Ink and Paint Girls

I don't know if this happens to anyone else, but my creative process usually goes something like this:

Step 1: Receive a gallery show deadline
Step 2: Brainstorm ideas
Step 3: Drag feet/hem and haw/ procrastinate on ideas
Step 4: Panic attack one week before deadline
Step 5: Work like crazy to meet deadline
Step 5.5: Come up with the idea that I am most excited about one day before the deadline. 

 
Now, this schedule is a little bit different for every project, but something like it did go down while I was working on the Legendary Beauties show with Lorelay. We had a great time brainstorming ideas together, and I was so happy about how the show turned out. But inspiration struck just a few days before we were supposed to turn in all of our pieces, and there was just no time to execute.

For the Legendary Beauties show, Lorelay and I both wrote down a list of famous female personalities (be it real, mythological, or fictional women) who we wanted to portray. From the very start, I had included "Ink and Paint Girls" on my list of to-dos, but I could never quite land on the execution. And then one day it hit me: They should be animated. Kind of zoetrope style. In the round.

And then we had to turn in the pieces for the show. Oh well.


I couldn't get this idea out of my head though, so thankfully another opportunity to create the piece arose when we did our first ladies group show at the studio. This was the first time I had ever tried building a piece in the round, and it certainly was a challenge. Whereas I usually only have to be mindful of a few different angles on a piece, the Ink and Paint Girls had to be designed for 360° viewing. The final piece doesn't actually spin, but I think the general idea is conveyed. Perhaps working on this piece will pave the way for future animated paper pieces with motors :)

Some angles are better than others, and I certainly would alter my process on the next one, but for me the learning and trial and error is a huge part of the fun! I had a blast working on this little experiment, and in the end was really happy with the final result. Some projects are worth the wait!

On an unrelated note: Thanks to everyone who came out this weekend to say hello at the Walt Disney Family Museum. I had a wonderful time and came home so very inspired. I hope to write a post about my take on the experience soon, but for now I hope you all have a wonderful week!