#homwork

Today I'm sharing my #homwork. It's not a typo.

What is it? 

It's a series of challenges I discovered on instagram.  Artist and illustrator Lauren Hom issues assignments every week.  They're geared towards lettering artists, but you can take it in any direction you want.

I discovered the challenge last week and decided to take the week 5 challenge: To create a Valentine that began, "I love you so much I would..."

I ended up making two versions of the same card because I both overcomplicated and screwed up the first draft.  

This is version #1:

It has lots of details that I love...

...but it is very very busy and I messed up on the text.  I accidentally left out the phrase "I would share my" and had to jam it in at the end.

I wanted to create something cleaner, so I painted this card:

I used gold paint and you can see the glimmer in this 5 second video:

If you look at the two cards side-by-side you can see how much cleaner and more graphic the black card is:

That said, there's something about the floral mess of the first card that still really appeals to me.  With a little more time, I might find a way to combine the two ideas to make something floral but graphic that glitters gold!  And *that* is a huge part of what I like about the whole idea of #homwork: it's making me think.  I made a list of what I like about #homwork:

• Like I said, it's making me think.  More specifically, it's making me think about design.  
• I always like a challenge and weekly is super manageable...I think.
• I feel comfortable not being a completer on this one.  I started late and I'll probably skip a bunch of the challenges.  It's okay to pop in and out on a challenge!
• This challenge made me break out the gouache.  And it was fun!!
• I really enjoy lettering and illustration and I don't do enough of it.  This challenge should help me in that direction.

Have you heard of #homwork?  Are you participating in the assignments?

Thanks for stopping by!