Category: DailyCreative

A Lack of Creativity

I finished my cardigan just before the new year, and I absolutely love how it turned out. I wish I had filled 2022 with all sorts of knitting projects, but between our big move, the kids, buying our first house, etc. I just couldn’t fit that much in.

I’d like to make 2023 a more creative year, but finding the spoons to get everything/anything done has been difficult. I had grand goals of completing one knitting project a month, but I haven’t even really started on anything. I also wanted to do 52 digital drawings, but I’ve met up with some sort of artistic block where that is concerned.

For now, I’m at least keeping up with my bulletjournal. It’s a bit of creativity, and an attempt to organize my life. I can only hope that I find my muse before too long and I’m able to continue.

January 13, 2023 January 13, 2023 By stargrace In , 1 Comment

End of Month Update

Tomorrow is the first of September – where has the month gone?! I’ve managed to complete my Blaugust challenge (one post a day) for the month, and I’m pleased about that. I also managed to continue blogging on my two other sites (GirlGoblin which is a Warcraft gold making blog, and NomadicReader, which is a book review blog). I consider those sites extra credit. In total I made 51 posts between all three blogs. I didn’t get a lot of knitting done as far as doing my DailyCreative, but I did get a lot of spinning done on my new Daedalus spinning wheel. It has been a dream to use so far.

I stopped doing my bulletjournal in favour of just using a notepad in short form and making lists, then crossing off items as I completed them from my list. It’s not as fancy, but I’m more likely to see what is on the list that way. I found that some days I was completely ignoring my bulletjournal, and that was frustrating.

I didn’t do a lot of reading this month either, but I’ve still got some books I’m actively working through, just at a bit of a slower pace than usual for me. I’ve been having a bit of trouble with my depression and anxiety, so I’m trying to be gentle on myself.

I did manage a few art pieces this month, I even streamed some. My hands have been hurting this week so I haven’t been keeping up, but I’m confident that I can manage to get 52 pieces done this year, that is the goal. I think I have 32 at the time of this post.

I’m still gaming – but I’ve settled with being content with Warcraft as my main game of choice, and then a selection of smaller single player / co-op player games from my XBoX One Pass, and Steam. I wrote about how I was feeling FOMO regarding FFXIV, (and also GW2 these days) but I just don’t have the time to keep up with multiple games, and I *am* very happy in WoW. When it comes to streaming, I’m still working on establishing myself, my brand, and my schedule. I’ve almost done a complete schedule this week (mon/wed/fri are my stream days) and I want to continue that. Tonight I’m actually streaming fiber arts which is a change from my regular gaming / Warcraft streams. We’ll see how it goes, I still have to set up the cameras.

In any case, it has been a productive month. I can’t wait to see what September brings. Hopefully some cooler weather, because these heat waves have been difficult, to say the least. Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

August 31, 2022 August 31, 2022 By stargrace In , , No Comment

Working on my ‘Battlestation’

There is an entire reddit (of course there is) dedicated to people showing off their ‘battlestations’ – their video game set ups. There’s another one dedicated to showing off work stations/computers. Both of these places are almost magical, there are some incredibly creative people out there. I love my little gaming area, but we’re still pretty new to the house, so I haven’t done a lot with it yet. One thing I wanted to do sooner rather than later was to dust off my Huion Pro 16 and have it actively set up on my desk. I do a lot of my drawing on the ipad, but my computer is (understandably) more powerful. I know Clip Studio is going through a shit storm right now with their newly announced PC subscriptions, but there are other alternatives (like Krita) and my usual ‘let’s just pull it out when I want to draw’ was not working. Out of sight, out of mind. I want to make use of the tablet (I just ordered some felt nibs for the pen) but I also hate a cluttered work area.

For now I’ve settled with the picture above. Things are neat and pretty tidy, the drawing tablet is out reminding me to use it, and my stream stuff works pretty well in the configuration I’ve decided on. I do want to mount the sound bar to the wall, and I’d love to get an arm for the monitors, or even wall mount those, but that’s a project for another time.

Now it’s time to learn Krita and see what it can do for me.

August 22, 2022 August 23, 2022 By stargrace In , No Comment

AI Art – I have Thoughts

I have watched the art community react in horror to most of the recent AI developments when it comes to art. People are worried about their jobs, people are worried about their style being stolen, people are worried about their actual works being stolen and used to create these AI generated pieces. AI art is getting to the point where it is difficult to tell that it’s AI generated. As an artist (even if beginner) myself, I’m torn. I absolutely do NOT like the idea of artists work being stolen. I’ve already had to splash giant watermarks on my own stuff when it was being taken for NFT’s – but how long until the AI can remove the watermarks (this is already a thing, I know). How long before a company doesn’t even bother to hire an artist to design for them, but instead types in the artist they want to emulate, a bunch of key words, and there’s the next piece already done for them in a matter of seconds.

As mentioned above, I agree that AI art can be great for certain things. Much like a reference, or for generating ideas that an artist can then take and put their own spin on. I don’t make a living from my art, so I don’t see the later part becoming an issue for me personally, but I can see why some artists out there may be worried. It’s already difficult to make a living as an artist. How many will be replaced with AI over the next 5 years?

I belong to a few Facebook art groups and already people have been posting their AI works claiming them as their own traditional pieces. While that might fool someone who doesn’t know any better, to some of us it’s pretty apparent (especially when the person drops 10+ pieces, all a different style, with no proof of process). I think that having a time lapse of the actual work is going to become more important, and I think there will be more requirements to ‘prove’ you created the piece yourself.

I think technology can be amazing, but I think in this instance it’s also very dangerous. I’m just incredibly uncomfortable with using artwork without permission from the artist, in any capacity. I guess we’ll simply have to see where this goes.

