Cute...mice?

Here are a couple of mice I created on Facebook's Graffiti app. I think I'm getting much better with this app, but I think it would be so much better if I had a tablet. For now, I'm stuck using the mouse...so I drew mice! LoL! :)

Process

I love it when illustrators and artists show their process of what they start out with to their finished product, so I thought I would share one of mine. Okay, first here's a rough sketch I did.

And here's the drawing I did in pen and ink that looks a little bit better. :)

And here's the final piece I have ended up with so far.

I colored the picture in with watercolors, and I LOVE the bright colors, but I need to make the girl with the flashlight's shirt a little bit darker since it's blending in with the 'monster' behind her. Still, I think it turned out better than I planned. I'm not sure if it's because I put more time and detail into it or because the watercolors are working out better than my other mediums. I'll have to do some more pictures before I know for sure. :)

More robots....

Here is a picture I did last night with watercolor pencils. I thought it was cute, although I can't think of any sort of story or quote to go with it. I'm not sure if the blue robot is consoling the green one or what, but still, I thought it was cute. :)

So much to get, so little time....

Christmas is only about a month away now. (Less than a month, actually! :) So I thought I would post this octopus to show how I'll need about ten arms to get all my gifts intime for the holidays! :) I'm so excited about Christmas this year. Of course, I think I get excited about Christmas every year, but this year seems different. Maybe it's because we have our decorations up early this year, or because it seems like it was just Halloween yesterday and if I blink again, Christmas will already be here and gone.
Either way, I can't wait to see everyone on Christmas morning, and to have that good feeling that comes when you give someone something that they really, truly want. :)

Let the show begin!

I absolutely love this picture. I created it with my watercolor pencils and ink, and thought it was just so cute! It looks like this frog prince is standing in front of a curtain to me, so I guess he's the one telling everyone that the show is about to begin! :)

Quote of the Week

"The painting has a life of its own." ~Jackson Pollock

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody! :) Gobble, Gobble!

A new car

Today has been one rough day for me. I don't know if I've posted about it before, but if not, then I'll do it now. My car is now gone. I was going to work this morning and the poor thing didn't even make it out of the driveway. The transmission is going out and while it may have a few more miles left on it, I don't think it will last much longer. So, I took the day off of work (as I didn't have much of a car of my own to get me there anyway) and tried to go find another one to buy. So my day has not been much of a happy one. So, I thought to help my spirits, I would post this cute little car I did over the weekend. It's not the best, but if I had a real car like that, I'd be happy. :) It's also done with watercolor pencils, and ink.

Billy goat

Here's what I've been working on over the weekend. Watercolors! :) I did this goat with an ink pen and a black watercolor pencil. I've got tons of watercolor pics and several black and white pics now, so be sure to look for them! :)

One a piece

I've been on a creating rampage this weekend, and I've discovered that I love watercolor pencils. They're so much fun, and I've figured out how to create some pretty pictures with them! So, while I was creating some pictures, my neice wanted a picture of a ballerina, so I drew her one. But I couldn't possibly draw her something without drawing something for the other two, so I made a robot for my oldest nephew( since he loves "Transfomers" and gagdety things) and a frog prince for my youngest nephew, since he kept pointing to the frogs on my capri pajamas. :) So, here are all three pictures together. A robot, a frog, and a ballerina.

Quote of the Week

"Whatever you can do, or dream you can, Begin it." ~Goethe

A perfect day for a scarf and mittens

Like my title says, it's a perfect day for a scarf and mittens. So what did I put on this morning? My scarf and mittens! :D

Plus, since Thanksgiving is next week, I decided to go ahead and upload a picture for it. I did this one on Facebook's graffiti, so it's not as good as I would like, since I'm still getting the hang of the application, but it's kind of cute, so I thought I would post it for the holiday season, and since the weather seems to have that holiday feel to it. :)

How do I see my self....

I don't know why, but I've been doing bunches and bunches of self portraits lately. I guess I'm just trying to figure out which one best describes me. Here's another one I did last night that I really liked. I thought it turned out really well. I wasn't looking to make another self portrait, but it sort of turned out that way. :) This is how I imagine my chic self, I suppose. Very calm and collected and somewhat sarcastic. :)

Some late night sketches

Here are some late night sketches I've done over the past few weeks and months. And yes, I'm fully aware that there are only two little pigs, and not three as there should be. I guess that just means I'll have to draw another little piggy! :D

I think this pic is supposed to be me when I'm daydreaming. :)

And here is a group of Robots I drew, just for fun. :) I seem to love robots, but Idon't know why. I just like drawing them I guess.

Copyrights and laws

All right, this has been in the back of my mind ever since I've started my blog, and even my friends and family have asked me about it, but as far as I know, I've done everything I can to protect my work. But, after reading this post/article from another illustrator/artist, I thought I would post the link so you guys can read it for yourself, as well as the comments. Plus, when I looked at my stats the other day, I saw that someone had visited my website by searching for "steal facebook graffiti". This bothered me and after seeing the post, it bothers me even more as I think about it. I already try to put my name on almost all of my work, yet I know sometimes a piece or two, or three or four, might get past me without my signature. Yet, even signatures can be cropped out or smudged over. But I have all the originals, so I have proof I created my work, whereas anyone who steals it won't. But just in case, please remember that all artwork and writings belong to the maker, and you shouldn't use it without their permission. Other than that, I hope you enjoy my work and I hope it inspires you like other artists' have me. It's one thing to be inspired by someone's work, but it's an entirely different thing to steal it and say it is your own. So be sure that your work is protected!

