Lesson 1: Introduction
Be You. Be Unique!
So, Crystal, why “Made To Be Unique”? Well really the name goes back to being a teen in the 80’s during public school days when I would ditch class and roam the hallways aimlessly trying to find something to kill time.
One day as I roamed the halls of my middle school a kid called out to me far across the hallway, “hey! What are you anyways?? A punk? A rocker? A freak, or what!???” I was surprised, confused and slightly embarrassed at the question he yelled out. See, I was slightly odd, and really didn’t know what I was at that point myself.
In those days there were the punks, the rockers, cholo’s, preps, freaks, geeks and the, well…. none of the above. But the none of the above still seemed to need a place to be grouped into. They were not necessarily the dorks as they weren’t exactly goofy, and they weren’t the punks because they weren’t exactly unruly. But what were they? Who were they? They were weirdoes… They were Unique… Yeah, and you guessed it, I was one of them. One of the None Above’s that didn’t fit into any classification whatsoever.
Later I came to not only accept, but rather to bask in the glory of being a None of the Above. In fact, I have come to personally hate titles, people grouping by what others deem this way or that way, classifications, stigma’s and doing what every else does simply because it’s tradition or because it’s widely accepted. Rather I have found that even in God’s Word we are CALLED to be Unique.. We are a people set apart, a peculiar people, chosen, designed to not blend in, but to stand out and be different.
“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light;” 1 Peter 2:9 KVJ
So why Made To Be Unique? Simply because I was created to be Unique, to be peculiar and to stand out from the rest. The projects I work on are very personal to me, I desire them to be as unique and set apart as they possibly can just as I consider myself to be. I want them to stand out from the rest, to BE the best! And so the name Made To Be Unique was chosen.. From a teen crying out in the hallways “Hey! What are you anyways?!” to God’s Word telling me I am made to be peculiar, to be set apart and to be UNIQUE.
My hope is that these classes will not only teach you how to enjoy being unique in your own ways, the ways that the Father has created you to be, but to also stand out from the rest, and to be the absolute best whether in web design, digital art and even in marketing. You CAN be the best, you were made to be the best and you were made to be Unique!
Lesson Activity:
Free Stock Photo by Karina Carvalho on Unsplash
Let’s begin our course by learning some basic tools found in Photoshop; the Pen, Pencil and Brush. We’ll learn how to create our own coloring page outline using these tools.
Use the following stock photo of the man lifting his arms as a starting point. Go ahead and click the image so that the larger file opens up, right click the image to see options and save it to your computer.
Next, open the photo up in Photoshop and follow along as I walk you through pens, pencils and brushes.
Activity Challenge: After you’ve made a simple outline of your person or character challenge yourself to do more on your coloring page. Think of some creative ways to add to the page such as using the pen, pencil or brush to draw a sun, clouds, a kingly crown, wings or whatever comes to your mind. Have fun and be creative.
It’s okay if you feel the picture is not “perfect”. Perfecting a picture can sometimes take days, months or even years for some people and that’s not our primary goal. Let your primary focus be getting to know your tools and having fun! That can also include coloring in your own coloring page using the paint bucket, brush and a bunch of fun colors!
Daily Activity Challenge: Every day for the following week choose a new picture to outline. This will help you strengthen your skills. Add fun background pictures to make your new coloring page even more complete.
Please email me if you have any questions or if you enjoy my class. It helps me produce more classes like this and even perfect them as I chug along putting them together for you.
Stay tuned for more future courses on marketing, SEO and web design, helpful for aspiring entrepreneurs and those learning to be professional digital artists or graphic designers.
Sincerely,
Crystal Calhoun
MadeToBeUnique.com
