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!