Use your hands

This week I read through Chapter four of the book which is titled, “Use your hands”. This chapter really made me take a step back and think of how much I have changed in doing work from when I was a kid to what I am doing now. As this chapter talks about stepping back away from the computer and use you hands to get your creative process flowing. Being able to smell the markers and feel the clay and see things spread out on a big table instead of looking through a glass monitor screen where you lose all of these senses to be more creative. I think back from when I was a kid I was constantly in my dad’s wood shop building bed frames or nightstands to decorative birdhouses. I would start with raw wood plain it down sand it nail/glue it together then stain/paint it. I loved it and always had bigger better projects I wanted to do. Now I spend most of my time behind the computer screen from start to finish which kills my creativity. As this chapter suggest I am going to try to start all of my projects by hand even after the sketches are done. Cut paper up and over lap and use markers and paints to work with. And by not having the Ctrl U button to undo every time I make a mistake I will have to be creative to make the mistake better my piece. After this process is done then I will try to move to the computer just for the last edits.

The author suggest that we have multiple work areas of both digital and analog. I have mainly only been using my desk with all my computers, monitors, and drawing tablet as pictured below to do all of my work lately. My favorite place to go and work is out at my dad’s shop. He has every tool you ever would need for construction projects from table saws, planners, rotary sanders and so much more. He also has a full screen printing shop as well as heat presses and vinyl cutter. There is also a CNC machine that will engrave or cut anything using computer software and they are looking to get a 3D printer in the near future. This is just a great place to work and play with ideas when it comes to almost anything. That being said I do not get the chance to make it out there that much so In the meantime I will be using my wife’s sewing and scrapbook room to have my none digital space. Also shown below.

My Digital Space:

My none Digital Space:

This is a small project I did without using the computer by using some stencils from my wife’s scrapbook stuff and some cans of spray paint: