Post January

Greetings!
This is my first monthly round up post where I look at the work I've created in the last month, consider what I've learned and plan what I need to do next. I'm doing this publicly as I hope that it will be helpful to other people who are starting out. If anyone wants to give me advice or feedback, it would be most welcome!

Warning - These progress posts will be l-o-n-g and self reflecting! 

January went like this....

My 31 patterns for January...

My intentions:

• to rebuild my lost portfolio
• to complete 31 patterns and 1 collection
• to start blogging regularly
• start selling my cards
• make plans for my website

At the beginning of the month I set myself the task of creating a pattern a day with a view to selecting 8-12 of these patterns and bringing them together into a collection. It's been really full on in other areas of my life so some days I've found it to be quite a challenge but I've tried to keep up by doubling up on some days and doing quick, simple patterns.

Mid month, I stumbled across Laura Coyle's Illustrator classes in the second part of the month and threw myself into improving my technical skills. It's been  fantastic - so many keyboard shortcuts and ways of working I had no idea about! I spent a whole weekend doing back to back lessons and now I'm taking her basic Illustrator class a lesson a day - just to fill in the gaps in my basic knowledge.

What went well?

• Picking up new skills in Illustrator
• Resuming my activities on Pinterest - finding lots of inspiring images for my collection - just need to be aware of making too many comparisons and getting sidetracked by pinning!
• Getting into the habit of blogging - and I really love doing it!

What challenged me?

• Not enough time spent on motif development - being able to work in repeats is important but I noticed that I was spending more time on the repeat than on the motifs, so whilst the pattern might be nicely spaced and balanced I felt disappointed with the actual motifs I was working with sometimes - they might be limited in number or just very basic doodles. I love doodles and sketchy looking work but I also crave detail in my own work.  
• A lack of drawing and painting on paper this month. I've had one drawing session for my Strawberry Thief collection. I think this ties in with the above point - working on my drawing skills would help me have a better selection of motifs to work with.  
• My lemon timer that I use for Pomodoro technique broke. I kept meaning to replace it but never got round to it and I avoided using my phone or computer timer thinking that I would just keep my eye on the clock. Result? I spent way too long on single pieces of work - I would be working on smoothing the edges of a motif for half an hour or start again after working on an idea for 20 minutes. The Pomodoro technique restricts me to 25 minute sessions on a task and I find this really helps when I 'm designing. Just spending one session on the preliminary round of designing something and then working on something else for 25 minutes helps me to make better decisions. When I come back I can usually see what is wrong and what is right.  
• Not enough time spent working on my bespoke card design business. I know I have a good idea with what I am doing but I procrastinate and avoid tasks associated with it.  My work space for doing my cards and drawing was really untidy which I don't think helped at all! 

How can I go forward?

• Rethink my approach to building my portfolio and be more structured in my approach, i.e. give time to motif development as well as pattern development
• Consider starting a motif library
• Schedule in some drawing time away from the computer - outside of the house even? Exciting! 
• Buy a new timer!!
• Organise and tidy my workspace
• Challenge my tendency to 'hide' my work - be braver!
• Limit time spent on Pinterest, social network and other procrastination tools. Vampires!
• Finish my Strawberry Thief collection 

See you in February then!

Frankie x