Sketching Day 11

February 11, 2013
Some characters are getting ready for Valentine's Day.

Sketching Day 10

February 10, 2013
A few odd characters.

Sketching Day 9

 I have not forgotten to sketch, just haven't been able to scan them in. Here are the last few days.

February 9, 2013
Some more lettering. That last one is for you Dani. :)

Sketching Day 8

February 8, 2013
Although we don't have snow here, I've been thinking fondly about winter and my sketches went that way too. These are some of my favorites.

Also, I found this little gem in my sketchbook from a month or so ago and couldn't resist throwing it into the wintery mix page.
 

Sketching Day 7

February 7, 2013
A long and rough day, I decided to just work on some lettering and focus on something that's true.

Sketching Day 6

February 6, 2013
It was an odd day of sketching. I had read a lot of picture books about animals so I'm guessing that's why my brain immediately went to birds and crocodiles. And then, late last night I started drawing this little old woman. Next I wondered what her husband would look like, and her house… and that's where this odd little drawing came from. I like it. Very different for me, but I really want to know more about them and their quaint little home.

Sketching Day 5

February 5, 2013
I love to create icons. A bit obsessive about them really.

sketch to card

My little elephant sketch and birthday lettering from day 2 has now become a lovely little card for one of my dearest friend's little girl.

I am so thrilled about how it turned out. I scanned in all the separate parts, cleaned them up a bit in PhotoShop, decided on a layout and then I painted them in PhotoShop as well. I realized after that it would have been way faster to use real watercolors and paint by hand, since I'm so much more comfortable with a real brush than virtual ones. But it was a fun and good experience and something I'll probably dabble more with here and there. To complete the watercolor painted look, I cut some watercolor paper to size and printed the finished design directly onto it. Love the result! The texture and weight of the paper is perfect and the card looks stunning in person.

Hope the little birthday girl (and her parents!) love it!

Sketching Day 4

February 4, 2013
Some quick, but sweet sketches of my little one. First time I've ever tried to draw her.

Sketching Day 3

February 3, 2013
Just barely got any sketching in with a full day yesterday. Practiced some lettering though. Rough, but I got it in. Had to have a football of course being it was the SuperBowl. :)

Sketching Day 2

February 2, 2013

Really inspired and enjoying myself. Drawn some from vintage children's cards. Working on a birthday card for a friend's kid. Bottom right kid copied directly from lovetoillustrate.blogspot.com. I take no credit for that cutie.

Sketching day 1

February 1, 2013
Inspired by Don Madden characters.

28 Days of Sketching

A new project for myself. Hoping for habit-formation, inspiration, improvement, and whatever else occurs.

As we head into the new year, if you've been missing my voice here; you can find me over at Three Books a Night. That's right, my new blog is up! This is the place for all things children's book related. I finally have an outlet for my obsessive passion about children's picture books and you can bet I won't run out of content anytime soon. I'll be back here eventually with more illustration and design inspiration and work once I feel settled in a bit more. Hope to see you there!

Merry Christmas and happy New Year!

yes, this is an update

January 9, 2012

So things never seem to turn out like we expect. What is that saying "the best laid plans…?" Nevertheless, after receiving a few comments and questions regarding the goals in my last post (from November) I realized I needed to make an update. Things are still in the works, just at a slower pace. And the above illustration is why. I'm still working on my illustration style, the above illustration being a great example of what I'm trying out, but as today is my "best guess date" for our first child's arrival – things illustration/blog/and business-wise have been on hold. I knew I was pregnant when I made that post in November, but I was coming off the first trimester crud and was a lot more ambitious about where I could have things before little one made the debut.

As for the illustration, (which I promised every post would have from now on so at least I'm keeping that goal!), I created that back in January and intended to make a New Year's card out of it, and then a Valentine's Day card, and then we gave up. It just never came together. But I still love it. It will get used somewhere. It's really the first time I've ever done an illustration that really felt like my style. It makes me excited to look at and think about what I can do next. I have filled out a few more pages of my sketchbook as well, but nothing as finished as this and so I'm waiting til I can focus a little more heartily on it.

