful, precious, profound, etc). I bought the Skulls book when it first came out but I don't think I really understood at the time that Noah made one EVERY day. Earlier this year I joined a sketchcrawl group and one member was talking about the make-something-365 project and talked about the skulls, so I went home and looked at the book some more and decided I would do a 365 project. I chose the ATC format because it is small (2 1/2" x 3 1/2"), so it is less intimidating.

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? It has really changed my perception of myself and art. I have much more confidence in myself; that I can create something when needed. For the first couple of weeks I didn't have any trouble with ideas for subjects. Then it got harder and I would get really stressed out if I didn't have an idea by late afternoon. Now I know I can make an ATC in 1/2 an hour if I need to. I go through phases where I think I'm getting stale - I use a lot of faux postage I've purchased, and sometimes it feels repetitive, especially since I often use 3 gems as accents, mostly because I went nuts buying them and probably have a 5-year supply! And yet, I think each single ATC still stands by itself OK. I have a Pogo printer that prints 2 x 3 inch prints from my pictures on my phone. I have used this quite a bit too, and a lot of scrapbook papers, both backgrounds and themes.

The most interesting thing is how some friends have reacted. One friend thinks it's really cool and when I went to visit her, she was excited to help me with ideas and gave me some stuff to use. Another is jealous of the time I spend on them, even though she does art and should know better.

It's been more than 4 months, and I have no plans to quit anytime soon. I have missed a few days here and there, but make it up the next day and I think that's OK. Usually it's because I'm really busy and just don't have time (more than once I've fallen asleep in the middle of working on one - seriously). Once I got busy doing other things and actually forgot! That surprised me because when I started it was constantly on my mind, and now it's just another part of my life. But I do get behind in posting because I'm often too tired when I finish the card. Then I end up posting 3 or 4 at a time. People don't seem to mind, though.

See all of Diane's ATC's HERE.

365 Swirls

Troy Bridges in Arvada, Colorado is making 365 Swirls...

 Why did you decide to do this project? I started this project when my wife bought me your book as a way to express and create.

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? I have enjoyed doing something each day (or at least almost every day) that allows me to express my creative side and have some artistic fun at the same time. We all need to take a moment from our busy lives and express ourselves as we see fit (as long as it is not illeagal or causes harm to anyone else). Going through your book for inspiration has been a great source of joy and fun.

See all of Troy's swirls HERE.


 

Help Wanted: 365 Days for You

Tyler Carroll whose 365 Days for You was recently featured here is looking for some help to keep his project going!

Tyler is making a gift for someone every day and he'd like to make something for you! He's written poems, done magic tricks, even painted his face...

If you'd like to help Tyler out post a comment below and let him know what he could do for you!

Running Three 65 :: 3 Miles. Every. Single. Day.

Kevin King in New York City is committed to run at least 3 miles every day, while raising money in memory of a friend who passed away 10 years ago from complications that arose while she was running the Baltimore Marathon in 2001. He calls the project Running Three 65...

Why did you decide to do this project? Running is both a physical and mental reward for me and I can solve 3 hours of problems in a 60 minute run but it's been a while since it's been a habit due to injury, time, life, etc.  I wanted to combine the desire to get running back into my life with a charity effort  to raise money for Karen & Laura Legacy Fund, a non-profit started in memory of a friend of my wife's who died from complications that arose while running the Baltimore marathon. The non-profit provides a scholarship to help one woman a year to attend Smith College.  I had raised money for the K&L LF in the past when running my first and second NYC marathons in 2004 and 2005 and wanted to have another physical challenge to honor the 10th anniversary of
her passing.

Interesting things happen when you force yourself to go on a daily journey and it felt like the right time to give this a try. Not quite the strenuous effort of training for a marathon but enough of a challenge to have interesting stories to share along the way.

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? Wonderfully. The habit of committing to a daily ritual, even though it's a physical activity, has had wonderful mental impacts in terms of
clarifying my thoughts, reducing stress,  setting up (or allowing me to recap) my day and generally increasing my well being. That combined with raising money for the cause has been excellent.

And Kevin added his own question...
3. Anything crazy or unusual happen so far?
2 Things:

1) Had to hire a babysitter at the last minute to get a run in one day when my wife got caught up at work. The babysitter was very confused by the whole thing.

2) Mickey Mouse almost broke me. Took the family on our first trip to Disney World (personally not a super fan -- never went to as a child, but my own children loved it) and one day I was starting my 3 mile run at 11:15 PM after walking around all day at the Magic Kingdom.  All I kept thinking was 'This is ridiculous and far from magical.'

Read about all of the miles Kevin is running HERE.

365 @ SXSW

I've proposed a panel for the 2012 SXSW Interactive conference called Get Unstuck: Creative Inspiration from Skull-A-Day.

