Need More Art Time!

It's after midnight right now.  I sat down at my computer two hours ago, and told myself that I had 15 minutes to work on my art.  Then, I was supposed to move onto more responsible things - like working at my job that actually pays me in real money - the kind I need to pay bills and stuff.

For my fifteen minutes, I decided to listen to an interview from my Surface Pattern Design class.  (By the way, this class is my new favorite thing - love it, love it!!)  The interview was all about this awesome artist, Lousie Gale who is living the dream and making it happen!  She's following her passion, and living a life full of creativity and inspiration! (Soooo jealous, but excited at the same time to see living proof yet again that my dreams are possible!)

Anyway, of course after listening to this uplifting, inspiring interview, I couldn't just shut down my art mode right away and move onto processing payroll for the week for my job (I work from home).  I allowed myself 15 more minutes to "doodle."  I just wanted to loosen up, and create something of my own - anything.  I didn't have a plan, I just turned on my favorite song, "Dream Big" by Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband, and started sketching on my Cintiq the first thing that came to mind. 

Then I couldn't stop.  There was this annoying, nagging voice in my head telling me that I should, but I didn't.  My artist voice won tonight, and you know what?!  I'm glad!!!  Not that I created the most fabulous piece in the world or anything, but I'm just happy that I made my art the priority.  I need to do that more often, seriously.  My artistic voice is screaming, and I mean screaming inside of me to come out.  All day long, I just want to create, create, create!!!  There aren't enough hours in the day, and I'm not sure when I'm going to make up my hours that I was supposed to get in tonight, but I'll work it out some how, I guess.  The search continues to find that perfect balance in life where I can have it all......  I'll let you know how that works out.

So, here's my little ditty - looks like a Lollipop tree to me.  Fun, right?

Oh, and you have to check out this funny thing that happened the other day.  For my art time, I really wanted to make a rainbow cupcake (I don't know, I just love rainbows and I love cupcakes, so why not?)  Here's what I came up with:

Then, I was looking through some pictures I had taken a few years ago, and look what I found:

Ha!  I just happened to make chocolate cupcakes one day for the fun of it, and as I was putting them onto plates for my fam, I thought to myself, "Oh, man, this is too cute, I need to take a picture."  So, I did, and then filed it away and forgot about it..........or did I?  It was still lurking around in my subconscious, I guess.  Pretty, funny, huh?   Looks like the rainbow cupcake idea runs deeper in me than I thought.

Anyway, it's totally past my bedtime.  That is my artistic update for today.  Good night.  : )

Color Palette Ideas

Friendly Little Reminder To Myself

My new goal, as I mentioned last time, is to post more of my art - even unfinished, maybe-not-that-great art.  I think it's good for me.  I need to express myself more.  I'm pretty much terrible at that.

So, here's a piece I created a few months ago.  The words and idea popped into my head one day, and I thought to myself how interesting it is that all of our experiences in this life really are only temporary.  I think it's important to be reminded of that when things are going great, and also when things are going not-so-great.  That way, you can "live it up" in the great moments, and "let it go" in the others.

So, here is my friendly reminder to myself:

 

I'm Back!

Wow!  Has it really been almost a whole year since my last post?  I am a terrible blogger!  Is having a baby a good enough excuse?  He's almost 9 months old now  - boy # three for me - need I say more?  : )

Anyway, I've started on a new artistic adventure.  I signed up for this awesome class a couple of months ago - "The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design."  And here goes my list of excuses:  I was out of town the week it started, then it was Christmas and I was totally behind on all my shopping and preparations, then I've been super busy with kids/work/ and my house falling apart....  Finally, tonight, I made some time to get started (and it's almost 1:00 in the morning - that is when I "find" most of my free time).

I just completed one of the first exercises, and AHAAJHAAHAGHGA!  I love to make art!!!!  I love it!  I love it!  I love it!  I love it!  I want to do it every day!!!  All day!!! 

Wow, I guess I've been suppressing that for awhile.  But, ahhhhhh, to create my own art again - was just so exciting, and rewarding, and fulfilling, and every other positive word I could think of!

And my new goal is to share my art more - all of it, even if it's not perfect or whatever.  So, here goes:

The exercise was to create an art piece out of something in nature that inspires you.  Of course, the first thing that popped in my mind was a Cherry Blossom  - my fave! 

Now, are you ready for the best part about making this new creation?!?  It's my first real art piece that I created on my new Cintiq!  Yes, I have the best husband in the whole world!  He totally surprised me on Christmas morning with something I had been drooling over and fantasizing about forever - my Cintiq!  (In case you don't know what a Cintiq is, it's a giant monitor that you can actually draw/color/paint/create with directly on the screen with a stylus!) 