Now, with the little one coming any day, I'm not making any promises. But, I will be back, and I guarantee that this blog is not going to become baby-zone and neither will I. That's not me and it doesn't fit the passionate goals I have created for myself and this space either. I'm sure there will be an illustration here and there of the little one, which I'm super excited about illustrating, but I still have ideas swirling that need to get out as well. So stay tuned. It's still coming. It's just one of those extra-long, it will be worth it when it does come kind of things.

No. 2 pencils required… and probably an eraser or two

Welcome November! I'm so glad you are here. And thanks to you dear friends who still check this blog occasionally. My absence will not be felt any longer. But I'm about to shake things up and change it all around. (Officially) starting this month, I'm no longer a graphic designer, but a full-time illustrator working for myself! Woohoo! If you've known me for long, you've known this was always my (and our) hope. A couple months ago we decided it was time to give it a go. I'm not going to lie, I'm scared to death. The past few months have been different, shaky, and full with unexpected things. But I'm also very excited to try my hand at this, literally. (Sorry, it was begging for a joke.)

So, here's what is coming up:
1. The blog will be getting a new header (hopefully this week), and will definitely be getting a new focus. My goal is to blog at least once a week, but hopefully once a day during the typical work week. The once a day thing is going to have to be felt out as I'm determined that each post should from now on contain some form of an illustration, done by me or perhaps an inspiration piece I discover.
2. As mentioned above, each post should include an illustration of some sort.
3. I'll be doing themes most weeks for my own illustration challenges which will probably be quite apparent on the blog, so don't get weirded out if there are a lot of posts about penguins one week and then umbrellas the next.

There are other tricks up my pencil smudged sleeves, but they are going to come in time. Perhaps that will make it more exciting. But I decided it was high time I break the silence and give myself some blog-public goals for where this old friend is headed. Things to look out for in the future, and if you feel so led, to encourage me about are:
• my new portfolio site
• an etsy store including items like calendars, custom portraits, random prints and more
• another blog with a focus on something I'm uber-passionate about
• my first official venture into children's book illustration

Buckle your seat belt. I have no idea what kind of a ride this is going to be.

my favorite time of year

I can't believe September is leaving so soon. But I'm thrilled to the bone about the cool weather, the changing leaves, the sweaters I just unpacked… Yay fall!

September was an overly full month. I have a lot to catch up on, and much news to share eventually; but not now. Now I bask in the open windows, listen to the dog snore, and catch up on some long awaited pinning.

Happy fall friends!

[image via Cup of Jo]

so I may be a little obsessed

If you haven't heard of Pinterest yet, well, now you have. Pinterest is an online bulletin board of sorts that you can "pin" inspiration, photos, any image to and label, categorize and source it. It functions as an awesome moodboard source so you can see all the items you've labeled similarly on one long screen. I think it is a sickness. I heard about it a while ago, but as I tend to do with all buzzing media ventures, I ignored it. That is, until last week. Within 5 minutes, I was hooked.

Finally a place to store some of my favorite delicious bookmarks and see a moodboard of inspiration! So, for now, since I never seem to be here, I'm probably over there. You can see my bustling boards here if you are interested.

[image from marta writes]

the Appalachians are seeping into my skin

Stumbled across this new musician today, Jess Williamson. Her music is very simple and I'm loving it. Her banjo strumming and her gorgeous voice are quite the combo. Can't wait to hear more from her.

It looks like she is also a photographer. I'm particularly drawn to this image.

seriously crossing my fingers, and toes and whatever else I can cross…

Have I mentioned the rocking awesome designer blog Oh Happy Day! yet? I seriously can't remember. It's one of my all-time favorite blogs along with many other people. But now, they are even more my favorite thanks to this little (understatement of the century) giveaway.

So here is me, trying to get work done and yet continually wishing for the 20th to come so that Jordan will announce the winner and my agony of waiting will be over. Wish me luck, and enter yourself if you so desire!

pictures like this

make me smile. And laugh. And dream of ways for Rosie and I to travel like this. And wonder if the rider is in the circus. And what would it be like to be in the circus. And I wonder if I could wear those shoes.