As part of the process they want feedback from the online community (which accounts for 30% of their decision-making). So I would greatly appreciate if you took a moment or two to give my proposal a thumbs up (and if you have a few more moments to spare leave a comment).

And of course if you're proposing a panel of your own let me know in a comment and I'll be happy to do the same for you!

Homeboy Comics Daily Blog

Bill Alger in Brooklyn, New York created Homeboy Comics Daily Blog. He explains, "This daily blog is designed to help in the development of a graphic novel featuring the character Homeboy. There will be posts of character designs, backgrounds, panels and other story descriptions. Homeboy is a kid who runs away from home, then wakes up the next morning to discover that a tiny version of his family's home has become part of his head- with a little, noisy, annoying version of his family inside, still yelling at him."

Why did you decide to do this project? I decided to do this project because I saw the blog my friend Kurt Marquart (of 365 Squarey Monsters) had set up and was impressed by the amount of work he was turning out for the site. I've been planning on developing a Homeboy graphic novel for quite a while and this seemed like a great way to inspire myself to get it done.

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? This daily blog has gotten me motivated to keep working on a personal project, instead of putting it aside when I get too busy with paying jobs. And it's great getting feedback from people when I post my daily links to Facebook. So far, I've gotten a hell of a lot accomplished and I'd like to thank you for cultivating the 365 blog idea.

See what Homeboy is up to daily HERE.

The Hired Guns likes 365 part II

As part of my ongoing series, I wrote an article on the benefits of doing daily projects for The Hired Guns blog which features 5 of the projects that have appeared on this site...

Read the entire thing HERE.

Linnepin's A Flower A Day

Linnepin in the Netherlands just started making A Flower A Day...

Why I decide to do this project? I was inspired by Flow Magazine [which recently featured 365: A Daily Creativity Journal]  to do something like this, and I love being creative.

See all of Linnepin's flowers HERE.

Val's Fairy A Day

Valerie in Seattle, Washington and her 5 year old daughter are making a Fairy A Day. She explains, "We've only been doing it for a couple of months now but we're having a great time.  Frannie's room is quickly filling up with fairies.  Though many we leave where we made them."

Why did I decide to do a 365 project? I have always been a musical theatre performer.  Since the birth of my daughter I haven't been able to perform much...at all.  So, I needed  a creative outlet.  I found your book and went crazy for it.  While checking out your site I saw entries for your last batch of badges.  Frannie went nuts for one of the robot a day entries.  So we thought we'd try it too.

How has it effected your life? Well, I have to make a fairy a day!!  We're trying to follow the prompts in the book.  Some days are definitely easier than others.  I'm loving it though.  And learning so many new art mediums.  My drawing skills are getting better too.  I keep looking at other people's projects for inspiration.  For example, you recently posted someone's mosaic a day.  I haven't done a mosaic yet!  Expect one soon!

See all of Valerie & her daughter's fairies HERE.

365 Shop Class

One of the most fun things I've been doing lately is running creativity workshops, and the recent one I did here in my hometown of Richmond, Virginia for the i.e. Shop Class series was no exception.

After a short talk about my Skull-A-Day project the 30+ participants dug into a giant pile of junk that they had been asked to bring in.

Assigned with creating 30 of an image of their choice in 60 minutes people tore into the pile and quickly made a range of amazing things!

And of course in hardly any time the space was overrun with creations spilling off the tables and onto the floor and walls.

I always enjoy seeing what people create and got a lot of positive feedback including at least 5 people committing to creating a yearlong project of their own!

Want me to do this at your school, business, group, etc? Drop me a line.

More excellent photos from this session taken by Ansel Olson can be found HERE. And if you're in Richmond be sure to attend the rest of the Shop Class series.

Bree's Blooms

Brianna Warren in Fairfield California is making Bree's Blooms. She explains, "Every day for the next year I'm going to create a new interpretation  of flowers given the suggestion for each day and see what I end up with. It's very general but that just means I have more room to work with what little time I usually have to spare. I may not update the blog daily but it will be flower packed with 365 things by the end of the year."...

Why did you decide to do this project? I'm always looking for a creative outlet. I make my own clothing and accesories, make collages, room decorations and doodle on all of the paper I'm left with for more than a minute. But all of it was so random, not structured and all the same things I'd do whenever. I wanted something challenging that involved my love for making things and stumbling across this book I fell in love with the idea and bought the book the next time I could (months later). I've been obsessed with drawing hearts and flowers for years so when I decided to do this project it was obvious what I'd do. Hearts. When I sat down to do my first days project I couldn't help but feel that I'd rather go in a different direction and before I knew it I'd created a flower on the palm of my hand. Now I'm going to make a flower a day in whichever way I come up with.

