Life in the fast Lane- The Dishes can wait.

We all brag about how fast our lives are moving and how we are spinning out of control with to do list after to do list and our life in the 'fast lane'. I am calling a stop to it. Sit grab a cup of coffee, tea, espresso, wine or whatever your favourite beverage is, sit, pick up a book and read... The Dishes can wait.

Anyone who has time
to clean is not reading enough.

Download your own Bookmark to colour in!

Back to the grind? A simple Meal Cooks itself.

It's  back to the January grind and in keeping with my goals of creating more time for myself to practice my trade, this is a fast meal for weeknights that requires little time to prep. It cooks itself and is slurped up by my family every time it is made. Make an extra batch to reheat or use for Eggplant Parmesan!

Easy weeknight Tomato Sauce

How Simple is that?
Enjoy...

New Year Has Begun: a Perspective on Resolutions

With the New Year beginning it is time to check in once more and see where I was a year ago and where I want to be a year from now. I don't feel like my resolutions are in fact the life altering go from zero to a hundred type but more like am I on track?... What can I do better? ... How has what I've done fit into my goals and are my goals still the same... What can I do to move forward

Warning! This shit is going to get personal.
I want to be a Surface Pattern Designer and Illustrator...

The Next few Images are chronological order to give you some idea of where I came from!

One of the very first handmade Repeats I ever made, uploaded to Ai
and loosely put together. Late 2013

Original on vellum (Still a favourite drawing surface).

What have I done this past year to make that happen? I have developed mad Illustrator Skills- I never believed that I could learn such a complex thing. For 2016 I want to make it part of my daily routine... Practice Practice Practice. My family has been priority number one and often I use that as a distraction to not practice, so developing my skills has been a tad slow and I have not seen the results I always want. So in 2016- make more time for myself. Yes kids that means more chores!

Figured out how to clean it up early 2014

And turn it into a repeat!

By 2015 it was a matter of practice!

Early 2015

Spring 2015

October 2015

Style is another area I felt that was lacking- I have a personal style but had not had an illustrative style- I have always been here there and everywhere picking up on on different mediums, trying new techniques, in truth my drawing style has always been more lifelike renderings... I have had in the past wanted perfection- I have a personal mantra: If you can do it right then don't do it at all. Meaning don't do a job half assed (for me it is all about craftsmanship) but somewhere I started using it as a cop out to not do things I was not good at and I was limiting myself to only doing what I knew. So this year I started playing around which led to doodling and letting go. And it turns out I was still doing the best job I could do but it was different. Through experimentation I discovered I do have a natural drawing style that feels somewhere between a doodle and accurate representation, that is both slightly quirky and realistic. It also reflects my interests in food, drink, travel, minimalism and abundance. In 2016 I want to see that grow and turn into a solid body of work that I can call my signature style.

Turns out I love black and white!
I also love color but that is for another post.

In 2015 I said I want to be a Surface Pattern Illustrator, this year I am declaring this is who I am. I need to present that to the world. By honing my in on my strengths, skills and developing my style. My outward goal for 2016 it build my brand, sell myself and get a gigs... Personally I want to pay for a house cleaner and buy a Shasta camper, but hey I will take doing what I love, feeling fulfilled and contributing to my family, being a positive role model and good example as a job well done.

PS... I added the images after I wrote the post and I can see that I have had a slightly similar aesthetic all along!

Today is the BIG day and I find out how my Patience and Persistence Worked out.....

And the Results are:

Well I did my best and better than I thought I was capable of, unfortunately I did not make it to the next round of Lilla Rogers' Global Talent Search. I am disappointed but not discouraged and this experience has given me the confidence to keep going. It was the nudge to finally speak up about my dreams and goals. I now know I have a 100% support of my family to follow and pursue this dream. I know everyone who entered also did their very best work and I hope making it or not to the next round keeps us all engaged and inspired!

Some of the proactive things I have done this week while I waited patiently for the results were to register my business name Scrappy Carp Illustrations (LLC), start the LLC process and business planning. I also on a complete whim submitted to the Print & Pattern Nature Book which I would never had done before the GTS experience!

I am truly excited about this journey and I am really very thankful for all of the support from my family, friends and strangers... Thank you.

Where am I going with this? A sneak peek into my lastest design.

You would think after two weeks of research, collecting inspiration and living and breathing as my latest muse I would have more of an idea of where I was going with this... But here it is and what I have been working on. It is sneek peek into my latest design.... 

Process before it is coloured in.

as a tiled repeat... 

What do you think- don't be shy!

Doodles and Illustration

When I was in Art School, I was told by more than one painting instructor "that's too illustrative", that was a critique not a compliment. For years I tried to change that and go against my natural tendency for strong lines.

Mushroom Illustration

Illustrating and Doodling were looked down upon and frowned on by some in the fine arts department, and I took that to heart, after wall I was there for an art education and these people knew better than me...