(image from public bikes)

p.s. bike in image is my new bike. Long story. But I love it! And Rosie will too as soon as we purchase a basket for her to ride in…

pardon the absence…

my last week was spent with these girls

doing things like cooking, playing, crafting, and watching Mark read ginormous books

I chatted with my neighbor for a bit

Nice fellow. At a distance at least.

the week at a glance

The days go by so quickly. Sometimes I look back on the day and think "did I even breathe through this one?" I was just thinking about my blog this morning and feeling the usual guilt that I've neglected it yet again. I want to blame it on busyness which is always valid, but in some ways, I don't want to have to have a reason. I think it is just the way I blog. It's sort of like reading for me. I would consider myself an avid reader, but I go through what Mark and I like to call "reading binges." I may have a month or 2 dragging through the same book and maybe never entirely finish it and then suddenly I'll hit a weekend where I read 3 or 4 books and be done. Perhaps these binges are a clue to my personality. At least they are of the healthy binge variety.

Yesterday I made an actual paper to-do list, which is something I love to do but haven't done in a while. It was long. Full of everything that really must be done this week. Until I made that list, I was feeling overwhelmed by the week. Wishing I could somehow magically insert 4 more days into the typical 5. But once it was all down on paper, I started to breathe more normally again. I found a different energy, sparked by the desire to mark something off the list. It's like those gold stars that I use to get in first grade on my desk paper when I finished all my homework and more. Those are a real motivator for me. It seems silly that getting to put a check next to something on my list serves as motivation, but I'll take it. I'm proud to say that nearly half my week's list was completed yesterday. And today will hopefully fair as well.

I have another list that tends to sit for longer periods of time and often I add more to it than I cross-off. This is my Projects list. All the ideas I come up with for decorating the house, fixing things, and personal art projects. It is an exciting list and I'm often depressed that I'm so far behind on it — like the yearly photo albums I really want to do to capture the images from each year of marriage and life. I'm 3 and a half years behind on this one, but I'm tightly crossing my fingers that I work on it this summer.

This week however, we have been tackling something off that list with a vengeance… the downstairs bathroom fix-up. Two weekends ago, on Holy Saturday, amidst all the craziness surrounding Holy Week and the music album (which is still yet to be released, stay tuned) and music for Easter morning, Mark and I awoke early and I said, "Let's demo the bathroom and put it the way we want." Amazingly enough, Mark said, "Great!" And we did.

Demo took all of one day and served to completely freak out the poor dog. So the last week and weekend we spent spackling and sanding on repeat trying to get a smooth wall once again after removing the construction bathroom mirror which is always GLUED to the wall. Yes, glued! Aggravates me to no end. Thankfully though, Mark whipped out his amazing sanding chops and I think the wall looks fantastic. So this weekend, we put a coat of primer and repainted the whole bathroom with the same color as before, but in semi-gloss for maximum moisture protection. This week, we must put the new light fixture, mirror and vanity into place and the bathroom will look better than it ever has.

So you may be asking, why the sudden need to do this after waiting for 3 years? Good question. The answer is quite simple: my sister, bro-in-law, and three little nieces. We are getting a happy visit in just 2 short weeks and being my mother's daughter, I've been obsessing over the state of the house and how to make it perfect for their short visit. Granted, this is the first time they will be seeing our house and I also happen to be faulted with a need to be known as someone with good housekeeping skills.

On another note, call me crazy, but I'm also running a massive yard sale this weekend for a couple families, including ours. So, amidst the bathroom reno and dust, we have piles, SERIOUS piles of stuff that I'm slowly working on organizing and tagging for the yard sale. This is my first yard sale ever and I am psyched. We've been brutal about getting rid of things this go around and so far I'm very proud. Even as I'm terrified that I'll completely screw up the sale somehow. But I figure you have to start somewhere. So here we go! Wish us luck.

Now, I just reread this post checking for spelling errors and general flow and I realized, there is no point to this post. I'm going to put it up anyway, because sometimes life is like that. It doesn't feel like there is a point, but it still happens. So happy Tuesday and I hope you are having a remarkable day even if it doesn't feel like one.

become someone else

 

"When one reads books, he/she starts living it and identifies (or not) with main hero. These print ads for the Mint Vinetu bookstore, which sells lots of classics, focuses on the idea of becoming someone else. And provokes people to try on different personas."

Yay for reading! Yay for creative ad campaigns! Yay for books!

[ad campaign by Love, seen first on Black*Eiffel]

another photo obsession

about a month ago, I discovered the Instagram app for my phone. Things will never be the same.

polaroids for music

Mt Desolation - Departure from BABANUKI films on Vimeo.