August 14, 2022 August 14, 2022 By stargrace In , No Comment

Merino/Nylon

This spin was an absolute delight. It’s knitpicks stroll (75% superwash merino, 25% nylon) that I picked up in bulk a few years back, when I first got my wheel. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, so I didn’t touch it at the time. I wanted to see how my sock yarn spinning would be, so I tried it out. I have 19 other bundles just like this one to work through and goodness, I am in love.

I have some dye that I hope to use (requires some preparation) once I spin some more and ply it. It is by far the most lovely fiber I’ve ever spun before, including the aplaca. I’m going to make this particular batch into a 2ply but eventually I’m hoping my spinning gets good enough that I can make a fingering weight 3ply. I spun the entire 4oz over the course of three days, which is absolutely fantastic for me. In case you can’t tell by my gushing, I really like this fiber.

August 13, 2022 August 14, 2022 By stargrace In , , No Comment

Blender? Let’s Learn Blender

For a few years now I have been following some 3D artists who use Blender to render World of Warcraft scenes – and I have wanted to do exactly that. I love the idea of making a scene with all of my characters, or just creating little scenes for friends. Or just on a whim. The problem is it involves using a handful of programs that I know NOTHING about – the biggest one being Blender. I’ve been meaning to try to learn it for a long while, but I never made time. That’s the biggest downside to having so many interest and hobbies, finding / making time.

I am working out a schedule where I can dedicate two days (evenings) a week to this, and hopefully I’ll make a little progress. I’ve downloaded the programs required and started with the YouTube video above, and joined a discord owned by the same person. I know it won’t be a quick learn, but I feel like this is a natural progression from my digital art that I’ve been working on. OK maybe that’s a bit of a stretch, but at least I’m hoping it will be interesting.

August 7, 2022 August 10, 2022 By stargrace In , No Comment

How is the Drawing Going?

Last year I attempted digital art for the first time in 20+ years (after trying traditional art first, but my hands were having none of it). I completed roughly 50 pieces, and in December I set a challenge for myself to do at least 1 piece a week, or 52 pieces for the year in 2022. Of course then a cross country move happened, then my son broke his iPad so I gave him mine (and eventually got mine replaced), and dealing with life and all the rest. Still, I’m currently sitting at 26/31 completed so far, and that’s not too shabby. I’ve seen my skills growing with lots of room for improvement too but I’m proud. I appreciate the quiet time I spend with my iPad.

There are a ton of creative projects I enjoy. I knit, I spin my own yarn, and I cross stitch, to name a few. The problem is of course I also enjoy gaming and I have a family with two littles, so I finding the time to fit things in becomes an issue. I actively have to make time or else the project will just be neglected until I pick it up again for half a day.

When it came do drawing, I made sure I was setting aside time just for that. I usually draw when my husband is working nights, after the kids are in bed. Less distractions that way. It takes me anywhere from 1-3 hours to finish a piece, though some would argue that you’re never really ‘finished’ anything. I post most of my pieces on DeviantART but I’d love an alternative. There just hasn’t been anything that has popped out to me over the years. I know there’s ArtStation (I think?) but I believe that one also has a cost. I want to make sure I can apply watermarks to my work since I’ve already had some of my photography pieces stolen for NFT on DeviantART (they were older pieces where I had forgotten to add the watermark. I went back and fixed them after).

Anyway. Rambling post about creative endevours in the hopes that I feel motivated to draw sometime this week. We’ll see.

As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

August 2, 2022 August 2, 2022 By stargrace In , 2 Comments

Alpaca, Merino, & Finn (3)

It’s finally done, all chain plied and made into a skein, ready for when I decide to use it. I didn’t particularly enjoy spinning this fiber, it was a batt, and those are prone to neps (lumps) and it makes drafting quite difficult. Over the three years that I’ve been spinning yarn I’ve learned what sort of fibers I enjoy, and how I like them prepared. I do have a drum carder but I didn’t want to ‘ruin’ the batt that I had purchased from a vendor. Next time I might just prepare it the way that I prefer anyway.

I’m glad to have completed it, I’m incredibly thankful to finally have an e-spinner, and I am excited about all of the future spinning I’m going to be doing. I have an entire bin of fiber just waiting to be made into yarn. Of course then I’ll also have to figure out what I’m going to spin with it all.

July 26, 2022 July 26, 2022 By stargrace In , , No Comment

Alpaca, Merino, & Finn (2)

In a single evening I managed to finish spinning the singles of the alpaca, merino, & finn fiber that I had. It was 3.5oz, which on my kiwi would have taken me a few weeks, at best. The fiber wasn’t the easiest to draft (as I already mentioned) and was quite filled with neps, but I’m hoping to learn how to chain ply using it. Chain plying is perfect for when you want to keep colours together, or for when you don’t have 2-3 bobbins of yarn to ply it with. In this case, I only have the one bobbin. I’ve never tried chain plying before, but it has been on my to-learn list for a number of years. It’s just a nice skill to have. I think using my Starling will be a good way to learn, I can keep the speed very low, and I can forcus on the hand motions required rather than focusing on my treadling. Hopefully the next update on this yarn will be the completed version.

July 24, 2022 July 24, 2022 By stargrace In , , No Comment

Cardigan (1)

The yarn is just Lion Brand Pound of Love in worsted weight – but this cardigan is coming along nicely. Unfortunately I’m on the most boring part now – 14 inches of plain knitting. I’m hoping to do a row or two every day so I can actually see some progress, but it’s pretty slow. Especially now that I have the new spinning wheel to play with. The idea was to have this finished for fall, and I’m not confident I’ll even have it ready for then. We’ll just have to see!

July 22, 2022 July 22, 2022 By stargrace In , , No Comment
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