Hello, Steemians!

I totally just stayed up until daybreak finishing this. But I think it's so worth it. This is my entry for @magiccleatus's Zen Colouring Contest #3!

"Shades Of The Universe"

For some reason I have always viewed the dragonfly as a symbol of creation. I'm not entirely sure why. I did just finish taking a mythology class where I learned all about different creation myths. So I just went to research it, and there is an interesting Zuni myth about dragonflies if you want to check it out. For those of you who may not know, the Zuni are a Native American tribe in New Mexico. It's about why the red, white, and black dragonfly arrives in the Summer with the blooming of the corn. It's pretty neat! According to the Zuni myth, dragonflies arrive with the rains and are bringers of life and good health in the Spring and Summer!

I actually think this dragonfly is pretty fitting, because the patterns in it look like they could be Southwestern or Native - inspired patterns. This was the stencil @magiccleatus provided for us to color in!

So, yes, for some reason I have a fascination with dragonflies and galaxies. So once I saw the stencil, I had a pretty good idea of what I was going to do. My creation for this contest was actually partially inspired by one of my other designs- Dragonfly Galaxy Watercolour:

You can see this design on more products through my website!

I wasn't sure exactly where I was going to go with it, but I knew I definitely wanted to include the universe.

Actually- I wasn't planning on finishing the design this morning. I just wanted to play around with some different ideas I had. But, as many of you artists out there have probably experienced- I just kept creating! Lol, I couldn't stop. I just suddenly had so many good ideas that just kept on coming. When this happens, I have learned to just kind of work with the flow.

So here I am, 6:49 AM, still awake. Lol.

So, why give you a little insight into the process I used to make it?

I used Photoshop to make the GIF. Well, I used Photoshop to make the images for the GIF, and then actually put the GIF together using Giphy.

The first thing I did was make several "galaxy" patterns. I actually achieved this using a bit of a paint-splatter effect- which I think works well as both! I made a small canvas, and clicked EDIT > DEFINE PATTERN:

Then I was able to fill the segments of the pattern in with my own galaxy patterns with the Paint Bucket Tool.

Then after my first galaxy pattern, I kept changing the hue by going to IMAGE > ADJUSTMENTS > HUE/SATURATION. I kept altering the hue and saving the colors I liked to fill the pattern in with.

Next, after I had all of the segments filled, I made a background. Essentially I did this the same why I made the patterns, just on a bigger canvas with a larger brush.

Then I did with the dragonfly what I did with the patterns- I kept adjusting the hue. I actually just started this playing around to see if there was a color combination I liked better. But as I slid the little slider, I thought the way the colors changed was really pretty! So I saved each image in the exact order as the colors on the hue slider, and uploaded them to Giphy after applying a filter gallery effect to brighten it up a little.

And here again, is the final product:

The featured color of the week this week is Purple--- which is actually the color I voted for too! When I first began this I did plan on filling it only with different shades of purple. However as I decided to change the colors, I began to interpret the purple in a different way. As the colors change from the cooler tones to the warmer tones, I feel like the purple is what bridges them together. In other words, the purple brings the opposite ends of the color spectrum together (red and blue) to allow the colors to change more gracefully. Am I rambling? Did I mention I haven't slept yet?

Anyway, I am VERY pleased and proud of this outcome. Like I said-- this wasn't my plan. But I've also learned you can't really control the creative process.

What are your thoughts, steemians? I would love to hear your opinions in the comments! I am also thinking of making this into a collection, with each different color being a new design. What are your thoughts?

For more feel free to check out my website!

Also, I am working on launching my own web design business. As a student building my portfolio I can give you a really great deal on a website. If you or anyone you know needs a website feel free to contact me! Will accept payments in STEEM :)

Until next time,

~Zoey