Just a reminder: All artwork is Copyright Mindy Lou Hagan © 2007 - All Rights Reserved

Watching the sun

Here's a different sort of pic I did on facebook graffiti. I tried to go for realistic more than cartoony, but I think it sort of ended up kind of looking like both. (The grass doesn't look quite right to me. It looks...cartoony. :) Anyway, I thought I would share it with everyone. I did like how the tree turned out. And the sky. I'm trying to work on my blending on the computer.

Out on a limb

Here's another facebook graffit pic I did. If you have an account on facebook graffiti, you should check out all the awesome work by the people on there. Their stuff is awesome! Maybe if I get a tablet one day, mine will be better. :)

Some new work

Here's a new painting I created over the weekend. I haven't used my paints for a few weeks, so I thought I would pull them out and create something. I created a few more things, but I will wait until later to post them. :) I also did the scrapbooking method on this piece.

Another self portrait

Here's a sketch of a self portrait I did of myself. Or how I imagine myself as a cartoon, like I said before. :) I did this with colored pencils. I spelled out my name with my set of rubber stamps.

Sketch update

If you've been following along with my blog, you'll see that this is a colorful sketch I did of the post it one I did a few weeks ago. I haven't done a larger picture of it yet, but I think it's working it's way there. This turned out much better than I expected, although I think it may need some more details or something. I'll be sure to post any final pics I do on this.

Someone's coming!

Here's something else I did this weekend for the holidays. I 'painted' it on my computer. It's supposed to be someone looking over their shoulder who hears someone coming as they steal a christmas tree. Not a very good thing to teach children, but I thought it was cute. Or, I guess it could be Santa accidentally knocking over someone's christmas tree as they hear someone coming. Whichever you want it to be I guess. :)

Quote of the Week

"Woe be to him that reads but one book." ~George Herbert

Quack, quack over a broken heart

I know the title to this post is a little weird, but once you see the pictures, it makes a little more sense, I think. :) Like I said below, I've been working with the computer "Paint" program this weekend, and this is what I've done so far. Not much, actually, but I figure it's good practice in case I ever get a tablet or something. (I keep hinting that that's what I want for Christmas, but I don't think anyone seems to be paying attention. :) Anyway, I created this cute little duck and panda bear who's apparently got a broken heart.

Something of a self portrait

I did this in Windows Xp's "paint" program with my mouse, and I guess it's something of a self portrait. I don't exactly look like this (my glasses don't look ANYTHING like Harry Potter's either), but I supposed it's how I imagine a version of my cartoon self to look. Still, I thought I would post it and let you see what I've been working on this weekend.

Popping by to say Hi!

Just wanted to say hi again. I created this shy girl on facebook graffiti and thought she was cute. So I decided to share her here, too. :) Be sure to wave back at her, as she's feeling a little self conscious. :)

Teddy bears

Which is cuter? This teddy bear?

Or This one?

I personally like them both, but then again, I am a tad bit partial. :) I did them both with Facebook Graffiti, and I have to say, I think I'm finally getting the hang of that application.

Out of this world

Okay, no new art to post for now, but I did read this interesting article that goes along with my trend of laughing my socks off. If you go here you can read where there has been a discovery of a new planet some millions of light years away. (Or something like that.:) Anyway, I thought this was interesting and also, one of the astronomers says that "jumped" out of his socks. He didn't laugh out of them, but I thought it would share it anyway, since it seems the trend is catching on! People just can't seem to keep their socks on! :D

It's time to Hibernate!

Like I've said before, I love the facebook graffiti app, and here's a few more bears I've created. I love the autumn-like colors they have, and since it's getting cold, I figured they would make some good pictures to post, as some animals are in or will be going into Hibernation. Actually, the first one looks like he's going to hibernate. The second one is a picture of what will happen if you wake the bears up! So, shhhh! Be very, very quiet, so we don't wake them up! :)

I'm on a roll!

I'm on a blogging roll today. I guess since I've gone weeks without posting, that I figured I would post while I get the chance. :) I thought this one would make a good bookmark. :) I love how she looks retro, yet new age at the same time. I can just see her as a character in a good book.

Graffiti Overload!

More graffiti, I know. But these are so cute! I just love the bear! :D I hope you enjoy them!

The last, last, last one.

This has to be my last scary, halloween-ish picture of the year, because I'M starting to get burnt out on them....and I LOVE Halloween! :D This was another picture I did over the weekend, using my scrapbooking method. I thought it was cute. :) Hope you enjoy!

Something Simple

I did a bunch of new pieces of the weekend, and basically kept it simple. Here's one I really liked. I thought it was simple, yet cute. Kind of like something on a greeting card. :) Hope you enjoy. It reminds me of spring, too, so it's kind of a brighter picture than the Halloween ones that were out there last week. :)

Quote of the Week

"The woods are full of fairies;

the sea is full of fish;

the trees are full of golden leaves;

let's make an autumn wish."

~Anon

One last picture

Okay, here's one last picture with some Halloween-ish colors. I did this on my laptop with my mouse and am extremely proud of how good it turned out. So, I thought I would share it as my last Halloween picture of the year. Maybe. ;) I've already started working on Thanksgiving and Christmas art, so this probably will be my last Halloween pic for awhile. :)

It's all over....

So, Halloween is over. The candy is dwindling, the costumes are put away and forgotten, the decorations look limp and lifeless in the yard, and the thrill of being a little scared is gone. At least for me. My favorite holiday of the year has come and gone. Now what?

Thanksgiving! And Christmas! They're both coming now, and I'm so excited! :D I love this time of the year. I don't know if it's because I'm ready for some cold air after the hot summer we had, or if it's the warm, loving feelings I get from the holidays, but either way, it's wonderful. So while Halloween is gone, there's even more good things to look forward to. :) So, Happy early holidays!