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? Well I've only completed my first 2 days but already it's shown me I'm a busy person and I need to make room for me time which is exactly what this is.

See all of Bree's Blooms HERE.

365 Illustrations with Type

Inês Petiz is a Portuguese digital artist and she's making 365 Illustrations with Type...

Why did you decide to do this project?  I'm currently running my own bar but I'm also trying to improve my portfólio in order to find a job in the illustration/communication design area, so I thought that starting a project like this would be the perfect opportunity to do it.

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? I'll create one illustration with type a day for a year and I've started today.

See all of Inês' illustrations HERE.

365 in Seattle

Hey folks just wanted to remind you that I am going to be leading a workshop at the upcoming Schoolhouse Craft event September 23-25 in Seattle, Washington.

If you're in the area I hope you'll sign up for this unique experience. My session will be about Generating Creative Energy and there will also be a whole bunch of other really great folks scheduled to teach a wide range of classes.

More details on the event and how to get your tickets can be found HERE.

I hope to see you there!

Marika Makes - Bird a Day

Mary Heightchew in Charlotte "small town south of Lansing", Michigan is doing Marika Makes - Bird a Day...

Why did you decide to do this project? I decided to do this project as a way to get back to my creativeness. I wasn't doing much of anything creative for years and I felt the need to get back at it.

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? I am only on day 49 and this project has affected many things in my life,

1. I notice birds everywhere, and have spotted new birds that I have never seen before, such as a rose breasted grosbeak, yellow warbler, and a gray catbird
2. I wake up earlier
3. I wake up happier
4. I am knitting less
5. I have met some wonderful creative and inspiring people on line
6. My middle finger on my left hand has its drawing callous back
7. Dinner isn't always done on time (or at all, sorry hun)
8. I'm spending more money on bird food and art supplies (and less on yarn)
9. I feel a greater sense of fulfillment and joy.
10. I can't wait to see what the rest of the year holds for me.

See all of Marika's birds HERE.

Doodle-E-Dooz

Terri Rodabaugh in Frederick, MD is sketching daily in Doodle-E-Dooz...

Why did you decide to do this project? I used to be heavily into art but many years have passed where I've done nothing with it. I am of the hopes that this will spur me on to do more and get back into it.  It used to bring me such joy.

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? I have only done a few posts so far, but am looking forward to the next 363 days...lol

See all of Terri's doodles HERE.

Project Bloom

Deborah Uhlig in Rancho Cordova, California is making daily flowers in Project Bloom...

Why did you decide to do this project? I started this project because I needed help finding my creative side again. Life had become so dull and had a processed feeling. Working for the school system didn't seem to help, the depressing talk of budget cuts and the over inflated curriculum. This was starting to even bring my children down, both just becoming teens can now see how life can get to you with the demands of good grades and testing scores. I just happen to be walking through a craft store when I came across your book. We had just moved into our new home and the previous owners had planted and landscaped so many different flowers I love it and I was so inspired, like a spark being lit. I had to share, so using your ideas(sort of) I decided to make blooms out of anything and everything. (if possible)

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? My project has given me commitment. Showing my kids sticking with something till the end, whether or not people understand or think it's a waste of time. With the fast paced demands of school, kids, work, and just life in general focusing on something and completing it is nearly impossible.This project has help me focus and realize all the creative, think outside the box, things I've stuffed down inside me to placate the demands of "fitting in", "keeping up with the Jones's" (who ever they really are) are still there. It truly has brought back more of my imagination and help me learn to relax and enjoy the finer more simple thing things life has to offer.

See all of her flowers HERE.

365 Merit Badge: Val's Fairy A Day

Valerie has won a 365 Merit Badge with this video about her Fairy A Day project...

See all of her fairies HERE and expect to see an interview with her on this site soon!

And don't forget you can get a merit badge of your own just by making a short video. Details are HERE.

A Creation Per Day

Clark Comstock in Plainfield, Illinois is making a year's worth of Artist Trading Cards in A Creation Per Day...

Why did you decide to do this project? After picking up a copy of 365: A Daily Creativity Journal, I was fascinated with the idea of embarking on my own project-a-day journey. I wanted a new challenge, feeling a bit stagnant in my art. I wanted something that would push me. Right now (7/24/11), I am on card number 205, having started this project on the first of the year. I don't see myself faltering before the end of the year. In fact, I'm already contemplating what I will do next year!

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? 99% of this project has been positive. It has given me a daily outlet for creativity, and I usually look forward to seeing what I can create in that two and half inch by three and a half inch space. I have a sense of accomplishment when I finish a card per day. I won't lie. Some day, I am sitting in my librar/art studio at 11:45 at night, sincerely struggling with what I am going to create. Some days are hard, but they are few and far between.

See all of Clark's creations HERE.