Illustration Friday "Snow"

This new piece works perfectly for the Illustration Friday subject "Snow". I spent a lot of time on it, especially the scarf. I was trying to get a lot of detail in the texture. I mostly used watercolor and added some colored pencil at the end to beef up some shadowing. I'm going to add it to my portfolio and it was also my Christmas cards this year. Hope everyone enjoys them!

The end of Sweet Squares...the beginning of something new!

Well, I wish I could say that I completed all those sweet squares for November, but I didn't. This isn't the first time I didn't accomplish a goal nor will it be the last time. I need to re-think what types of goals I set for myself. Maybe instead of commiting to draw a sweet square everyday for 30 days, I should have given myself a more attainable goal of creating a portfolio piece by the end of November. OK so what? I didn't acheive my goal. The world still turns AND I did actually make a portfolio piece! In the future I'll make my goals more relevant and challenging, as well as attainable.

And now here is the remainder of my sweet squares...

A little mouse. Probably looking for a morsel of food. Graphite.

A mouse with a mustache of course. Why not? Graphite.

Just a quick little doodle. My daughter decided it needed some color. Graphite, colored pencil.

I got an awesome scarf at Old Navy that has all these great colors in it. It's so bright.

A little comic joke. :)

Happy Thanksgiving! I'm so thankful for my family. They've given me so much support on my illustration journey.

And here's all 20 of my "Sweet Squares"! Looks very pretty all together.

Sweet Squares November 8th-14th

Well that last week went fast! Turkey day is coming up, I can almost smell those mashed potatoes. So here's week 2 of my Sweet Squares. It was a fun doing these, I played around with more color and loosened up a bit. Enjoy!

Nov. 8th - November wouldn't be complete with out putting a moustache on something. Here's a cat for Movember , complete with moustache and top hat. I think he lost his monocle. This one was quickly done in watercolor pencil. I dipped the tip in water so the pencils had a soft feel to them, almost like pastels crayons. Probably the wrong way to use them, but I really liked how this turned out. Don't be surprised if you see something else with a moustache later this month.

Nov. 9th - Here's my attempt at a self portrait cartoon style. It need some work to say the least. Talk about helmet head…

Nov. 10th - After reading runaway bunny I had this vision of a bunny in his den after the carrot harvest. Totally stuffed, he had to take a little nap. He'd sleep in his bed, but it's covered in carrots!

Nov. 11th - Bunny theme continued, this is a pattern idea for a sleeper, or a tee. I colored it digitally in photoshop. Quick, fun, and easy! Will definitely try this method again.

Nov.12th - A study of a polar bear for my christmas cards this year. It might be a little early, but if I don't do it now no one will get their cards until January. Bring on the snow!

Nov.13th - I need a background for my website and twitter accounts. I thought bubbles would tie in nicely with bits n baubles.

Nov. 14th - Another sketch study of a polar bear for the Christmas card. This is the one I'm going with. I'm going to add couple of penguins and color it in. Not sure what medium yet.

Well there you have it! Week 2 of Sweet Squares. Are you doing sweet squares this month or SkADaMo ? Post your link for me, I'd love to see everyone's work!

Sweet Squares November 2nd-7th

Well the first week of this project went fast. Christmas will be here before we know it. Not very colorful this week. It's been easier drawing at the end of the day than the beginning, so most of these were drawn while I was in my jammies.

Nov. 2nd - Eeek! I didn't want to post this one. It's not really finished. We have all these great Prismacolor markers lying around the office from the yesteryear of catalog design. Most of them still work too! Found out that soft graphite pencils tend to smear when the marker is applied so it looks a little muddy. Do you believe they used to give all the employees here milk and cookies everyday every afternoon?? Add a nap in there and now you're talking!

Nov. 3rd - I love coffee. Nuff said.

Nov. 4th -Can this squirrel possibly fit another seed in his mouth?? Yep, he's going to try...

Nov. 5th - Contour lines...what else can I say about contour lines?

Nov. 6th - I voted for President...Barak Obama won. I'm not into politics so I'm not going to say who I voted for.

Nov. 7th - A little bit of character work. I keep wondering if my characters have enough depth to them. These were fun to do, so I might keep trying some more.

So that's that for the first week of Sweet Squares. Feel free to drop a line, I'd love to hear about your own sweet square experiment. Just leave your blog or web address. Onward to week 2...

Artisans' Hands Debut

A couple of months ago I designed a logo for a local store in Buffalo, NY called Artisans' Hands. Last week was their debut! They have a wonderful selection from 10,000 Villages and will eventually sell local handcrafted goods in the future. Perhaps I found a vehicle to sell some prints?? So If you live in the the Buffalo region stop by and check it out!

  

30 Day Challenge - Sweet Squares

So it's been 2 months since I decided to get back into the habit of putting pencil to paper. But I still don't do it everyday. I heard about a project from one of the ladies in my illustrator critique group, Kelli Brooks who was inspired by Diandra Mae (who was inspired by Melissa Sweet). The idea is to produce a little something in a 3x3 square and experiment using a different medium or technique each day for 30 days. I've decided to start my own "Sweet Squares" and who knows maybe I'll find MY style.

Day 1 -

Funky Mushroom Trees, Graphite on Paper

Happy Halloween!

Here's my Illustration Friday submission for this week. Subject is "Haunt". I was tyrying to tell a story without any words so hopefully I was successful. I had this drawn up awhile ago, but I was so scared to add color to it. I thought I was going to mess it up. It turned out pretty nice though, and I'm happy with myself for finally finishing it.

A rainy Autumn

It seems like the month of October has brought more rain than shine. I was inspired to draw this by my daughter jumping in puddles, much to my dismay.

"Breaking into Freelance Illustration"

If you're just starting out on a creative independence journey and looking for a great resource, look no further than Holly DeWolf's "Breaking into Freelance Illustration". Holly does a wonderful job bringing all aspects of freelance illustration to focus. While highlighting the difficult road ahead, Holly continually encourages the reader to press forward and not give up. This is a must read for any art student planning on making it on their own. I only wish that I had had a resource as amazing as this one when I graduated college. But, here's to second chances!

Do you have an inspirational or freelance business book to share? I'd love to here about it! I'm always looking for something to read. Thanks!
-Amanda

About me...

Wow it's hard to write about oneself. I don't know how many times I rewrote it. Thought I would get a little help from google. But do you know there are 178,000,000 articles related to "How to write a bio"? Yikes. So after writing multiple versions I think I found one I like; at least for now. Here I am!

Illustration Friday submission for the week: Mirror

These two mice are just "mousing" around!

Getting back to doing what I love...

It's been a long time since I sat down with a sketch book and actually drew something on paper, maybe 10 years. I have a BFA in Printmaking but, I'm currently an art director/graphic designer so I feel attached to my desk most of the time. A few weeks ago I sketched a little doodle for my daughter's birthday invitation...and it felt so good! Since then I've spent nearly every night (after the kids go to bed of course) drawing and painting. Feeling very rusty and out of practice, I try not to dwell on everyone else's work. It'll drive me crazy if I do and I won't want to keep going.

I started a blog to help me keep focused on my goal of becoming a children's illustrator. I'm so excited at the possabilities! I'm currently working on a portfolio before I start getting really serious. Here's the link to my current work. My ultimate goal is children's books, but one step at a time.