Wednesday 29 April 2015

lisa-marie's picks - week 16: STRUCTURE

It was one year ago this week, that I joined the 52 Week Illustration Challenge. I remember in the beginning watching the wall, mouth wide open as I saw delight after delight posted to the wall. Week after week I marveled at the incredible talent on the wall, nervous to make that leap and post my own work.

Fast forward a year and life is certainly different. Now, week after week my imagination goes into overdrive with endless creative opportunities bursting to be put on paper or canvas. My life has become an oasis of paint, pencils and colour. I have made friends that I know I will cherish for a lifetime. And still week after week my heart bursts with joy and excitement as I devour the exquisite illustrations posted to the wall, and Structure week was no different.

Thank you for filling my newsfeed with joy, for sharing your gifts with the world. Thank you to all of the new artists that join us each week, and take that initial leap, by posting your first piece. You all bring so much joy to my life, and for that I say thank you.

This weeks picks as always were hard to make. Below is a selection of some of the pieces that resonated with me.

Enjoy my friends x

Alison Smallwood

Annette Fleming

Annie Hamilton-Grundy

Aura Parker

Bec Lloyd

Belladonna Raudvee

Cara King

Damien Thomasz

Elizabeth Bostic

Heidi Cooper

Izabela Ward

Jess Racklyeft

Joanne Stead

Karen Allen

Kasia Gudacz

Kathleen Potter

Leonie Cheetham

Lesley McGee

Lex McKay

Lily (8)


Michele Kempees-Lewis

Nicky Johnston

Nicole Trapnell

Oliver (5)

Peter Papamanolis


Sophie Pittaway

Suzy Houghton

Tania McCartney

Teena Raffa-Mulligan

Maureen Ann Lacey


Monday 27 April 2015

learn : challenge wall hints and tips

Welcome, members! Here you will find tips, hints and tricks on some of the technical aspects of our Facebook Group. We hope it's helpful!

Search the Challenge Wall

To search for images on the Challenge wall, you will need to be at a desk top computer as the phone App interface doesn't have this feature. You will find the search field at the top right of the wall. Simply type in a keyword (like a name or theme, though recommend using as few keywords as possible) and click on the magnifying glass. It will then order the images that have that key word.

Please be aware that Facebook is glitchy and that not all images will load. You may also need to scroll for a very long time to find posts, as we have many many  thousands of posts on this wall.

Type key words in here and click on the magnifying glass.



Create a Photo Album

You may like to add your weekly illustrations to your own Challenge photo album. To create an album, you will need to be on a desk top computer to see the tabs.

Click on 'Photos' tab.

Click on Photos tab
To initially set up the album, you will need to click on the 'Create album' tab. You only need to do this once, in order to upload your first illustration.

You only need to 'create a new album once

Click on 'Add Photo' button to upload your images. Here, you'll notice you can give your album a name (eg: Nicky Johnston 2015 Challenge Illustrations). You also are able to add the week and theme to each individual photo. To add more photos, click on the 'Add More Photos' tab.

Add album name - add week and theme to you photos - add more photos

Once your album is set up, you find your album in the Photos >> Albums section, and then click on the 'Add photos' tab to add more.

find your album - then 'add photos'
PLEASE NOTE: You cannot upload your photos to an album and then just 'share' them to the wall. We don't allow sharing from anywhere, including albums. So you'll need to upload your image to the wall as per usual, then upload it separately to your album.



Find the 'Pinned Post' on your phone or iPad

The 'pinned post' on a desk top computer is located at the top of the Challenge wall. It contains ALL RULES, weekly themes, dates and other vital information. To read, just click on 'continue reading' for the entire post to be visible.

This is what it looks like on desk top computer

To find this same information on your phone/iPad, it will look like this ...

Click on the arrow to view the 'pinned post'

Then you will see the green image 'Welcome to the CHALLENGE....' and you will need to click on 'continue reading'. The entire post will then be visible on your device. It is rather long so you will need to scroll down to read it all.

Click on 'continue reading' to the entire post to be visible.



Lighten and Crop your Images

In order to have the images on the Challenge wall looking beautiful, we ask that you crop and lighten your photos if they appear dark. We feel strongly about retaining a beautiful Challenge wall--and we also feel it's important for your work to look its best.

Photos of your illustrations should be taken front-on, cropping out any background so we can see your image in full. They should then be lightened by adjusting midtones. Auto-correcting images is also a great way to lighten.

There is a blog post in details as to how to do it HERE, it also lists a variety of photo editing Apps and software (both free and purchased) so please do check it out.



If you have any other questions you need answered or tips on doing things better, please don't hesitate to message admin on the Challenge wall.

 

Happy creating!

Wednesday 22 April 2015

leonie's picks - week 15: VIETNAM

Good morning Vietnam! 

OK so it may not be morning as you’re reading this, but it certainly was a fun week for me to do the picks as I love Vietnam. Doubt me? I've been back for holidays three times over the last 18 years. I even have nine pieces of Vietnamese artwork hanging on the walls of my home. If you haven’t been there, go soon, you won’t regret it as the people, landscapes, food and culture are extraordinarily beautiful. 

It was a trip down memory lane for me with my favourite Vietnamese things - lanterns, conical hats, rice terraces, ao dais, lotus flowers, food, ceramics, cute children, boats and regional costumes. I grew up during the Vietnamese War, so it was also interesting for me to see certain Challenge members tackle their illustrations from this perspective too.

I leave you with my picks – not necessarily the best artwork nor the most liked, but the ones that resonated with me personally. Well done everyone – I was truly back in Vietnam for a short while! I was also very naughty and included my little Vietnamese ducks as they are an iconic symbol of this amazing country.

So whilst your munching on your rice paper roll, pop on over to The Challenge Wall to see even more fabulous Vietnamese artwork.

Thuong thuc (enjoy)!
Leonie 


Alison Smallwood

Andrea England

Annie Hamilton-Grundy

Aska TheIllustrator

Belladonna Raudvee

Birgitta Eriksson

Cherie Atea Bitanga


Katharine Harper

Chrystal Rankin
Katie Stewart
Laura Bond


Lesley McGee

Linda Stanway

Lisa-Marie Kerr

Margaret Dewar

Marie Laure Fontan

Marilyn Valkijainen
Meredith Jean

Nicky Johnston

Nicole Trapnell
Raffaella Picotti

Ramona Davey

Richelle Sanders

Sally Fawcett

Samantha Cohen

Sarah Ang

Sharna Smith

Tanja Hilgers

Vanessa Pritchard
Leonie Cheetham