This is my first month hosting
the Sketch It Out Challenge over at ClubCK with my friend, Ashely Horton. I hope you will check it out. There is a chance to win a small RAK. You have until midnight of February 28th to enter.
Fair warning: you are going to see a lot of Sketch It Out posts from me this month. Every time I participate in LOAD aka Layout A Day, I find it very helpful to use sketches. Over time, and several LOAD challenges, I have learned to create layouts in less than an hour with the help of a simple sketch. I use sketch challenge sites or websites, but I also use magazine ads or layouts. Wondering how? It's simply a matter of breaking a magazine article into basic shapes.
During my current session of Guided Study Critique with
Get It Scrapped, I was introduced to an article (on the left) which I felt was perfect for a layout. In fact, we were directed to consider just how we might use it given some of the design principles we are currently studying.
At first glance, you might think it wouldn't work. It seems to be visually complex. Taken piece by piece though, and you end up with the bare bones of a great scrapbook layout. I see that the large photo in the back is basically a large square. If you had the right photo, you could use it in the same manner. Otherwise, it's perfect for patterned paper. You are then left with a simple title over one photo with journaling underneath. This sits on a strip of paper. Three photos sit to the right. You could use 4 small horizontal photos instead of the three.
I might have lost you there. This is, essentially, the same layout as the magazine page above. It's broken down into simple shapes such as rectangles and squares. A layout or sketch, in it's simplest form, is just a series of shapes placed in a visually appealing manner. Even blocks of text form shapes. The title would, for example, fit inside a rectangle. The journaling would as well. What does that mean for you? Well, you can break down any ad or magazine layout into basic shapes. Then you choose to plug in photos, patterned paper or embellishments in place of those shapes.
You can see the bare bones or skeleton of the sketch in my layout. I had to make a few minor adjustments since I am working on a 12x12 canvas and the magazine is a different size layout. I accommodated my pictures by using a wide rectangular strip of vellum. While the article is very simple, I chose to use a few embellishments to support my story.
Quick Tip: I used the manual from the model my husband and son were building. It became the patterned paper. I was also able to cut a few images to be used for the title and embellishments. Many places currently sell book papers or ephemera. Why buy it when you can use the directions you receive with your packaging?
Anyone can learn to break apart magazine spreads and ads to create their own sketches. It's simply a matter of learning how to break apart the basic shapes contained within it. I do warn you though, that it becomes a little addicting. You will begin to see scrapbook layout inspiration everywhere.