Not sure about the song, but love the use of polaroids for the videos. Also really cool is that the artists recorded themselves on webcams or personal video cameras and were brought together through the polaroid concept of the video. Great idea!

(via Black Eiffel)

digesting saturday

this is an instagram of some tangible things I accumulated on Saturday.

The intangible things are innumerable.
Saturday, April 2, 2011, I attended a 1-day conference called "Focus on Children's Literature." I discovered it just a few days before its occurrence. Thanks to a helpful little Knoxville email list I happen to be on, I was scouring the emails' many contents late one evening last week and happened to see this event in small little letters. My heart's beat quickened. I raced into our studio bearing the iPad and held its screen directly in front of my dear man's face. With pleading eyes, I asked that I be able to go at whatever cost to our wallet and our weekend plans. My darling man vehemently agreed and we proceeded to get me registered as quickly as our finger typing skills allowed.

Fast forward to Saturday morning, skipping much anticipation and dreams about what the day would hold, I abnormally awoke early, agonized over my attire and got myself to the school that was hosting it about 12 minutes early. My plan had been to get there a bit early, be able to scope the place out, settle my nerves and calmly drink my coffee until registration began. Ah, the joke was on me. My fellow attendees, I did not realize, were about 200 librarians and teachers, all eagerly anticipating Knoxville's first children's lit conference as well. And apparently all of them are used to getting up early and being at a school building. Who knew! Feeling a little behind already, I got myself into the building, successfully found my tiny packet of helpful info and unhappily attached the sticky nametag to myself. That's when I spotted the book sale table being set up. And so did every other eager beaver in the room.

Thankfully, I kept my wits about me and didn't rush to the table. I would not have survived such a daring move. Instead I maintained a safe distance and became a pro at peeking through tiny openings between varying heights, bent elbows and wide hips. In my attempts to keep this post less than a youth novel length, let's just say I visited that book sale table 4 times throughout the day and came home with that lovely stack of books in the top right corner of above instagram. Contents are:
Pretty Penny Sets Up Shop (which I first discovered here)
All Kinds of Families! (a favorite French illustrator)
Seasons
Being a Pig is Nice (author of The Jesus Storybook Bible)
Snow Rabbit, Spring Rabbit (first discovered here)
Applesauce Season (by Caldecott illustrator and includes a recipe!)
Busing Brewster (by one of the main speakers)

The conference itself was fabulous. Jack Gantos, author of many books including the Rotten Ralph series, was the first main speaker. He's a brilliantly hilarious man with witty stories and many surprising thoughts. He gave a great talk about what makes picture books work and he illustrated his points with about 20 famous books like Where the Wild Things Are and Ferdinand the Bull. I captured so many inspiring quotes from him and can't wait to read more of his books. "Read more books and get smarter."

Next up was a screening of the new documentary Library of the Early Mind which I actually posted about in anticipation here last June. Co-producer Steven Withrow was there to talk about it and he was amazingly insightful and had a passion for children's literature that was extremely contagious.

Skipping details about lunch, we went back into a panel discussion about the film and children's literature with Jack Gantos, Steven Withrow, and the last speaker, Richard Michelson. They covered many thoughts and also ruminated on the well-known NY Times article about the demise of the picture book. Upon mention of said article, I'm pretty sure I felt the entire room suck in their breath. My feelings on this topic are another post including a very large soapbox.

Finally, the event was closed with another great talk by author Richard Michelson about his childhood, ventures with his art galleries and career in authoring picture books.

After the event, there were author signings, more book buyings and a near purchase of an awesome poster by Mo Willems from R. Michelson's gallery, but some sneaky librarian woman hooked it first.

I have many more thoughts about this awesome conference, but those are for myself, one-on-one conversations and a much bigger story. Here lies my documentation of the event for myself and anyone else who may be interested. I proceed to again and again thank my sweet husband for allowing me to spend the entire day dreaming, thinking and spending money on my beloved passion of children's books. I also wish to thank the CCYAL for putting on this event and hope to keep posted of more things they offer.

Until further posts on the subject, I've begun to again count my pennies and save up for the annual Children's Festival of Reading! Hoorah!!

for my own inspiration

Thank you for your brilliance Tomi.
[via his blog]