Girls night Out Illustration

I don't know if it is the internet, social media, a broader global reach but I honestly feel like that is changing with access to platforms (Skillshare, Spoonflower, Etsy, Society 6) meetups and workshops such as I am participating in now (Build a Freelance Illustration Business) I can see there is a large group of artists- yes we are artists and deserve a place in the fine arts community that have an illustrative look and as proof my old art school offers more classes in illustration, printmaking, textiles, paper and design than it ever did before.... It's kinda fun being on the cusp of an ever evolving Art Movement...

Cheers... PS, can you see the tile repeat?

Sense of Community

I belong to a Community Facebook page for Bellingham Artists (if you are one you should be too!). It is a great place to see what others are working on, what they are inspired by and what drives them. There are good discussions, feedback and suggestions.

original sketch

Flowers in Vase 

Last week I posted a picture from my sketchbook on a random doodle that I was working on and the reaction I got was so encouraging one person wanted to see it on a Throw Pillow and well why not? These days you can easily use something like Society 6  to create art prints, home decor, phone cases and a few other random things so I coloured it in and went for it!

I used Adobe Illustrator to colour it in. Live paint is my new favorite tool and my palette is from a photo I took in the Desert of flowering cacti.

Finally what the print looks like on a pillow... I'm in love with it, and just may order one for my chair. 

You know what I love? Mid Modern century design

I started these little drawings over a year ago now (I have more to come) and they are morphing into quite the little characters.  They were another 'I don't quite know what direction they are going in, but I want to hang onto them and save them for later' category.  So here they are:

You can either get a set of two, A little mid century home and a tree or a multiple set with two colourways. I was being a little conservative with the first grouping but they went a little funky with the second one! Hope you enjoy.

Gather Free Printable Wednesday

The word Gather was floating around in my head and this is what I am came up with....

If you would like your own Printable version click on the bird.

My Kids want Halloween Cards!!!

Happy Halloween!

Here is what I have so far... 

 Do you think I should do more?

The More you use it, the more you have....

"You can't use up creativity,
the more you use it, the more you have"
Maya Angelou

What started out as a single drawing, kinda a doodle in the top right hand corner of my sketchbook as I was researching midcentury modern design motifs is starting to take on a life of it's own.

I asked the question in my last blog post "can you see it evolving?". 

Simple motif goes through a transformation. Work in process

I Didn't post yesterday, one thing led to another, led to another and my day was done... 

I did sneak in some drawing here and there and came up with this simple little tulip motif.

I have been working on it in illustrator today, playing with live trace,

building it with shapes and with the pattern maker.

Process.

original Motif

Adapted from a mid century modern design motif.

live trace

As you can see not very nice.

re-worked with the pen tool and shapes.

But What about a pattern?

Can you imagine? Originally I was thinking about using it a border for an illustration I am working on but as I play and yes by playing I also mean learning I can see how to take it beyond just a simple motif.

Love the 70's garish colours!

I love repeating patterns that start with a simple motif, that gets expanded  and turned into an evolving complex idea.

I keep seeing whale tales, fish scales and  scalloped edges!

Can you see it evolving?

"You need Help!" (with) Repeat Patterns.

I recently updated my illustrator going from CS5 to the Creative Cloud CS6 version. For the purpose of pattern and surface design I thought I had CS5 pretty well handled...  I could make repeat patterns, draw, live trace etc but then entered the Pattern Tool?! I am both in awe of it and and little scared of it. 

It Reminded me of a children's story book I use to read to my kids... Today I Will Fly by Mo Williams. The protagonist Piggie exclaims to his friend Gerald an Elephant "I can Fly".... Gerald always the downer says to Piggie.... "You can not fly, You will not fly Today, You will not fly tomorrow YOU WILL NEVER FLY.".... and looking at the new version of CS6 that is kinda how I felt... my inner critic whispering in my ear you Can Not Do This, You can Never Do this!...Gerald in a dismissive- this will never happen kind of way, says to Piggie "You Need Help". And that is What Piggie did, she got help and was able to fly with the aid of her friend a Duck that carried her through the air and over Gerald's head! Gerald was astounded and exclaimed- "You did it, You Flew" and Piggie (quick witted) said "No, I got Help".

Where am I going with this story and what does it have to do with Illustrator? Rather than using the Illustrator how to videos which are great but require a whole bunch of previous experience- I am self taught so my knowledge is geared more for simple illustration and surface and pattern design I turned to experts in the field. I follow a lot of aspiring and talented experienced designers in different forums and groups and someone linked to a free class from Pattern Observer The Ultimate Guide to Repeats. I shoved my fear and self doubt to the side and got help. The help came in the form of simple suggestions and tips... and much to my amazement and excitement I made a simple repeat using the pattern tool... So maybe I Can Do This...

The Three swatches show my progression using the pattern tool to create a simple repeat. As you can see I used the same motif several ways... I love the simplicity of the the first two, the third (not my favourite) was playing around with colour and texture just to see what could be done....

The Self critic will rear its ugly head again, I know that, but it helps know there there is large community that both support me and others like me... There are answers out there, you just have to know when to ask for help. As for where to and from whom, what are your resources?!

Have a Lovely Day!