Playing catch up

Sorry I've been neglecting my blog for the last few weeks.  I have an easier time sharing things to facebook and instagram because I can just snap a picture on my phone and upload them right away.  I've seen bad reviews for the blogger app but I haven't tried it out yet to easily share stuff here.  However, if anyone knows how well it actually works, I'd love to hear their thoughts.  

Anywho, here's a few things I've been working on.  I finally finished the Jack the Kitten is Very Sleepy pages and sent them off so they can be printed, so that's one project off my list, but I can't really share all those pages with you (I may share some later after I find out which ones are okay to share), and I've been working on another project that I can't share the pictures of for some time, so I have been very busy, just not with anything much I can show you all yet, thus resulting in my long overdue neglect here.  :/

I have been having a lot of fun with my mixed media pages.  I normally jump into them on the weekends, since they end up making a pretty big mess, so I don't often have much to share on those either, but here's a few I've been working on that I really like.   

 

  I also tried my hand at painting another Iphone case.  I don't see that I shared the first one I made here, but you can find it on my DeviantArt page.  The first one was a bit...busy and overpowering.  I like the background but don't care for the lettering I added.  This time I decided to make it a bit more simple and I think it came out much better.  I actually really love it, even though there's a couple of things I don't like about it.  The first is the sealant I used on it is not that great, not for this type of project at least, as it still has a bit of a sticky feel to it?  Just a slight one.  I've used it for a bit though and it's held up nicely regardless, even with the hand made heart sticker I added as well.  The second problem I've had is from the case itself simply being too hard to get off of my phone when I want to switch it out.  I bought it at the dollar tree, so it was well worth it really for that price, but I would still like to find a way to fix both of those issues with it.  Regardless, I really like how it turned out and will definitely keep switching out with it when I feel the need to carry something a bit more colorful.  

     Lastly, I know I'm a bit late in posting this, but here it is nonetheless.   A little Halloween doodle for your viewing pleasure.  ;) 

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed the view.  ;)

 I'm not really sure what kind of bug this is. A cricket maybe? Grasshopper? I didn't use any references and just created this for practice. I kind of like how it came out though.

 Just wanted to practice drawing some hello kitty heads for some reason. *

 Three Powerpuff Girl drawing variations to practice my layout and composition and...whatever else.  ;)  (My favorite is the first one.)*

 I think I would like to turn this into a Christmas card or calendar picture or...something.

Another practice web/game design idea I've been wanting to do.  I'm not really happy with how this one came out though, so I may play around with another idea later.  These are all for fun and practice so far.  The design layouts have been helping me work on putting my work together though.  And they're extremely fun to create.  :) 

*All characters belong to their respective owners.

Holiday Tradition

For some it's a holiday tradition to come up with a family photo for their seasonal greeting card. And sometimes, several members of the family can't help but wonder, "Who's idea was this in the first place?" :) Sort of like when you see photos like these here and here.

(And in case it's not clear, those are supposed to be owls floundering around in the snowman.)

Also available on Society6.

Wintery goodness

For all those out there who love winter and snow in general, here's a little something fun I created that I thought I would share. The little girl was made with cut paper, scanned in and altered digitally to add the falling snow, tongue, and background. This is a gif image and should move to show her eating the falling snow. If you find that it isn't moving or you can't view the image, please let me know. I probably downloaded it incorrectly. ;)

*All images copyright Mindy Lou Hagan unless otherwise noted.*

Brrrr!

Another day of snow for February. This little guy can't wait for spring. And neither can I! ;D

Ice-eee

It's been fairly cold this week, as we've had another bout of snow, and the temperatures are supposed to get really low tomorrow, especially since it will be windy. It made me think of this little guy, so I decided to share him with you guys. :) I'm not sure what he's looking at in the distance, but in my opinion, it's probably a warm little cabin with smoke curling up out of the chimney. :)

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Yay! It's snowing! The first snow of the season! How wonderful! :D I already decided that the first day it snowed I would post a snowy picture, so here it is. :) Sorry if I've already posted it. It's one I've had for awhile and I'm starting to forget which ones I've added and which ones I haven't! :S

National Grandparents Day

Well, this weekend is National Grandparents' day, so I figured I would post the only thing I have close to a grandparent drawing. This is definately not a final piece I would use, but I have always liked it because I had done things with it that I never had tried with any other picture. One was the Santa Clause. He is one of my favorite parts of this picture and one of the best parts of it I think. Another thing I had never done before this picture was snow. Or at least I hadn't drawn snow that had a frozen pond in the middle of it. It's kind of hard to see the frozen pond behind the shoppers, but I was so proud of this pic at the time, until I got it reviewed and saw that it wasn't as good as I thought. Still, I like it and think it's helped me learn more about art and how I can fix it. And while it may be a Christmas theme, I think it is a good fit for National Grandparents Day.
This picture actually has a story to go with it. The Santa all dressed up is just a man dressed as Santa, which the little girl is all excited to see. But if she would only turn around, she would see the REAL Santa and even his wife, Mrs. Clause. (For some reason, no one's ever known her name....)

My "Published" Works

So far, I have only been published in 2 things. One was my college magazine and the other is an online publication from SCBWI (a great site for people new to this world).
There is no way I can show you my college work since it was not online and is too hard to scan, but I can give you a link to view my online work. :) Just click the link below and it should take you there. *Note: the link will open in adobe.*
http://www.scbwi-midsouth.org/SUMMER2007Borderlines.pdf

Also note that my art are the 2 signed, Mindy Lou Hagan. The new issue should be coming out soon, and if so, I'll try to post it on here as well, since you don't have to pay to see it.

Over the Weekend

Well, I've been at it again. :) I always try to create a little something on the weekends, since that's when I have the most time. So now, I have a couple of new pictures to add to my growing collection. :)

I know this first one is a little early, but I just can't help but get a head start for some winter pics. :) I liked this one because it looks so...cozy.

This other one that I did is more summery. :) It's supposed to be a bird flying over a tree and house. I've had the bird for awhile, I just didn't know where to put him.

You know what's funny is that I keep having to tell myself that this is something I can do. It's not really that I don't want to do it, it's just that I keep thinking that maybe I can't. Maybe that I won't be as good as all of those other professional illustrators out there. Maybe I won't ever have any books or art published with my work in them. Maybe I'm not as good as an artist as I thought.

And perhaps I'm not. But I'll never know if I don't try. So if anyone else out there is having the same thoughts, just remember that you can do anything you put your mind to. I know there are other famous illustrators and artists out there who never had an ounce of education, so there's hope for me, too. :) Maybe one day I'll have my work published and it will be the number one best seller of all time. LOL! Here's to hoping!