Hometown U.S.A.

Whoa. Have you ever tried to create a map of the town you live in? And do it in less than a day?
Yeah. Me neither - that is until now.
Creating an illustrated map of your town was this week's Make Art That Sells project for the Editorial market. I sat down at my computer and before I knew it four hours had passed. My morning coffee was cold and past its prime. I could keep working and refining this piece but the assigned deadline intentionally prevented any revisions.

Baby Apparel

Who knew?
I would have never guessed that the Baby Apparel week of Make Art That Sells would include so many little, personal art break-throughs. I figured I would do my best to create art for baby clothes with little expectations, but I wound up learning quite a bit.
I figured out how to put my art on a template - with many thanks to the super talented Miriam Bos. I even used a little bit of Illustrator; enough to know that I am quite early in that learning curve.
That's a pretty cute onesie, right? You can get one for your little one or as a gift here!

Project: Paper

Class is back in session - Make Art That Sells, that is. This week's adventure was the Paper market and we were assigned to create a holiday card using ornaments and/or candy.

I've been finding that I have a tendency to create artworks that are too busy when working on MATS class assignments. I haven't figured out if this is because of Lilla's great push to create "icons" in order to cross-market pieces or if it's just how the other artists in class are influencing me. When I think about what I would buy or prefer to have, simpler and cleaner compositions always win. I guess I need to follow my own instincts to pare down.

three moons

This was just a warm up painting but I think it turned out better than anything I "intended" to do in the studio today. It's funny how that happens.

C'mon...sign up.

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There's a little signup box over here on the blog up at the right. Let's see if I can embed it too...YES! I guess I have learned something from blogging for a million years.

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new stuff.

i'm not sure why but i think teeth, molars especially, are fun to draw. i painted a few new works today and they are all in my etsy shop.

this just in

i put some new stuff in the society6 shop today.

incidentally there is also free shipping on all orders over $50. if you're in the market for some tote bags, phone cases, laptop skins, tee-shirts or other assorted consumer merch you can head on over to check it out.

watercolor doodle.

ursine dancers.

happy wednesday.

sketchbook page.

i hit 'send'!

wish me luck folks...here is my entry into Lilla Rogers Global Talent Search!

chugging along.

this is officially the end of my first session of lilla rogers make art that sells class. this course has taken over my life for the last five weeks. i had originally committed to give about 10 hours weekly to my studies and artworks but i could literally laugh out loud at that now. i have definitely doubled that commitment and i could have benefited from tripling it.

week five was directed at the gift market which is gigantic and varied. just imagine all of the things you see when you go into a boutique - think blue q or land of nod. we were specifically given the assignment to create a "super lush zipper pouch design" based on things we collect and/or really like. here is my final submission:

now i am moving on to the next project...lilla rogers global talent search! the first assignment was given on july 1st and needs to be submitted by july 22nd. this amount of time seems like a luxury compared to the four days given during the MATS class. of the hundreds of folks submitting in the first round only 50 will be moved onto the second round. the winner will be signed by lilla rogers herself to a TWO year, INTERNATIONAL contract! i won't reveal too much about my ideas because they will likely change a few million times prior to the submission date but here is a quick preview!

week four - wall art.

coming into this week of class i felt relieved because "wall art" is something i have quite a bit of experience with but when the final assignment was given we were instructed to use only two main colors which were assigned based on our zodiac sign.
in truth, no one would know the wiser if i didn't take the colors associated with scorpio but i bit the bullet and took mine, green and orange, with general misgivings. other requirements of this assignment were to include a word or quote, incorporate collage, and use some type of floral-ish imagery.
here are the two pieces i created. i chose to submit 'shine' by the encouragement of my classmates.

week three - children's books.

finally, a better marriage between my traditional watercolor & line work and photoshop.
i have added a new member to my adobe family - illustrator. can anyone say 'vector'?

my brain hurts - or 'week two'.

after falling short of my own expectations last week, i pushed myself hard to begin taking full advantage of the opportunity to really absorb what is being offered in lilla roger's class.
i suppose that part of my difficulty was in accepting that just creating excellent artwork on paper is not enough. in order for work to be prepared for print or textile or any other market, some digital manipulation is necessary. what i hadn't really allowed myself to realize is that this use of photoshop doesn't in any way diminish the authenticity or value of the original paintings and drawings. it actually allows me more freedom to use my own traditionally made marks in a greater variety of ways.
i still am climbing this steep learning curve but i believe i have had my first break-through.

pictured above is my final design created to be shown within home decor markets. the brief specifically had us creating dinnerware.

bolt fabric - week one.

here's the uncut fruit (ha! see what i did there?) of this week's assignment from lilla roger's studio school. this first section is devoted to bolt fabric design.
please pay no mind to the fact that the poisonous amanita muscaria is pictured right alongside cooking equipment.
i can honestly say that i was a little out of my comfort zone creating images to be used on fabrics such as aprons, tea towels, quilting supplies, as well as a multitude of other items. it seems that most folks rely heavily on digital media for this type of work. while i am a traditional-media kind of girl, i did learn quite a bit about creating refined icons this week.

wherein my cell phone does a better job than the scanner.

the first two pictures, taken with my iphone, better capture the nuances of the silver gouache background. as opposed to the last picture, a high quality scan, which makes the painting seem flat and dull.
any tips?

a little dialogue.

i realize i have been communicating via pictures on this blog for a little while. i thought i would throw some words at you to let you know what's been going on.
with the arrival of the month of march, it's hard to not project to the advent of spring. i am a north country girl at heart and love the winter, but i am ready to see the sun and spend time outside without the protection of multiple layers.
to add to the impatience, we are planning a vacation to sandbridge beach in virginia in may. we will be renting a condo for a week right on the atlantic ocean. the condo is across the street from the back bay federal wildlife refuge and we will be visiting at the same time that the loggerhead turtles come ashore to lay their eggs.
i have also taken a few big steps in regards to my artwork. first, i registered to take a course taught by the talented lilla rogers and am excited to learn and connect with other peers. second, i finally submitted to exhibit for our local third thursday art walk, sponsored by APE.
wish me luck!

something is a little off.

(this is really just a test post from my phone. carry on.)