Stamp An Illustration...

This year, due to reasons so painfully obvious they need not be explained, I have started teaching my in-person workshops online.

Scared to jump in head first, I was lucky enough to dip my toes in the water of online live workshops and retreats working with Art Journaling the Magic - as well as Instagram live.

At first, I was hesitant , believing that I couldn’t offer the benefits of “in-person” workshops online. Whilst I still think that is mostly true, I began to see the online LIVE workshops as their own separate experience; focusing on the benefits that they had over in-person (no travel, wider availability, replays available etc). Now having hosted a few, I can see a value in both that I didn't fully appreciate before. However, we’re still physically distancing in the US so I have really focused my attention to workshop experiences online. It’s a pivot that has been equal parts exciting, challenging and rewarding, but we’re fully in the swing now and love each opportunity we have to connect with you all through Creativity!

If you’ve been following my social media you might have noticed our “Concepts Stamping” workshops have been popping up more frequently. This was originally a class taught in person and now available LIVE online. We’ve hosted a bunch of live events and in a couple weeks we will host our first “Concepts 2” LIVE Workshop (you can visit the Workshops tab for more information). Concepts stamping has an interesting little history and goes hand in hand with what I have termed the “Stamp an Illustration” technique - put simply, building a blueprint for your drawing with stamp sets.

From my experiences doing demos with my first Concepts Stamp Set at Creativation 2019, right up until my last workshop, I have noticed an incredible shift in my Creative Confidence… in fact, I haven’t experienced a “Creative Block” in that entire time. I fully accredit this to always having these stamp sets available - whether I just want to draw clothes on top of the base, or collage stamp together an entirely new idea, I’ve always got a tool and a simple exercise ready to create with. Also, thanks to my selfish desire to create new products I actually have multiple sets and sizes to play with!

My favorite thing about Concepts Stamping is that it acts as a sort of bridge between artists/illustrators playing with mixed media crafting supplies and crafters/scrapbookers and the like starting to explore their skills in illustration. It’s also an exercise for any skill level, in fact, children are typically better at Concepts stamping than adults! The puzzle play nature of it really takes out the expectation and let’s loose the “what if” part of your brain - the part almost exclusively responsible for leading you towards new creative discoveries.

I’ll leave the rest of this history lesson and explanation for Workshops, today I just wanted to gather and share a bunch of examples of this process - for my workshop-goers to get a better look at, and for my Lurkmates to enjoy an afternoon of zooming in to my personal diary entries… HAHAHAHA- no judgies ;)

This is by no means ALL of the examples, there are TONS of little drawings stamped out in various stages of complete all around my studio! I should also mention, there are lots of different jlbCREATIVE stamp sets used in the examples (not just the “Concepts” stamp set) and some are no longer available or have been re-designed. However, all of the examples are of the Stamp an Illustration technique and process, something I’m excited to dive into deeper with this upcoming Workshop!

I frequently display “Stamples” on my Instagram @jameslukeburkecreative

The Post-It note I designed the original Concepts stamp set on for Creativation 2019!

Christmas theming with a mixture of stamp sets in my Fauxbonichi 2018-2019

Little “Fall Fairies” and “Bunny Bones” for Whimsyween 2019 - and samples from an in-person Concepts stamping Workshop I held in Australia last year

Tons of samples from when I got my production samples of the original set

My planner - a place where random stamped drawings find a forever home

Cutie Pie production samples - I love drawing outfits on the Cutie Pies!

My Hobonichi Cousin Avec - a sketchbook of sorts. I stamp out a lot of ideas in here and come up with fun tutorials or lessons... it’s a lot of exploration, rather than “finished work”

Bottom Right: the foundation of a lesson for “Concepts 2” LIVE Stamping Workshop

I have tested MANY, MANY, MANY combinations and variations and am still blown away by the work I see others share on social media! I love that everyone interprets the shapes so differently

I love the little Baby Blossoms. There’s a full tutorial on my YouTube channel if you’re interested in learning how to stamp and color them :)

Bottom Right: designing the motifs for the shapes that accompany the Concepts stamp sets. I always throw in something a little random like a bone or a chain-link… I like to see what people do with the random shapes haha

Lots and Lots of examples in my Hobonichi 5 year Techo. I particularly enjoy the 2 weeks of stamped muses (also a video on my YouTube channel). Each lady represented something about that day - whether it was a drawing we did on Instagram live, or an Art Journaling the Magic Zoom retreat! The reason I have 4x6 sets available is so I could use all my stamp sets in this journal… shhh….

Creativation 2020 “Stamples” and a ton of tests for the new sets I released this year

More tests for new sets. I don’t typically share all of the tests because there are SO many, but I have to make sure everything works the way I enjoy using it before I commit to large purchase orders. Luckily I am too selfish to only want to use stamp sets I enjoy, so I have to really put them through their paces before I approve anything. I’ve found this to be extremely beneficial, as I can still enjoy a product I designed years ago as much as the one I’d designed days ago.

Fun Fact: the stamped heads on the right were also featured on a washi tape I used to produce.

Bottom right: below is a step - by - step pictorial of how that image was stamped and colored. It’s ALL stamps and a very interesting look at how Concepts stamping opened my imagination up to creating more interesting and unique illustrations.

Another fun fact: ALL SIX of these completed illustrations used a combination of the exact same stamps featured on the left. I originally created this lineup for Creativation 2020, to show how the same base stamps could be used to create an assortment of work - a skill we look at closely in my Concepts stamping workshops.

So, there you have it… this has been a closer look at how I Stamp an Illustration!

If you would like to know more about the stamps I use you can visit my shop by clicking “SHOP” up top, and if you would like to learn more about HOW to Stamp an Illustration you can visit the “WORKSHOPS” button up top and read more about my “Concepts Stamping” LIVE Workshops.

You can also find more work by previous students and other artists on social media by searching the hashtags:

#stampanillustration #jlbcreativeconcepts #conceptstamping

#conceptstampset #jlbcreativestamps #jlbcreativeworkshops

Thanks for dropping by on this blog post, hope to share more with you in the future :)

- James.