Hello and welcome to one of the scarier posts I’ve put out there… because this post is dedicated to showcasing all my 2021 HOMwork! Hom what? HOMwork, the weekly creative lettering prompts from Lauren Hom. This weekly creative challenge helps you sharpen your lettering skills, stay motivated to create, and share more of your work online. And that last bit is particularly nerve wracking, because I never really feel like any of my drawings is good enough. But by taking part in this challenge I’m trying to get over that perfectionist character trait of mine and am also welcoming feedback!
Last year I also did a few of the prompts, you can find them gathered in this blog post. Rather than pick and choose like last year I am trying to complete them all this year and am usually only 2-3 weeks behind, which gives me enough time to think about how to approach the given challenges. Every so often I will update this post, so you will find the oldest drawings towards the bottom and the newer ones closer to the top. Now let’s cross our fingers for some visible progress after a while!
This calls for celebration!
Make a gift card you wish existed.
I had a few days off to study for my graphic design course and I loved it! Okay, that might sound weird but hear me out: a few days to focus on something I’m super interested in and only that. It’s such a change from regular days when you are trying to juggle 1000 things at once. So something I would like to gift (and very much receive) is dedicated time to spend on the projects/hobbies of your choosing.
Something that sustains you
Letter a phrase or mantra that helps you get through the day, week, month when you’re feeling down.
When life is tough and/or you cried your eyes out just go to bed and try again the next day.💪
So big it almost feels silly
Create artwork or lettering that represents a big dream.
So basically my big dream is to be Phil Rosenthal. Or hang out with Phil and eat all the things. CANNOT WAIT to cross borders again, visit friends and family, discover new places and eat all the food.
The best lyrics have big lessons
Create a piece using a song lyric as a vehicle to talk about an important issue (importance of self-care, actionable allyship, equal pay for women, etc.)
This might be a bit of a wider interpretation of the assignment but hey. I love The XX and their show I attended in Birmingham in 2017 was amazing, I have such fond memories of it. Hope we can start attending live concerts again soon!
Creative s-t-r-e-t-c-h
Design or letter an art piece that incorporates your own creative stretch.
I’ve recently completed Lauren Hom’s Lettering Course where I learnt to turn my paper drawings in digital lettering! So cool to see where I can take them and all the things that are possible! So here you can see the process broken down in different steps.
Something we all share…
Illustrate and share the message “You Are Not Alone.”
And exercise dedicated to Mental Health Awareness Month and in the requested colours: yellow, grey, black and yellow.
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Don’t ignore your green flags!
Design or illustrate green flags for your own life (or creative business).
I had to think about this one a bit as the ideas I spontaneously came up with were the same as the examples Lauren Hom used 🙈 But in the end it is quite simple: green flags for me are the time, money and effort I am happy to dedicate to my lettering practice in order to get better at it, but also because I really enjoy doing it.
You’re not alone in feeling this way.
Letter and/or illustrate your thoughts and emotions from the week.
With covid restrictions easing I noticed that my mind struggles with the new impulses, seeing more people more often and the return of FOMO. That has translated into a skewed sleeping pattern and this drawing.
Can art save the world?
Design a piece of artwork advocating for the planet. Feature one action (big or small) that can be taken to combat climate change.
What pretty paper taught me about selling
Design an invitation for your business (for a specific type of person, to a specific offering).
Maybe I should have turned this into something more ambitious, but right now this already feels pretty bold 🙂 I’m happy to share these drawings with the world, but I’m not always content with how they turned out – but that is part of the process too. Onto better things.
Turn trash into (creative) treasure
Creatively upcycle something you’d normally throw away or recycle.
Note to self: remove the paper from the yoghurt pots BEFORE you put sunflowers in them.
Play your cards right
Design a playing card based on a myth, fable, or story.
I didn’t really know how to approach this one, and then I had to think back to the wonderful book ‘The Starless Sea’ which I read recently. A book about books, what more do you need? So I used some of its main symbols for my own set of playing cards.
When my brain is cluttered, this helps…
Write about your creative life (personal or professional) for 15-30 minutes and then create artwork about 1-3 main takeaways from what you wrote.
More of a sketchnote than a handlettering piece I think? It’s been a while since I’ve done one of those and it shows in the composition I think. However, it was fun to do so happy I did it that way.
Give what you didn’t get
Share a piece of knowledge or valuable insight you have with the world, but in the form of fictional podcast cover art, inspired by your current favorite podcast.
This was a difficult assignment I thought, but in the end I went for a rather simple way of working it out and it turned out alright I think. I wasn’t happy with the background squiggles but then managed to adapt them a bit and pleased with how it turned.
I’m embarrassed to admit this as a designer…
Create your own holiday and letter or illustrate a piece of art promoting it.
At this point I had started Lauren Hom’s online course (see one of the lower drawings) and wanted to try out some of the type styles we were taught there. A bit boring but good practice.
YES to artists talking about money
Letter a piece of financial advice you’ve found helpful in your own life!
After the two previous drawings that weren’t very good I was more excited by this one, both because of the assignment and because of the result. This one shows that it is worth putting the time in and showing patience.
Harness the stars!
Write your own horoscope and design or letter a piece around it.
I could have done a lot more with this one, it’s quite simple. The text and drawing also are two separate elements, it would have been nicer to blend/fit them together better.
Be EXACTLY who you are
Design or letter a piece that questions gender stereotypes.
Not one I’m very happy with. I wanted to use these Tombow dual brush pens as they have this kind of competition every month on Instagram where you can win stuff if you make a drawing with their materials. I haven’t used brush pens much in the last year or so and you can definitely tell the lack of practice. Oh well.
Use this when you’re feeling stuck
Pick a phrase from wtfshouldiletter.com and letter or design a piece of art with it.
SO MUCH FUN. I spent a fair bit of time over on wtfshouldiletter.com hahaha. But worth it. More so because Lauren also launched the offer that anyone who completed 5 of these from the website and posted them online would get a discount of up to 50% for her online course ‘THE ART OF LOVELY & LEGIBLE LETTERING’. So obviously that is what I did.
The 2000s called…
Design a mix CD cover that captures the moment you’re in right now.
I went searching for some old mix CDs and the process was both delightful and cringe. God I miss travelling.
Inside the mind of an artist (that’s you!)
Choose one of your personas and illustrate the thoughts/topics in that brain space.
I don’t know if you’ve ever taken a picture of your own face and tried to draw it? Yeah, so now I have. Happy New Year!
Right, I hope you enjoyed seeing some of my drawings and a little bit of progress and self-critique too hopefully. Happy to hear some feedback or suggestions on where to learn more. How does sharing your work make you feel?
Annelies Explores 
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