Amy Shock in North Canton, Ohio is making an Owl a Day...
Why did you decide to do this project? A friend of mine (known as the Instigator of Awesome) caught me doodling owls during a Weapons of Mass Creation session and asked, "Why don't you do something with those?" My knee-jerk response was, "I'm too busy" but he continued to insist that I do something to release them into the world. I really didn't see the point since I've been doodling owls since I was quite small. After the conference, I realized that I was nearing a serious design burnout for various reasons so I decided to try creating a single owl a day as my daily design "happy thought." (I was also curious about what others thought of my funny little owls.)
How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? Posting my owls each day has lead me to my illustration style. I can draw many things and create even more in Illustrator, but none of them seemed connected or really "me." It has also helped me get over my fear of not being good enough as an illustrator.
Posting these owls has lead me to some really great project ideas that I might never have considered before--cross stitch patterns, felt owl patterns, fabric design, coloring books, prints. I have yet to tackle these seriously, but they're exciting ideas I can turn to when burnout creeps up on me once again.
And of course there is all of the positive comments I get from friends and complete strangers! It's been awesome to have so much positive support for something that started out as a few doodles that would have only found their home in my daughter's bedroom or the recycling bin.
See all of Amy's owls HERE.
Why did you decide to do this project? A friend of mine (known as the Instigator of Awesome) caught me doodling owls during a Weapons of Mass Creation session and asked, "Why don't you do something with those?" My knee-jerk response was, "I'm too busy" but he continued to insist that I do something to release them into the world. I really didn't see the point since I've been doodling owls since I was quite small. After the conference, I realized that I was nearing a serious design burnout for various reasons so I decided to try creating a single owl a day as my daily design "happy thought." (I was also curious about what others thought of my funny little owls.)
How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? Posting my owls each day has lead me to my illustration style. I can draw many things and create even more in Illustrator, but none of them seemed connected or really "me." It has also helped me get over my fear of not being good enough as an illustrator.
Posting these owls has lead me to some really great project ideas that I might never have considered before--cross stitch patterns, felt owl patterns, fabric design, coloring books, prints. I have yet to tackle these seriously, but they're exciting ideas I can turn to when burnout creeps up on me once again.
And of course there is all of the positive comments I get from friends and complete strangers! It's been awesome to have so much positive support for something that started out as a few doodles that would have only found their home in my daughter's bedroom or the recycling bin.
See all of Amy's owls HERE.
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