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I thought I'd interrupt my regular blog post flow (all about me) and share with you some artists I admire. I found Barlena on Instagram. She's an Austrian illustrator who uses fine lines and pastel colors, with a side of playfulness.   And then Anna Stead over at Thistle Moon also creates really lovely ink drawings, but her's are mostly black and white. These images are all from her Instagram.   So lovely! Well, I will throw in one of my own pieces while I'm here. I just listed this llama in my Etsy shop. It was apart of my 100 Days of Animals.  And I will take this opportunity to inform you that you can get 10% off now through Labor Day in my shop. So if you've been thinking of getting something, now's the time! 
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As I've mentioned quite a few times, my birthday was this month. One special gift from my husband was an Apple Pencil. I've had an iPad Pro for awhile now but had never used it to draw. Since I have a Pencil to use now, I can! I downloaded the Procreate app, which is supposed to be the app for creating on the iPad. With some birthday cash, I signed up for a year subscription to Skillshare so I could learn to use Procreate and other fun things, art related and not Now I'm in the midst of a Learn to use Procreate class. I had to draw something, so I looked around the room and was inspired by a Russian stacking doll (a.k.a. a Matryoshka) my mom brought me back from Russia many years ago. So here's a digital sketch . . .  And now I'm in the process of adding color to my shapes. So here's a few more screenshots of that ...    I'm excited about this. In the past I've mainly been a pen and paper gal, and would just use the computer to sometimes add color or clean up a drawing. I'm interested to see where this new medium will take me. Now if only there were more hours in the day.
After finishing the 100 Day Project, I was understandably happy to have a little more freedom in my daily drawing. I didn't have to draw an animal every day anymore. I still had the habit of drawing daily, though. So I was free, but also felt a bit purposeless. I have bigger projects I am working on, like the bug coloring book and a children's book written by a friend, but I found myself wanting a smaller series to help focus my daily drawing. So I decided to focus on flowers, birth flowers actually. Most people know about birth stones, but not everyone knows that every month also has a flower. I figured this project was appropriate to start in my birthday month, August. So I started with that.  Then I jumped to November, as requested by my husband who will be turning 33 on November 16th  And then today I started in on October, since my little dude will be turning 2 on October 18th.  One thing I remembered about myself as I've been drawing these flowers is that ... I don't really enjoy drawing flowers. I get bored with all the petals and leaves and such. Which is interesting, because I generally enjoy drawing repetitive patterns. Such as ...
But petals are different. They are repetitive, but also each petal is individual and it's own unique challenge. As opposed to a flat, geometric pattern which is more predictable. Oh well, I've already committed, I'm seeing this through. And I think they will make lovely little prints and cards. Which month should I do after October?
(In this post, I'm revealing the man behind the curtain, so to speak -- showing something behind-the-scenes in regards to running my Etsy shop) I had been neglecting my Etsy shop for a long time. By that I mean I hadn't been adding any new listings or putting forth any time or effort to increase sales over there. Part of the reason I always put off creating new listings is that I had to have the time/energy/space/correct light to photograph my work at home. And even then I wasn't super excited about the results.  I'm not a photographer, ok? I draw. But then I learned about the beauty of mock-ups, over on this blog post. A mock-up is an image that gives a customer an idea of what a product will look like in the real world. For instance, I bought this mockup from another Etsy seller.  And now I'm able to plug my own card image in and use it in my shop.  This is so much easier than photographing each individual card and print that I sell. I feel like my world has opened up! I'm excited to dig back into my Etsy shop and give it some more TLC. To that end, I've actually got a sale going on right now. In honor of my birthday being this Saturday, you can get 15% off from now through Monday, August 13th. Happy birthday to me!
Since my last post, I've definitely felt an uptick in motivation. First, from all the kind and encouraging words people have said in response. Thanks. It sincerely means a lot. Verbal (and written) encouragement does wonders for my motivation, for better and for worse.  (if you click that image you can buy that Thank You card) Second, I just got back from a super sweet, relaxing, and fun beach trip. I got to spend quality time with some of my favorite people at a lovely place--how could I not come back refreshed? (Well, traveling home with delayed flights and a toddler was not particularly refreshing, but we've recovered from that part of the trip now and are enjoying the memories of the good parts.) Here are some snapshots.     I think the reality is that even if I get super successful and start making gobs of money with my art, there will always be an ebb and flow with how I feel about it. That's just the nature of creating. Putting pieces of myself out there. Here's a piece, for instance.  I just added that Bison to my Redbubbble shop. I've also been neglecting my Etsy shop lately and have some plans to revamp it a bit. Stay tuned! Also, it is now my birthday month! I will be celebrating all month, thank you.  |
LauraA place to share the process. A space to be honest about the triumphs and trials of my daily life as an artist and mama. Writing motivates and refreshes me. Archives
February 2023
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