Boys and Girls Club Illustration

I wanted to share this illustration I did awhile ago. My mom is on the board of directors of my hometown Boys and Girls Club, and I was lucky enough to be chosen to illustrate for their fundraiser this year. 

My illustration was featured on the invitation, envelope, and a signed print was auctioned off at the event as well. 

They are going to have a new artist every year which I think is a great idea, and fun for the artists in the community to participate in such a great cause. 

I hope your week is going well! 

Around Here

Here are some of the pics from this week. How cool are those bowler hat lights? 


I have no idea where the week went! It was a good one, but here's hoping next week is a bit more productive :0) 


Have an awesome weekend! 

Illustration Friday - Lonely

This week's Illustration Friday topic is "lonely." The mermaid idea just came to me.  Maybe she's the last of the mermaids and wishes she could join the people on the boat :0) 


With some help from commenters, I realized that I sometimes have a tendency to include too much of the background scene which takes away from the focus of the painting. 


So here is a more tightly cropped version of the painting:

Which do you prefer? 


Also, this is my 100th post! I feel great to have made it to 100, and I am still really enjoying blogging and the community of artists I have "met" through the blog. Thanks for reading! 

Weekly Pics

Here are some pics from this week. 


Looking forward to some fun and relaxation this weekend! I hope you have a great one! 

Illustration Friday - Carry

This week's Illustration Friday topic is "carry."  I had a bunch of thoughts for this one,  I went with the teacups because stacked teacups always seem beautiful to me. The bird idea came to me as I was painting. 

I did two things with this digital painting that make me uncomfortable, I included a person and went with a more "naive" style than a realistic one. I also played around a bit more with my digital techniques. 

Overall I like the whimsical quality of this one, and I'm glad I went outside of my own boundaries. I just have to remember that I'm not going to get better without practicing drawing people (duh!) and I should get over it not looking "perfect." 

Thanks for visiting, I hope you're having a great week! 

The Other Kind of Painting

My boyfriend and I are moving into a new place soon, and I've been picking out paint colors for the walls. I went to school for and worked as an interior designer so I'm not a stranger to picking paint colors, but it's definitely still a fun process! 

I was inspired to do the above illustration by the prospect of painting the walls. It's been awhile since I did a digital illustration. 


I'm going to try to work mostly digitally for the next couple weeks to try to get in some practice. I'm still working on getting a more natural/less digital look.

I saw this clutch at Kate Spade yesterday and thought it was very cute and worth sharing here :0) 

Creative Mojo

I had one of those weeks were I didn't have a lot of creative mojo going on (as you can see I only have two pictures worth sharing). I had ideas for illustrations/projects, but didn't have the passion or energy to create them. 


I don't think it's possible to create things all of the time, and after a week of recharging I feel inspired and better about what next week will bring. 


What do you do to snap back when you feel like you're in a creative slump? 

Weekly Snaps

Here are some of the pictures I took in the last two weeks. Makes me wish I had leftovers of the cupcakes I made! 


Just a reminder if you want to purchase any of my instagrams you can do so here. 


Have a great weekend! 

Illustration Friday - Suspend

Haha I'm finally back in action for Illustration Friday! This week's topic is "suspend." I was brainstorming hanging things and ended up thinking of a yoyo. 

It was also good opportunity to practice painting a hand/skin tones. I think this is the second time ever I've attempted skin in watercolor and it was just as hard as I thought it was going to be.

 I think my lighter color is okay but the darker area looks a little too brown. Anyone have tips for getting a good skin tone? 

Have a great Thursday! 

Monterey Watercolor

I didn't get much painting done while I was gone (in Monterey and then Colorado), but I did spend the afternoon I was in Monterey painting my view. I used my travel watercolor brushes and my Monsieur Notebook (which can't handle really wet washes by the way). 


It was challenging to capture the different kind of textures and greens going on. I think I need to do more nature painting :0) 


I'm having a nightmare trying to get the internet hooked up in my art studio, but will try to keep up with my posting in the mean time. 


I hope your 4th of July was great and you're enjoying the summer so far! 

Recent Pictures

Sorry I didn't get around to posting this week. I'm still getting settled in the art studio and getting ready for a trip next week. I'll try to do a post here and there while I'm away and then be back in full force after that.


I hope you have a great weekend! 

Moving

Hey there! I did a little watercolor to explain why I haven't been around much this week (and probably won't be around till next week). 

I'm moving my various art supplies into a real art studio! Yippee. Lots of work to do still to get settled. So I'll be back soon. 

I hope your week is going well!

This Week...

...was colorful! 

Are you watching the US Open? It's very exciting to have it here. 

I hope you have a great weekend! 

Illustration Friday - Shiny

This week's Illustration Friday topic is "shiny." I thought of shiny hair and blowing bubbles so I decided to incorporate both ideas. 


This was my first time really attempting to do hair since I've gotten better at painting. It wasn't as hard as I built it up in my mind.  


On the other hand, the bubbles were a lot harder to capture than I thought they would be. I did many practice ones before doing them for real and they still don't quite have that shiny feeling I wanted. I think it might be something that is easier to capture in another medium, like digital. 


At the end of the day, I'm pretty darn happy with this one. I hope you like it too! 

Father's Day Card Free Printable & Gift Ideas

Download Here

I painted this on my new Arches watercolor paper and really like how easily it scanned. The file has guidelines for cutting out and a fold line. It would look lovely printed on card stock or watercolor paper. 

Oh and in case you don't know, Emperor Penguin males incubate the eggs for months while females go off to find food. 

Here are some gifts I think many dads would love for Father's Day: 

Sources:
Bacon & Chocolate Truffles
Golf Grilling Set
Wood iPhone Case
Himalayan Salt Tequila Glasses (Tequila would be a good gift too!) 
Old School Radio & iPhone Player
Camera Flask 

Weekly Pics

Here are some of the Instagrams I took this week. 


The last picture is the book I wanted for my birthday "Drawing the Head and Hands" and my sketches as I try to work through it. Im only a little ways into it and still need a lot of practice before I get the hang of the basic head structure. 


I hope you have a fantastic weekend! I hope to get a lot of creative stuff done. 

Illustration Friday - Hurry!

This week's Illustration Friday topic is "Hurry!" 


I thought of watching an hourglass and hoping that the time would go faster. Sometimes the things you want in life are slow in coming to you (jobs, promotions, love, etc) and you just wanna yell hurry up all ready :0) 


I hope you can see that idea in the illustration. 


Have a great one! 

Weekly Planner Printable

Download Here

(Does not have the logo on it)

In my blog stats I see that a lot of people are searching for cute printable weekly planners. I also searched for cute planners previously and came up empty handed before I made this one. 

I made a new one that is a bit more summery, and has room for a "at some point" box. Sometimes I don't want to add too many things to do on one day, so I'll put it in the "at some point" box and then feel good when I've got something "extra" done off that list. 

I hope your week is flying by! 

June Desktop Background

Download Here:

1680 x 1050

1600 x 1200

1280 x 800

iPad*

iPhone*

Here's the June background calendar for you finally! I had fun painting beach attire during this raining day in SF. 




*For iPad and iPhone hold your finger down on the image for a couple seconds and then hit save image. You can then go into your picture app and set it as a background. Just in case anyone needs a little technical help :0)