Cara Ord Create

illustration

Start the new financial year creatively

illustrationCara OrdComment

Who says that New Years resolutions need to be in January. Take the opportunity of the financial year refresh to hit one of your goals and become more creative.

This year has been tough and can leave a lot of us feeling drained and uninspired. No matter who you are or what your goals are creativity can help boost you up, create a stronger mental state and even enhance your professional life. Create practice opens opportunities for new skills and new ways of thinking, it is like a reset for your brain, and a mini mental detox. Now is as good as time as any to start a creative journey, learn a new passion and uplift yourself along the way.

I have just released a new class that can help push you forward to whatever your creative goal would be, whether it is learning to draw or doing art in a professional practice. The class is based around the most important tool in any creative practice, and that is (drumroll please…) your sketchbook!

My new class is a 30 day challenge that intends to enhance your art skills by delivering you a unique sketchbook exercise each day for a month. The best part is it is a self run class so you can do it when it suits you, in 30 days, in 15, in 4 months, the time frame doesn’t matter, what matters most is what you get out of your sketchbook practice.

In the course I will teach you 30 ways to utilise your sketchbook to grow your art and enhance your skills. Each of the exercises are tailored to help you with key creative tasks like developing concept and composition, thinking creatively, developing fine motor skills and artistic technique, understanding visualisation and of course learning to have fun with your art.

I won’t say too much more and leave it up to the class to show you the fun and freedom of the sketchbook. Head here if you would like to enhance your creative practice. All I want to say now is I wish you well and hope that the rest of your year is uplifted and creative.

Till next time,
Cara


Top tips for Participating in Inktober 2019

illustrationCara OrdComment

Inktober is a wonderful art challenge which runs for the whole of October. It was created by Jake Parker in 2009 as a self exploration not improve his personal inking skills and is now a world wide event which gets bigger every year. It is free to participate and a great way to jump into some artistic practice and be part of the world wide artist community.

Since its inception Inktober has grown to include artists working digitally and traditionally (ink) in colour and black and white and it hosts a phenomenal out pour of creativity. I myself have participated before and loved the challenge of 30 daily illustrations finished and inked, and I will be participating again this year. It is great way to accelerate your growth, make new friends I the art world and even up your online following.

As October is only just around the corner and the challenge is quick approaching I thought I would share some advice for participating in this challenge.

Journey to Publishing a Picture Book | Part 4

illustrationCara OrdComment

I wanted to develop a book that I could send to publishers. If you have read the blogs leading up till now, you would know that the reason I could not pursue publication of my previous works was because of copyright restrictions. I could have gone to a publisher with my idea to turn these texts into books and they may have helped me track down copyright approvals, but I wanted to have the best chance of a publisher saying yes to my work. And having the friction point of legal work may have had a publisher decline my application.

I also had a bundle of ideas for books at this point, with new ones piling on each day. I knew if I ever wanted any of these ideas to turn into something I either had to write them myself or hire someone to write them for me. As a girl of the DIY generation and a can do attitude, I opted for the first option.

Improve your Illustration with Character and Story

illustrationCara OrdComment

Illustration is two fold; how you draw and what you draw. The how is the practical skills, your understanding of the medium (in example pencil/paint), anatomy, gesture, etc. The what is the content, story, character, illustration style and mood conveyed in your art. Levelling up both these sides of your illustration skills is important and often artists tend to focus on the how and not the what and this can lead to beautiful but uninspiring work.

You may have mastered the pen or the brush but your illustrations can still appear dry or amateurish if you don’t have intriguing content. I know each and everyone of you reading this are filled with great ideas and awesome art, however you may be struggling to realise these stories and visuals in your work.

In light of this I have created a class series for you, helping you add depth, character and story to your illustrations. The first course which is released today focuses entirely on your characters and figures, creating real personalities in them to draw your audience into your art and activate an emotive response and connection.

Journey to Publishing a Picture Book | Part 3

illustrationCara OrdComment

Before you start reading, if you want to catch up on part one and two just click below.

PART 1 | PART 2

If you are all caught up let’s begin with part 3. We finished off last way back in time at university. Well now we move forward a bit and it is time for a bit of self exploration. Now it is time for ‘The Elephant Who Forgot What He Was’. This is a beautiful poem I found online by Christopher Ronald Jones (if you are reading Chris please let me know what you think of my adaptation, would love to get in touch). I had decided after illustrating an Australian classic it was time to dip my toes into the water of children’s poetry, and see what my imagination came up with.

This little project took me about a month to develop from concept to completion and is still one of my favourite personal projects to date.

It started like all good picture books do, with a pinch of reading, a dash of pagination and a big dollop of story boarding. I spent about a week figuring out the layout of this 32 page pipe dream and then off I went full steam ahead into the fun of character design and creating an aesthetic for this sweet little story.

Something Personal

illustrationCara OrdComment

One of my favourite things to do as a creative is illustrate and I really want to share this passion with you. Art is such a precious gift and personal experience and I want to give you the opportunity to have your own personalise illustration. Whether it be a pet portrait, a family drawing, or a little book to tell someone you love them, I want to create something for you that is uniquely yours and no one else’s. As such I am opening up illustration commissions on my store. 

