Inspiration can truly be found anywhere! This past month, I joined in with some of my fellow creatives for the Inspiration from Iceland Challenge. There were no rules or project parameters.Our only mission was to find something from the country of Iceland to inspire us. The projects that result vary between art journaling to mixed media canvases. My journey brought me to an exploration of watercolor and drawing.

Before I started my project, I decided that I would need to narrow down my inspiration. Iceland is a vast place full of culture and natural beauty. I explored ideas based on patterns in clothing, considered doing something with weaving, and debated how to capture the beauty of the Northern Lights. I created a Pinterest board to help me focus my energies and decide on my final project. I still have ideas for more projects, but I did complete three which I am sharing for you today.

During the first phase of choosing a project, I played with the notion of creating patterns based upon clothing. I came upon these Nordic style plates from Anthropologie and felt that I just had to try my hand at creating my own version. I loved the idea of using limited color. Though the inspiration is not necessarily Icelandic in nature, it got me thinking about documenting the people and animals of the country.

While I loved painting the Anthropologie image, I decided not all aspects of it were to my liking. The floral motifs made the design feel full and cluttered. My creative energy was alive and buzzing, but really, I knew that the image was a recreation in my own hand. Some of my style was there for sure, but I wanted my own animal painting. I decided to keep the idea of using one main color but I changed the palette to blue. The cool color paired with a white background reminded me of the cold snow and ice of Iceland.

The first two projects were created in quick succession. At this point, I decided I needed to take on a project with a bit more difficulty. One of my biggest challenges in 2017 is to improve my drawings and paintings of people. The only way to improve is to just jump in and do it. I saw a vintage image of a girl in traditional Icelandic clothing and decided to try my own take of her. I have a tendency to draw fuller, more whimsical style rounded faces. I also struggle with skin tone, hands and feet. I liked that the inspiration image had simple slippers on her feet. It allowed me to focus on my other challenge areas. I am getting better with skin tone, but I can see her hand still needs improvement. I am going to chalk it up to creative license with an artistic twist rather than beating myself up over it. However, I am looking forward to seeing how my drawing of hands might improve over the course of 2017.

As always, I had a wonderful time working on the challenge. Finding others to be artistic with has been inspiring as well as freeing. I am fulfilling my goal of creating more art. I also enjoy looking through everyone’s projects. You won’t want to miss them! The links for the blog hop are below. There is not a particular order. Just click on whichever projects catches your eye next!

[inlinkz_linkup id=687245 mode=1]