Published!

At the beginning of the year the magazine, Cloth Paper Scissors had a readers' challenge called "Make Mine Mini". Readers had to submit a piece of artwork no bigger than 4"x4" in size. My art was one of the 40 plus chosen to be published in the May/June issue of the magazine!

I have to be honest, I am over the moon about this! This little critter is something I have loved creating and the background is so fun and colorful. This 4"x4" piece of art is the style I enjoy making most. Having it chosen out of the hundreds submitted feels like a huge validation. I know I'm on the right path for my art. This is also quite the motivation to keep creating! I've been trying my best to continue sketching every day. Once April is over I hope to get some larger pieces done and maybe get an Etsy shop opened! Here are a few other things I've been doing.

Artist Trading Cards

Painted Papers

Sketches

 

 

I'm sorry but I think the Tutu Hippo is too too cute! Sketching what I want, just for me, is very freeing.

Until next time!

 

Bitten by the Comparison Bug

It happens to all artists. We look at other artists' work. We love what we see and then we start to compare our work to theirs. I try very very hard not to do this. I know comparison is the death of creativity. So, if I find myself comparing, I try and take a more analytical approach. I don't want to paint like the artists I admire but I do wonder "what do they have that I am missing in my art?".

So I looked at the Etsy shops of some of my favorite artists to see if I could figure out the quality or qualities these artists have that. I checked out Juliette Crane's, Mindy Lacefield's and Danita's. Each of these women have a very distinctive style and a consistent style. It doesn't matter what the subject matter is, you can look at any of these artists' work and know who the painter is. This was an "aha" moment and a "well duh" moment too. I can tell a Renoir from a Degas no matter what they painted. So, I looked at the work I have created over the past year. I can see some consistency in my work but I think my style changes when the subject matter changes.

These girl paintings have a similar look.

And so do these but, I'm not sure the style is similar to the ones above.

These animal paintings are similar in style but, do they go with the girl paintings?

And then I've been making this style of animal. I used collage and watercolor on these atcs. Do they go with my other paintings?

I'm still learning I suppose. Developing my style and finding out how I like to paint. I admit I'm still all over the place. Exploring art supplies and what I enjoy drawing. I love color and whimsy. I also love my serene girls. Ugh! I don't know. The only thing I can keep doing is paint, draw and paint and draw some more. The other thing that the artists I admire have in common is years of experience. They've been painting a long time and it likely took more than a year for them to find their style. Comparison isn't always a bad thing. It can help you be objective. You just can't get stuck in the "comparison mode". You have to move on and just paint.

 

A Short Vacation!

April is going to be one busy month. My daughter turns 4 and we have two parties planned, one for family and one for friends. There are two Spring Fling Events this month. Strawberry picking with my son's school and a community yard sale. Whew! I'm exhausted typing all this. It's a good thing we took a short vacation at the beginning of the month!

We went to New Bern, NC. It's about two hours away from Raleigh (which is the area I live). It was a pretty laid back vacation. We mostly did things at the resort where we were staying. It had an indoor pool so, the kids were thrilled. We did take a day to go to Atlantic Beach and the NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores. The kids had a blast!

Here are some photos from our day.

 

 

 

Silly me thought the kids wouldn't want to go in the water at the beach since it was 55 degrees. I forgot kids are immune to cold (it's why they want to play outside when it's 20 out!). They got soaked! We had to strip them down and buy t-shirts for them to wear on the way home. The joy on their faces made the sandy mess all worth it. I wish we lived closer to the ocean.

 

 

I didn't get any art done while I was gone. That's okay. Sometimes you need a break. I'm getting back to work now. I'll be sharing new projects soon!

Have a wonderful weekend.

 

Continuing My Year of Drawing

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.

We celebrated Easter.

I am continuing my daily drawing practice but, it's kind of morphed into something else. I had a stack of small pieces of paper to be used for my 10 minute sketches. But now I have several sketchbooks going at once. It's quite disorganized actually. I should come up with a proper system but I haven't quite figured that out yet. Here are some of the sketches I've done the past few days. Some are quick sketches and some I spent time coloring and playing with. Some may even end up on my blog. The Fox in my new header is one of the sketches I did this week.

I sketched this dog from a picture in a magazine. I thought he was cute.

This is from a drawing book I have. I like giving a more realistic animal a go so I know it's key features.

Another fox. I think this will be a painting very soon.

A girly.

I think this guy will be on my blog soon.

 

I'm trying very hard to stay busy and keep the creative momentum up. I will have other work to show you later this week.

Have a wonderful day.

 

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