Flowershop

Sunshine

Cherry Pop

All finished! This is a 24×30 gallery wrapped canvas painted with acrylics and overlaid with intricate line work done in opaque paint pens. Its all listed up in my etsy shop too!

Sometimes it is hard to draw the first lines of the illustration onto the canvas. Especially after you really work at getting just the right background with your paint and brush. About halfway through, i often regret ruining it. But that’s also usually when i jnow i just need to push forward until i’ve seen it through.

i know a lot of folks would have left it abstract and pure, with just color on the canvas….

What do you all think? Are you ever tempted to stop short of your plan? but then push forward anyway?

….in progress…..a 24 x 30″ gallery wrapped canvas painted with acrylics…stay tuned.

i kept seeing this filmy colorful background….sort of like when latex balloons in bright colors overlap each other with the sunshine behind them? Bright, vivid and transparent….

The sketches had to be white. No other option. The sketchy, messy style is a little different than my usual doodlings, but i see a trend moving toward the UN-done look like this for me in the coming weeks. It feels very genuine and somewhat warm and inviting because of it….like a conversation. Approachable and friendly. i haven’t named it yet, though i’ve had many suggestions on facebook.

Fingerpaint was my favorite theme so far.

Maybe Fingerpaint & Chalk??

i think i’m happy with how this turned out, but with pieces this time-consuming and intricate, i tend to go “blind” by the end. i need to sleep on it and look again with fresh, editing eyes tomorrow. Then we’ll see what i really think. So welcome to the process and nighty-night!

i don’t know why? Maybe i got distracted by other work, maybe i needed a breather from all the close, detail work? i think maybe i ran out of ideas for patterns to draw in each state!

Anyway, the map popped up in the background of another photo i blogged earlier and got quite a few comments, so i finally decided to finish it already!!

Each state is a bright color, hand-drawn pattern or a snip of one of my other artworks. It’s a happy map. i hope it inspires happy travels.

You can find it in my etsy shop at 11×14.

Hey gang, here’s just a quickie post because i burned the midnight oil last night on a super exciting project…..which i can finally share on thursday!

Today i’ll share with you this little ditty. A giraffe illustration in my colorful, twirly style that was commissioned by Green As Wee Grow. It’s the final piece in a 3-illustration package i’ve released to this awesome indie organic baby/kids clothing company. i can’t wait to see the completed itty bitties!

Last week i received a lovely email from a man who had seen a past art exhibit of mine and bought some of the pieces for his daughters. He mentioned that seeing one of my art pieces on the wall as he was tucking his daughter in one night gave him an inspired idea for a birthday gift for his wife, Sadie. He wondered if i could create a portrait of her so she’d have a piece of her own.  i sent my usual reply quoting my pencil portrait and painted portrait prices, but also mentioned that maybe we could do something more whimsical if she was a fan of my style. i was over-the-moon excited when he quickly wrote back that he was absolutely interested in that! From that moment on, i was working with a collaborator and dream client. He encouraged me to take artistic license, he listed all his wife’s favorite things and the names of their precious 3 children, then mentioned a few of my pieces, namely, Miss Lookilou, whose style he admired. That was enough to get my creativity revved up, so i got to work!

i whipped up a quick pencil sketch and emailed it along with the Miss Lookilou inspiration piece and another illustration i’d done last year exclusively for indie fixx’s Feed Your Soul project. i explained that i’d like to sort of combine the 2 concepts and come up with something just for this project. i also mentioned that i’d love to do a custom collage mat if he was game….and find a frame all with a bit of Anthropologie flavor since he’d mentioned she loved that style. The comp was a hit and i was on my way.

The final drawing took about 3-4 hours all in all and incorporated the kids’ names, a map of Ireland (the couple’s native country) the Sydney Opera House, a glass of red wine (my kinda lady!), books, some red crosses as a nod to Sadie’s career, her birthdate, the Milkboy Coffee Logo (b/c that’s where they first saw my art and where Sadie goes to get her caffeine fix regularly), then the words, “Sexy Sadie”(her college nickname) and  “i love you.” The final touch was a cut paper yellow rose which i placed above her ear. Yellow roses are her favorite and i thought the collage element would add dimension and tie the drawing in with the patchwork mat i’d made.

Finally, i scanned the art and manipulated it digitally to create 4 possible colorways for the client to choose from. They’re shown below.

We couldn’t decide! It was tough, so i’m giving the couple a few prints as options and letting Sadie be the final say. But for framing, i chose the drawing done in reds since that is her favorite color. Here are some shots of the finished piece.

i truly hope this is only the first of many projects like this that will come my way. The client, John, was simply the best to work with. His enthusiasm for the project and willingness to give me creative freedom was so refreshing! His excitement to give the gift and his overall generous demeanor were icing on the cake. When i work with husbands for gifts for their wives, i am always touched by the thoughtfulness and obvious care and affection they have for these women. i sure do hope Sadie likes the art! It is filled with  devotion and love.

Happy Birthday Sadie!

….and if anyone else wants to collaborate on a piece like this, shoot me a message! i am primed and ready and thirsty for more!

This piece is really reflective of me as an individual. i’ve never been the best at zero-ing in on one interest, one field of study,  one art medium or one lifelong dream. i bet i would have written something like the above artwork when i was 6 years old, and then again at age 12 and maybe again as a young adult. You can see it in my artwork. It’s in the clashing of themes and colors and chaotic calamity of it all. But i think there is also a calm to it. i know who i am now. And rather than say i am “scattered”, i prefer to think of myself as appreciative of beauty in many forms. Yep. i like it. That’s me. Today i’m pretty much feelin the  cupcake sprinkler. Tomorrow maybe i’ll slip into my tap shoes.

Tables are turned.

Sometimes when you’re trying to paint one thing…another emerges. A Happy Accident.

i’d like to give a free 8×10 print of any piece of art in my etsy shop to the first reader who can correctly tell the story behind this art. How do you think it was it made? What materials were used? What tools? Does it convey meaning or represent an emotion?

i know what it says to me when i look at it, and how it makes me feel….but how about you? Double points for colorful (pun intended) answers.

FOLLOW UP EXPLANATION:

ok ladies, so brooke was pretty spot on. But the things i was wiping were little fingers.

i taught an art class to 3,4,5 year olds yesterday and we were learning about Mondrian. They were making black marker grids on white posterboard and painting in spaces using only red, yellow and blue poster paint.
That’s right.
all the color blending on the crumply paper towel was just a lovely happy accident. And yes, Rosie, i DID think the shape looked like butterfly wings. i looked down at the towel and just couldn’t throw it away. So i acted like a crazy lady and tucked it into my bag to bring home.
i scanned it in and duplicated it once (so you see 2 “butterflies”) and that’s it.

Funny how and art project with rigid black lines and bold primary colors could turn into something so soft and precious. The fact that my students little messy fingers created the image (and yesterday was the last class session for the year – sad) make it all the more sweet to me.

So choose your prize, Brooke!

peace out.