Time to grab some fresh designs

illustrationCara OrdComment

This year is a year of new a great changes for co.create and one of the biggest which has been in the works is the opening of my very own online store now you can purchase the artwork that you love to display in your home, and while you are out and about.

Every month there will be a new collection released of 5 artworks and patterns, with new stand alone products popping up in between.

I am partnering with Society6 for this venture so you can access a wide range of high quality products, from a trusted and premium source. Currently available on the store is everything from art prints to phone cases, t-shirts and bags and even some furniture.

Using your sketchbook to up your skills

illustrationCara Ord

I am a professional designer, illustrator and artist and the one thing I can tell you about a career in the creative field is that you never stop learning. Whether you have to fast track your learning of new programs and trend styles constantly updating in your field or learning entirely new skills all together, it is a never ending process of self education which takes a deep commitment and consistency to make sure you always stay at the top of your game.

The best tool I have found to help me along the way in my career is my sketchbook. It is a dedicated personal space designed for growth, emerged in the visual culture which my career and way of thinking revolves around.

Journey to publishing a picture book | part 2

illustrationCara Ord

So as I said in a previous post. My love of books runs deep and I hope to publish a children’s book before I am thirty (or even twenty five… but let’s be realistic). My first step into the world of children’s publishing happened at university doing a class assignment to, well, illustrate a children’s book.

For this task I chose the below poem, an old famous Australian piece from 1889 by Banjo Patterson.

Learn to draw with me

illustrationCara Ord

it took me a lot of time and practice to become the professional designer and illustrator I am today. I have drawn and doodles since I could hold a pencil and my favourite thing to do is bring my ideas to life visually. I want to share my passion with you.

Maybe you want a new hobby, or are a beginner who doesn’t know where to start, or like me you have dreamed eternally of making a career of you art (hang in there, it is possible, it is how I live my life now!). I want to help all of you out with whatever goals you have. I have always had a fondness for teaching a loveto share what I know. Life is a continuous thread of learning and teaching. 

The wonderful platform of Skillshare has given me the outlet I need to be able to help you grow your passions and enhance your skills in illustration and design. As such I am so excited to announce my newest class to you.  How to draw a face.   This class takes you through step by step the process of drawing a portrait while also being filled with endless tips and advice on drawing in general. Learn all about measurement, guides, shading and how to draw each individual feature of a face. Learn to draw a face from multiple angles and how to apply what you have learned on a wide range of different people and characters. This is the most comprehensive class I have made yet with more than 2 hours of content which I am so excited to share with you. Find the class here

Better yet if you head to my Skillshare profile you will see I have a whole suite of classes based in illustration and design to help you learn and enhance your creative skills. 

I hope to see you in one of my classes, please stay in touch and email me (using the below form) with any questions you may have or any topics you want to learn.

and as it is an important day here in Australia, Happy ANZAC day, lest we forget. 

new class

new class

Journey to publishing a picture book | part 1

illustrationCara OrdComment

A few of you reading this may know a bit about me, or even know me personally, and if you do you would know that even though I am an established and confident designer, my current goal in life is to work with books as a designer and illustrator, and further to publish my own children’s book.

It is here in this series of blogs that I will chronicle my journey to the conclusion of a published book. 

The first thing we should discuss is my why.

Why do I want to publish a children’s book?

I do not have children (yet) to share my stories with and I don’t remember reading as a child. But I wish I did. I am an avid reader and bibliophile, but this didn’t really come about till mid way through high school for me (around 9th grade for non-Australian readers). I discovered reading quietly on my own, I am a slow reader and was shy to admit to my book obsessed friends that I enjoyed books too because it would take me a month to read one when they had read 10. I even got shamed in front of my english class by my teacher because I was reading our assigned book too slowly, apparently reading every night wasn’t enough for her. But I have gotten off topic. The reason I want to write and illustrate books for children is because I believe reading in a vital happiness in life and I want to help young readers discover this as early as possible and not be like me in their mid twenties returning to famous children’s and middle grade books to read them, because I had missed out on them in my youth and want to know what the fuss was about.

Even though I am an adult, I have a guilty pleasure for collecting beautifully illustrated children’s books. From Shaun Tan to Oliver Jeffers, I have a collection any child or mother would envy. I love the world and colours that come in children’s books and the level of imagination that they trigger.

My journey into children’s publication started 3 or so years ago at university when I was assigned to illustrate a book. I fell in love instantly. I had decided that apparently the task of illustrating an entire book wasn’t challenging enough and thought I would also teach myself to use a new medium at the same time. This is when my little university project of ‘Clancy of the Overflow’ came into being.

A collection of the original paintings used in creating the book.

A collection of the original paintings used in creating the book.

As you can see from the pictures I illustrated the book through acrylic paint on art board. the whole book was around 32 pages and it was a broken up version of the famous Australian poem, ‘Clancy of the Overflow’. The whole process from story boarding to finished product took a semester to complete and I learnt so much along the way. I learned more from making mistakes then my class curriculum but that is what life is all about, mistakes help us improve for the next time.

In the following blog I will go through my entire process from start to finish of that first book. The first of three (and a half) I have currently illustrated.

I hope you can join me as I continue this journey of learning and art as I make my way to a published children’s book.

I invite you to comment and question and share advice on this blog for me and for others. I know I am not the only person on this journey and I hope we can all grow together to get to our goals.