Down and Dirty Questionaire

[Nevermore]

Hey kids, I am trying to flesh out my quirk article for the Ramble I did last week with some ideas on what does "colour outside the lines" mean when you use that phrase as a metaphor for quirk scraplifting? Any ideas? I would love to be able to quote DAQ members because you are the only quirks I know!

Down and dirty because I have to get the piece in tomorrow so I don't have time to engage in a long, luxurious debate. I just need some cool ideas!

Plus, I have to compete for attention from the porn spammers.

[kygirl]

With a heading like "Down and Dirty," Becky may think this IS porn spam. LOL

[mizamigo]

Well, Kim, you raise a really good question. Color outside the lines......

1. Not doing the "regular" or "expected" thing.
2. Put your own spin on things.
3. Literally, color outside the lines.

[webchyck]

When I was looking through our gallery I was thinking that quirks don't leave things well enough alone. They have to alter their photos or some aspect of their page (if we're talking memory art) to change it up.

Quirks don't stick to straight memory recording either. They're more apt to color outside the lines by capturing a feeling or mood, not just the details of an event.

No subject is taboo?

Is freestyle scrapping the same as quirking?

Are we more technique driven than element driven?

I'm just throwing thoughts out there.

[webchyck]

No size constraints...look at this by Donna:

http://www.digitalartquirks.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=2637

I'm not sure what size that is! But I love it!

[kygirl]

Thanks, Becky. It's an 11x6.

[Nevermore]

Please keep the input coming folks, so far I am totally getting off on the replies~! For the record, let me copy and paste an email Donna sent me with some of her suggestions:

Outside the lines? I guess that could be anytime you break the rules of scrapbooking.

Cut a figure out of picture, instead of leaving it in a nice 4x6 box.

Put something on your layout other than ribbons, buttons and flowers. For example, how about using garbage? (Maya’s Dumpster Diving kit)

Color someone purple.

Literally go outside the lines and stroke a picture in a bright color.

Go little – instead of 12x12, try 4x6. It’s an easy size to work in and so cheap to print.

Create something you’d never see in nature – a flying fish, a winged baby, a butterfly on a snowflake.

Use unexpected colors. Why can’t boys be on pink layouts with flowers?

Being quirky means taking risks, creating surprises, but most of all, it’s about being original.

[Nevermore]

Becky, I don't know what freestyle scrapping is. Can you point me to a layout or an article or discussion?

[ruthpics]

I am loving this thread because I am still searching for my inner quirk! Looks like there are some ideas here that I may have to try and run with! Sorry I can't help you Kim...but you very well may have helped me! I think I can, I think I can...

[ScrapAlice]

I like to think it means that you do anything other than the typical or expected.

Asymmetry. Organic shapes. Colors not found in nature. Negative space. Lots of stuff to think about here. Hmmm.

Not sure that really helps you.


Alice

[MegB]

Kim, I know when I first started doing my art journals and then found DAQ, it was all about emotion for me. I do so many "normal" scrapbook pages that document moments or memories that it was very freeing to just let my emotions loose and let them dictate the choices I made. Be that odd color combos, heritage photos in modern settings, or just free-flowing journaling.

Does any of this make any sense or apply at all to what you're looking for? Hope it helps!

[akissling]

When I think of this phrase in conjunction with digital scrapbooking I immediately think of filters and techniques used on photographs that completely change them, morph them, alter the original form, into something totally different. In traditional scrapbook pages, I wouldn't dare try any techinque on the photograph other than maybe turning color into sepia or maybe black and white. Coloring outside the lines says to me I can do what ever I want without inhabition or being constrained by what looks good to everyone else. Good luck with the article!!

[Belles]

Oh my gosh ......

you break the rules of scrapbooking.

you mean there are rules WOW now that might be why the powers that be mostly ignored my work at most scrapbooking sites :rolleyes:

oh and this one as well

Color someone purple.

so purple is just wrong for scrapbooking huh? Well what is wrong with purple then huh ...... hummmmmmmphhhhhhhhhhhhh

No wonder I never got on any creative teams --- I just break to many rules :p

Oh well I'm happy doing what I do and not being on any creative teams means I don't have to be tired to any commitments. Commitment challenged here I am. I can't even commit to being around here regularly :o

Oh well ............... see ya next time I stop by ;)

[SteinwaysMom]

When I was looking through our gallery I was thinking that quirks don't leave things well enough alone. They have to alter their photos or some aspect of their page (if we're talking memory art) to change it up.

Quirks don't stick to straight memory recording either. They're more apt to color outside the lines by capturing a feeling or mood, not just the details of an event.

No subject is taboo?

Is freestyle scrapping the same as quirking?

Are we more technique driven than element driven?

I'm just throwing thoughts out there.

I'm going to go out on a limb but much of the traditional scrap community seems trapped in a nice pretty white middle class bubble...Kim, you're one of the most original scrappers out there...you are not afraid to try the most interesting combinations...but your really more about conceptual art than scrapping anyway.

