Making Art = Unlocking Deeper Stories
How I figured out a nerdy thing while creating today's page.
Behind the Page
We’re all nerds for different things. There are art nerds, there are theater nerds, there are Marvel superhero comic book nerds, there are Stardew Valley nerds, we’ve all got something that we’re *way* into more than the rest of general society.
I’ve got a ton of things I’m super nerdy about — food, football, tomato plants specifically…but most of you know, that I’m also way into television. It’s a big part of my life and the way that I view and tell stories. Like most people, I’ve got my favorite shows, and a few of those that I’ve watched several times over.
One of those shows is The Venture Bros — it’s a Cartoon Network show that started in 2003 and after seven seasons, finished up with a feature length film just last year. The antagonist in the show is a villain who has a whole butterfly theme going on.
In the later seasons, there's a long arc revolving around the “Blue Morpho” butterfly.
While I was making today’s page — I wanted to use the colors of the butterflies we saw on Monday night at the Meijer Gardens Butterflies in Bloom exhibit. The exhibit was awesome, and it was so great to go during a members-only party and have so much space and room to check out all these butterflies.
The biggest and boldest of these butterflies had incredible blue wings and were so graceful flying around the trees. They even loved landing on people and making new friends. It was a blast. One of the cool things that I learned on Monday night, it that my phone (iPhone 12 Max Pro) will tell you the type of bug that you just photographed.
I obviously was incredibly exhausted that night, because I didn’t put together ‘morpho helenor’ and the bright blue color of the butterflies until this afternoon when I was painting the butterfly stencils for today’s Daily Page.
I literally said out loud, I want to use some blue paint so that I can mimic the butterflies that we saw on Monday. And as I was smushing down the paint, I talked about the cool iPhone info, and realized that I was painting with blue…and that the iPhone called it a morpho butterfly!
There’s this really cool thing that happens when you make things with your hands. It starts to connect stuff in your brain that wasn’t connected before, or that you didn’t realize was connected. Having a daily creative habit (whatever it is) really helps you to hone that connection making skill. Which is such a cool thing to have.
Technique of the Day
Painting with stencils. My original plan was to paint the stencils directly on the cardstock, and use that as the full page, but I didn’t give myself enough room on the page for all the stencil parts, so we went with a precision cutting approach instead.
And actually, this made me realize that I want to create a full size scrapbook page where I’ve got different butterflies in different colors, and they’re popping out off the page with some foam tape or something. So that’s an idea on the agenda.
My painting is a little sloppy in parts, but that’s the medium. This isn’t a technique for people who love perfect results. So embrace the mess!
Reflections & Insights
The brain + art connection stuff is really cool. Here’s a bit more on how art is great for your brain from NPR. Feeling Artsy? Here's How Making Art Helps Your Brain.
How It’s Made
Check out this quick video of how I created today’s page. Full video below for paid subscribers.
Supply List
Paint — Liquitex Acrylic Basics
Stencil — Concord and 9th
Cardstock — Scrapbook.com
This post may have affiliate links.
Tips & Creative Wisdom
Have fun! Today, I had so much fun mixing paint. The butterflies are just two different shades of blue. It’s the main reason that I want to make the butterfly page with all the different colors. I want to do that again.
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