It is so amazing - I am absolutely in love!  I hardly ever just free-hand my art, but I decided to try it tonight with this, and I loved it - so much fun and so therapeutic! 

Yes, there's me - Christmas morning - still in happy-bliss shock!  I couldn't believe my sweet husband!  And the cutest thing ever is when he said, "This is because I believe in you and all your dreams!"  Can you even stand it?  Does it get any sweeter than that?  He had secretly bought it months ago, and has been selling things on ebay to pay it off.   Awwww.....

I better create some pretty awesome art with it.

So, wish me luck!  I'm back on the artsy train and lovin it, lovin it!  : )

New Kitty Inspired Art Coming Soon!

So, I have to say that I think I have the best kitty cat in the whole world!  She is my baby (well, one of my babies - I actually refer to her as my furry baby).  She is just so cute and so sweet and so nice.  She snuggles with me and my husband every night (actually, she's more of a Daddy's girl, and prefers to be closer to him, but that's ok).

I've always said that I think her hugs have magical powers.  Ok, I know I'm weird.  I know that a cat cannot actually hug you, but I'm telling you, if ever I'm upset or discouraged about something, and I give Pixie a hug, I can automatically feel the negative feelings slipping away.  It's like magic.

It was one day, not too long ago, as I was enjoying one of these magical fluffy hugs, that I said to Pixie, "I think the world would be a better place if everyone had a kitty cat just like you." 

Call me crazy, but it's true.  Unless you have some intense allergy to cats, you could really benefit by having one of these furry treasures live in your home. 

So, my up-and-coming art piece is a dedication to my special kitty, Pixie.  I just did a rough mock-up the other night, and the above image is a small glimpse of what is to come.  If you are a cat lover like me, then you can appreciate this, and you're in for a treat.

Couldn't Resist the Pink

So, when I started creating my original "It's True" art piece, I had a secret goal.  My goal was to see if I could actually create an art piece that didn't have any pink in it.  I was looking at my collection of creations one day, and I thought to myself, "man, that's a lot of pink!"  Pink is my favorite color (shocker), but the thing is that I don't really decorate with pink around my house.  I don't even know where I'd hang some of my pieces, because the colors don't exactly go with my decor.

Ok, so I set off to see if I could make some kind of art, minus the pink. 

Well - yay - there it is.  I did it.  I was very happy with the results......and then, I started thinking, "hmmm, I wonder what this would look like if I turned it pink?"  (One of the beautiful benefits of working with digital art - endless experimentation).  You know, Valentine's day is around the corner.  This is an illustration all about love.  I should totally turn it pink for Valentine's day!

Oh brother, I couldn't resist!  Here it is - all pinked out:

Ohhh, it's so cute, right?  I can't help myself.  I'm just drawn to the pink.  It's calling out to me.  Any, hey, now I can use it on my Valentine's for this year.  

I still love the yellow and green one, and am actually planning on displaying it in my bedroom, because - yay, it actually matches my decor.  And, don't worry, I do plan on adding some more non-pink art pieces to my portfolio in the near future.  Until then, enjoy the pink - find somewhere girly to display it!  : )

Find Me on Etsy!

So, I did it.  I finally opened my Etsy shop! 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/upenover

I've been in love with Etsy for a long time now, and always fantasized about how awesome it would be to have my very own Etsy shop, but to tell you the truth, I was scared.  There is so much amazing talent there.  I was a bit intimidated.  I also thought that I would try and get away with selling my art through a third-party source that would take care of all the shipping and processing orders.

Well, that wasn't working out so well.  To be honest, I only made one sale.  Pathetic, I know.  At this point, I really need all the exposure that I can get, and I think Etsy will be a great way to build up my customer base.  I also like the idea of having more control.  I can actually see the product before it ships out, and package it all cute and stuff.  I am a control freak, so it works out quite nicely.  Here's a couple of stickers I designed the other night to decorate my packaging with:

Cute, huh?

Plus, did you know that you can ship out packages through the US Postal Service without ever leaving your house?  That was another thing I was afraid of - endless trips to the post office (with my 5 year old and 2 year old in tow).  But, guess what?  You can print up labels through Paypal, set up a free pick up online from the post office, and - voila!  The mailman appears at your door step and takes your pre-paid package.  Awesome!  I haven't gotten to use the system first-hand yet (since I haven't sold anything), but hopefully it will go as smoothly as they say it will on their website.

So, wish me luck!  Here's to my many future Etsy sales to come!!