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Hello February! It's nice to see your pretty face. As I wrapped up the end of January, I closed up my 2019 updates... at least with reading. I weighed out the "yeah's" with a top ten books of the year: Naturally, that was balanced out with the "meh's": A core goal with my channel is to merge my creative life with leisure reads, by crafting around a piece of text which inspired my engagement. Thanks to January, I have my first project planned. I will film it this coming week after I get my first (ever) professional manicure! I should point out that an ulterior motivation to start my channel was to help me quit biting my nails. What did I say about no New Years Resolutions? If my fingers are going to be center stage, I need not apologize for their... lack of nail-age. 100% of my channel is driven by self-improvement, and that includes finger "impressions". So looking at January in the rear-view mirror, it was a hectic month for me p...

Morning collaging - torn papers and glue. I'm still here. Quietly working on my portfolio… neglecting my blog. The past month was filled with doodling and other paper-cutting activities. On top of that I'm slowly, slowly, slowly building out my studio space to make it viewer-friendly. Priority number one is polishing off my portfolio for the New England chapter Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrator's conference . I've only got one more week left on the timeline, but I'm feeling confident with the book organization as it stands. Though I still have oodles of work to complete by next Friday, I'm close to press and assembly, so the deadline doesn't feel scary-close (this time around). Fingers crossed for my postcards. They should be landing some time Friday or Saturday, so let's keep our eyes on the mailbox for them. ~Samantha

Scrapbooking bits - final assignment Who doesn't like scoping out the towers of loose papers at the craft shop? It's a pretty big area to avoid. Scrapbooking is usually my first stop: search for paper textures and eye the motifs. What surprised me most about this week is that there are still scrapbooking companies licensing from freelancers for there collections. I thought this was an area where companies relied on in-house designers. Well... surprise ! They also find artist inspiration to make accessories too. How about that? This week's assignment was to design a sheet of icons which could be suitable for chipboard pieces or stickers, or inspiration bits and pieces. I started with a LOT of drawings... here's a snippet: Sketchbook spread with scrapbooking inspirations. Then I went nuts on PATTERNS to apply to my digital cuts: Pink-pink-pink herringbone pattern Assorted patterns which could be used for washi tape, paper, icon decorations, etc. ...

Plate Designs for Home Decor Assignment Dinnerware screams "Paint ME!" so I took a shot at watercolors for my second assignment in the Make Art That Sells eCourse. When I couldn't get just the right colors I wanted, I took my designs to the computer. This turned into a week-long mini war with messy (paints) versus clean (digital). At the moment I'm struggling with my assessment of the Home Decor Market because I know I'll be a good fit for it, but I need to follow my gut. As inspiring as flowers can be, I overwhelmed myself with too many concepts and ended up picking none of them. My first reaction to an idea (generally) is to get it down on paper. But my first reaction to this assignment was "Get flower buds!" I sketched a bit in marker, took to watercolors, (which I'm madly in love with by-the-way,) and then eventually sketched out my designs in pencil. A little backwards for me. For the curious eyes, here are some of my watercolor doodle...

Sketching tortoise's shell. The past couple weeks, I've been steadily working on my own picture book. Some questions which keep appearing in my head consist of: Can a tortoise REALLY balance like that? If a giraffe could move like that, how would his legs bend? Should the tortoise have a top hat? I want my characters to look playful, but have some realistic value, so the top hat is a no-go. As for movement questions, I cannot rely on image searches, nor do I have regular interactions with these animals, so I'm making my own models: Giraffe skeleton doodle (left) and giraffe wire armature. I'm still working on this little guy (above). So far, I've bulked up his torso to help me with scale. Ideally, the giraffe will serve as a resource for consistent spot placement... same with the tortoise, who's still in the works - currently just a paper shell form. I am looking for some assistance with one of my animal studies. The giraffe has been V...

Toys coming to life assignment snippet with my portfolio. A few weeks have passed (THREE) since going to Ruth's Studio , so I want to be sure to post a THANK YOU to Ruth Sanderson and Denise Ortakales for their portfolio critiques. I feel as though I have a very clear direction for my body of work now. It's refreshing to have some unbiased eyes peeking at my work, outside of the monthly group sessions. Some mini renovations have already taken place on my portfolio space . For curious eyes, below are a few cellphone shots from the day:  Ruth Sanderson (center in red) browsing our sketches from the assignment. Assignment sketches spread for quick critique. The assignment (while we waited and listened in on critiques,) was "lively"... Living toys! I would like to explore the concept a little closer. It was tough to concentrate on drawing upon the assignment while eavesdropping on everyone's critique, but there was a LOT learned from the experience.  ...

Here's a mini Homage to Ms. Potter: Shelldon the Sulcata Tortoise study sketches - from RISD Live Animal Drawing Session - Feb. 2013 I recently picked up a book of Beatrix Potter's art plates from the library for an inspiration spark. Naturally, I mulled over the book the whole week leading up to a trip to the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) for Christina Rodriguez's Live Animal Drawing sessions.  Sketches above are of the Sulcata Tortoise (Shelldon) from the center of my mini collage. Taxidermy and live animals in attendance at the RISD drawing sessions I did not bring my watercolors this year. If I had, I doubt they would look much like Beatrix Potter's studies anyhow.   The (blurry) images here are from The Art of Beatrix Potter . The book delves into her life a little bit, but it's mainly a book of plates showcasing her early works, letters and picture book studies. I LOVE Potter's fungi studies! I would have liked to read more from h...

Participating in the Doedemee charity book cover project brought me back to my old book re-covering exercise from several years back. I've decided to pick the project back up again, and I've just begun taking my old sketches, and turning them into full-scaled finished pieces. By "full-scaled" I mean 12" x 18" posters. Other than the Scarlet Letter , you'll see my most recent conquest ( Moby Dick ,) which was one of the original classics from my old exercise. Hopefully to follow: The Great Gatsby , One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest , and Lolita. My "Recovering Project" is helping me ease back into my cut-paper methods. Moby Dick here is comprised of torn paper and digital media.