Another new header!

Since fall is coming, I've decided to make another header. ;) Here's the sketch I drew out for it.

And here's the finished project, which I drew in photoshop, over the original sketch. ;)

Not sure I'm completely satisfied with it, but it will be a nice change anyway, so I'm going to try and put it up as the new header for awhile. Hope you guys like it! ;D

A little lumpy dragoon...

Just a little something I did with my tablet. ;) I did one without a very decorative background, and then one with a little bit of decoration. Not sure which one looks best. :/ What do you guys think? ;)

Plain background:

Somewhat Decorative background:

Pumpkin Abstract

This is another pumpkin I did with my tablet. Thought I'd make it a little more abstract and different.

Then I tried tweaking it in photoshop and came up with this one that's a little bit darker and a little more bolder. Not sure which one I like best yet. Probably the first one. ;)

Sweet Pea

Here's another piece I did on my tablet. ;) I like to call her Sweet Pea.

Pumpkin patch fencerow

Phew, have been busy, but I'm finally getting somewhat back into the groove of making art, so thought I would post a new pic for you to celebrate the coming of autumn. ;) I know, it's still a ways off, but I just love autumn! ;D

So, here's a little pumpkin I did. ;) Hope you enjoy it! Drew it with my wacom tablet, which I haven't used in ages either. Definately felt good to have that pen back in my hand once again. :)

An oldie, but a goodie.

I'm sure I've talked about some of the artists that have influenced me before, but there's one I just recently rediscovered. As a child, it used to be the norm for everyone in my school to get folders and backpacks and binders with cutesy little pictures all over them. Or at least is was for girls. And almost every year I would get several folders with art by the same artist; Lisa Frank. I absolutely loved her art. And still do! It's so vibrant and cute, and her characters are so lovely and sweet! My favorites used to be the horses, dogs, and bears that she drew. They always had the most adorable back stories to go with them. If you'd like to see some of the characters or their stories, you can visit them here.

I don't know what made me think of this artist after so long, but I'm so glad I did. I plan to check out her website more thoroughly and see what new characters she's created. Hope you guys check her out, too! Her art really is inspiring. :)

Book Reviews

I figured it was time I did something a little bit different. So I've decided to give a book review of my two favorite books (to do with art and writing, that is)! I just love these two books. They've become fairly essential in my writing and my art.

The first one is called Roland Harvey's Drawing book (Young Designer Series), published by Scholastic. Of all the many art books I've read through and looked at, this one has been the most helpful to me so far. Because I'm the type of person who needs to read and see something to learn it, this book is perfect. Roland Harvey's illustrations are very funny, cute, and clever, as well as informative and helpful. For a beginning illustrator and/or artist, this book is great. He even shows how he works on illustrations for books! If you're a new artist, or are just looking for some helpful tips or ideas, you should definately check it out.

The second book is The Pocket Muse by Monica Wood, published by Writer's Digest Books. This book is simply full of ideas. Literally. Monica lists all kinds of ways to get ideas for stories. There are even pictures that are meant to give you ideas. Very helpful if you're having writer's block. :)

A few sketches

I've been doing some new sketches lately and thought I'd share some with you guys. Hope you like them! :)

(I'm not really sure what this picture is. A flamingo perhaps?)

(This is a dog I started on and never seemed to finish.)

Happy Fourth of July!

Sorry this is late in the day, but I just wanted to say Happy 4th to everyone! :)

My first homemade gift...kind of

This is my very first homemade gift that I'm giving away to someone outside of my family. I'm not exactly 100% finished with it, since I need to seal the back of the picture, but other than that, I think it's ready to go. It's for a friend whose daughter just had a baby. As you can tell from the picture, his name is Alexander. However, his nickname is going to be Zander. His grandmother wasn't sure though that everyone would understand how they got that name from the other, so I did my own little take on how they could tell. And of course, I decided to put my 'wanna-be-children's-illustrator' twist on it and make it a picture that also says "From A to Z", too. :) So, Here's the final outcome:

Do you see the Apple and Zebra to go along with the theme as well? :) I can't wait to give it to them. I've been working on it for a long while now, just to get it right. It's even got a 3-d like quality, too, because I made the eyelashes stick out by cutting a bunch of little slits on a piece of paper and pulling them out. I really enjoyed making this piece. I really hope the couple likes it. :) Oh, it's made by cut paper by the way. :)

Create something.

Sorry I haven't posted for awhile. I've been busy. :) I haven't gotten to create very much real art lately, however I have found another way to be creative. I've said it before, that I love facebook. Well, I love some of the applications on there as well. One is the (Fluff)friends application. It's just so cute! Plus, I just recently discovered that they have their own form of art (Fluff art) where you can get feedback on your work, as well as meet some new friends, get stuff for your fluff, and even win some neat little prizes (only valuable in fluff land, of course. ;)

So, I've been creating a few pieces of my own and here's a couple I've come up with. Hope you like them. If you haven't checked this application out, you definately should. It forces you to think outside the box, since you can only make art with the 'stuff' already there. For the collage lovers out there, this is definately something you would like I think. For me, it makes me think more about my art, which has made my art better.

Here's a hoot owl I created, cartoon style:

And here's one that's more collage-like:

Also, I've got some real art to share, hopefully later this week. It's a gift I made for a friend who's having/had a baby. :) Be sure to check back! :)

It's been hectic...

It's been quite a hectic few weeks for me, but things are starting to slow down right now, so I thought I would post a little something to let you know I hadn't fallen off the face of the Earth. :) I haven't had time to create any new art, but here's a neat little website that shows you what color blue you are. I've always loved the color blue, so I thought I would share my own color with you guys and let you see what color you are. :)


Here's mine:

You Are Indigo

Of all the shades of blue, you are the most funky, unique, and independent.Expressing yourself and taking a leap of faith has always been easy for you.

A little birdie...again...

I love drawing little birdies. I don't know what my infatuation with birds is all about lately, but I love drawing them all funky and cute. :) Here's another one I did the other day. :) Hope everyone's having a good weekend!

I'm Back!

Sorry I haven't posted anything recently. I've been pretty busy with other things and haven't got to create much art lately. However, I did come up with a few new things last night. Hope you enjoy them! :)

Happy Mother's Day!

Just a little something to let all those great mother's out there know they're appreciated. :)

*And if you were wondering, I had strep throat the other day. :S Thankfully I'm feeling much better now. :)