But I also think the intent of many is to do cute kid LO's (nothing wrong w/that as I do them all the time and love playing with my pretty baubles) and not really go much deeper into exploring artistically...

Freestyle - it started as a movement toward out of the box paper scrapping but has sort of degenerated into a popular 'look'. One can purchase umpteen million variations of freestyle doodles, stickers etc. with the 'look' of freestyle, but not necessarily the spirit. Here is the blog for the book that started it all: http://www.autumnleaves.com/freestyle/

You know what sucks is that now that I'm on all these creative teams and am designing, I rarely have time to do any serious art explorations. I'm trying to master basic techniques and work on technical skills but part of me really misses just doing something totally off the wall. There are some ripples in the designer community about 'originality' and the outpouring of similar product (like 5 zillion variations of ripped cardboard etc.) but maybe the design community needs to break out of the box so we don't do the umpteenth variation on the same tired theme...

Or maybe extend scrapbook beyond the white upper middle class crowd...

[Nevermore]

Thanks Debra, for the link. I do wish you could find more time to hang out here! I love it when you drop in from time to time. What creative teams are you currently on? Are you still doing stuff for Lie Fhung? She remains one of my top five for sure.

[Diginellie]

I think there is a difference between what we know as `scrapbooking' which is a creative/artistic way of preserving memories in lots of different ways - mainly trend driven (with a profit focus) - and art which is often not about trying to preserve a moment in time taken with a camera, but is more focused on the artist's feelings about events and influences in their life. eg art as therapy, art as inspiration, as celebration, as a meditation......... and on it goes. I love Lie Fhung's latest meditations on `breeding' - she is clearly ambivalent about motherhood and is using her Art to meditate about this and reach out to others who may share her dilemma. Many of the events/issues in my life which have affected me the most have no photo to tell the story.

The problem with the trendy stuff is that after a while it all looks the same and sometimes I think sanitises our world. I often wonder what the kids of today will make of some of these LO's in the future - will they keep them? Does this matter?

I had better stop here - I fear I am starting to `nevermore' :)

[Nevermore]

and what is wrong with Nevermoring, eh? Lol, I wrote once that Max is worried about my user name because it means "bad things" like total scissor ineptitude. I will have to tell him that now it includes long monologues. Although, being his mother's son, he will probably argue that there is nothing bad about long monologues. He certainly delivers enough of them himself!

Well, you were all warned that I was shamelessly going to use you all for the article so don't be surprised to find yourself on the blog.

[graybonnie]

Total pure FREEDOM

[Nevermore]

Darn you Bonnie, you posted too late to be quoted in the blog and I love your answer. Ah well, the quirk community will have to keep this one up its sleeve :)

[webchyck]

Darn you Bonnie, you posted too late to be quoted in the blog and I love your answer. Ah well, the quirk community will have to keep this one up its sleeve :)

She's not late...if you want me to add her!

[Pixeldigger]

line and wash, ie. draw something in outline then put a wash of colour over it which is not constrained by the outlines you drew. A cool watercolour technique.

[webchyck]

The blog post is up!

http://www.scrapbookgraphics.com/wordpress/

(Kim, please note that I embellished your dedication a little bit...hope you don't mind my editorial license taken there.)

[graybonnie]

Three cheers for Nevermore..... hipp, hipp, quirk!

[Nevermore]

I like how you tarted up my dedication~~thanks! It is so good, I could have said it myself (evil giggle). Hey sisters, check it out, okay, if only to see your name in print. Come to think of it, I didn't write too much of the article, either!

It is kind of funny because there are some people who are curious about quirks and curious about what it means. I said in my first part that we never talk about it, which suits me fine :) I find it much easier to offer suggestions to a piece in progress than discuss this in the abstract. At one time, I was helping someone who wanted to be a little less conventional with their layouts. I was very patient at first, the very model of a saint :rolleyes: but after a few months I started to become bellicose. For crying out loud, I would comment, would you please get rid of that square frame? Tilt your photo, warp your title, sew all over it, don't line up those buttons and so on and so on and so on. Never mind quirking, this person couldn't even do freestyle, it was just antithetical to her character and aesthetic sense. She felt bad about the whole thing (not because I was yelling at her) so I tried to encourage her to do things that made her feel good. Some people don't feel comfortable without rules.

Being back in a "normal" community over at SBG makes me realise how totally funky this place is and how every trip into the gallery is an exercise that truly engages the viewer.

I am sincerely and honestly thrilled to bits with our gallery and our community.

[SteinwaysMom]

Thanks Debra, for the link. I do wish you could find more time to hang out here! I love it when you drop in from time to time. What creative teams are you currently on? Are you still doing stuff for Lie Fhung? She remains one of my top five for sure.

Yep, IOD, Lie Fhung and our own Robyn and Christine (although I let them know I would be pretty lame due to designing committments).

Fhung did this AMAZING altered book on the 'breed or not to breed' theme. Her husband has kids by his first marriage so it was something she had to ask herself. Her latest collection is sort of a digital scrapbook version of what came out of the book.