Artists Around the World Blog Hop

I was recently very humbled to be asked to take part in a blog hop of artists from around the world. One of the great benefits of having enrolled in online courses like MATS, is the chance to get to know and connect with other designers and like minded artists. The lovely and talented Antonija M. was kind enough to write a bit about me and some other great artists on her blog. Now it's my turn to go on about her! 

I had never met anyone from the country of Croatia, but if she is any indication, I would sure love to visit there some day. We have been MATS buddies since the inaugural Part A of the spring of 2013, all the way through 2 Global Talent Searches ( she was Top 50 last year!), Part B, and Bootcamp. I have come to rely on her keen and thoughtful eye throughout our shared design experiences, as have many other artists. Her designs are instantly recognizable with their clean lines, sophisticated palette and super stylized, yet super cute characters. That's an extremely difficult combination to achieve, but she excels at it, while being a complete original. Just take a look at her amazing work…

She has also designed and developed her own brand lil' ledy, which she plans to debut at the Brand Licensing Europe Show in October. Her description of the brand as "Japan meets Sweden. Kawaii merging with classic harmony" is perfect and I can easily imagine her lil' ledy character on a wide range of product. I can't wait to hear and read about her success there! Be sure to check out all her work and her blog as well.

Ok, now is the part of this blog hop format where I have to talk about myself (ugh) and answer the following set questions. 

1. What Are You Writing/Working on? Well, I've been working on some cute cards for Peaceable Kingdom, developing some little characters for a shop, getting together some pieces to submit to companies, trying to remember how to paint, unsuccessfully entering design contests ;) etc., etc. Here's a sneak peek at a baby card…

2. How Does Your Work Differ from Others in Your Genre? hmmmmm…that's the 50 million dollar question, isn't it? I'm a firm believer that there's not much out there that hasn't been done before. If you don't believe that, perhaps you haven't heard of this thing called Pinterest ;). That being said, every artist needs to develop their own approach/style to have any level of success. I'd like to think that I can put a fresh slant on the mid century illustration that I love. I always try to inject some happy-go-sweet-unabashed-cuteness into my work. Does that make me unique? No, but I hope I do it in such a way that my work is recognizable.

3. Why Do You Create?  I dunno, but I've done it since I was little. There is always something about that rush to see what you can come up with and how it will turn out. I just like to make cute stuff! How's that for an in-depth answer, haha.

4. What is your creative process?  Because my background and degree is in graphic design, I tend to take more of a problem solving approach especially if I've been given a brief. Who's the audience, the message, the best way to visually communicate this, and so on. I'm not a trained illustrator, so I don't just sit down to draw before I have an idea of where or how I'm going to solve the problem. Lilla's technique of getting her students just to sit down and draw first has been a hard road for me to follow, but it has paid off, and I now actually use a sketchbook, and I love it! Anyway, I like to think it through first (like when I'm driving or in the shower…my mind tends to wander and I can think more openly. No, it hasn't caused any accidents, but I tend to forget some turns along the way!) Then I get to any necessary research followed by pencil sketches which I usually just take a pic of with my phone, and bring into illustrator on my laptop. I usually redraw everything there (that's the super tedious part) but lately, I've been trying to incorporate some traditional media into my work. Finally, I do my favorite part, add color, followed by texture, all in AI. Just a stubborn vector girl here. That and I'm not comfortable in photoshop.

Ok, more than enough about me. Let me introduce you to two wonderfully inspiring artists that you no doubt already know about… they are that good!

TAMMIE BENNETT

Tammie is one of those people that I find inspiring on a number of levels. We met through MATS and the happy happy art collective, which I am proud to be a member of, was her brainchild. She has the guts, intelligence and tenacity to take on any task…whether it be going solo at Surtex, to designing a pattern a day for 365 days…. (yeah, you read that right), to her tiny thanks project, 50 asks, producing great pieces traditionally as well as digitally, the list goes on and on and I haven't even talked about her art. Tammie has an uncanny ability to think in terms of pattern, but it doesn't end there. Her colors are so fun, the graphics, so brilliantly joyful… it's an irresistible combination.With degrees in journalism and a law school graduate, believe it or not, she is a self taught artist! I really don't know how she does it all and continues to do new things. Be sure to check out her website and blog for more inspiration.

Tammie got our happy happy alphabet off to an awesome start with the letter A! 

DENISE HOLMES

Another member of the happy happy art collective is the charming Denise Holmes! Ever since I first saw her work in MATS A, I have been in awe of her innate ability to infuse pure charm and sweetness into every thing she creates. I so admire how she has developed her own instantly recognizable style. She recently illustrated her first children's book and it should be on every parent and illustrator's "must have" list… it's that good! You can pick up a copy here!

I just love her distinctive line work… always just enough, always just right, and her innate use of color is a big part of her signature style. I tend to go a bit overboard when it comes to color and I know I could definitely take a pointer or two (or four or a whole lot more…) from all her work. I don't have a crystal ball, but I have no doubt there is a long line of books in her future, her style is just so sweet and clean with a fresh vintage vibe that I adore. You immediately know when you see a niseemade piece!

this letter T is one of Denise's contributions to the happy happy alphabet… how cute is this?!

Please be sure to check out her website and blog for more cuteness!

Well that concludes my officially longest post ever! It was a pleasure to share the work of these talented artists!

MATS Bootcamp final assignment…have a cuppa

July marked the last assignment for Lilla Roger's #makeartthatsells bootcamp. This particular brief was a bit of a departure from the ones prior. We were to make some art that we would like to hang on our own wall or give to a friend, that had to do with a favorite beverage. I'm not one to give or hang my own work, so this one left me stumped for a while. Eventually, I settled on doing a lettering mishmash…more is more, right?!? I can only hope, haha. It came down to crushed ice or coffee, so I settled for my morning must-have, since I didn't think I could do a whole lot with ice. I started by brainstorming a list of as many different coffee related phrases as I could think of. It became pretty long list and surprisingly, I ended up using them all. I decided to use "have a cup of awesome" as the focal point of the lettering part, and went from there, fitting each phrase around each other, like putting together a puzzle. As you can see from my sketchbook, it's a pretty ugly process as I just kept erasing, fitting, adjusting, etc. until I got it to a point where I traced it over. 

As you can see, at one point, I considered having a guy drinking from the mug.

My original plan also included having these two little cameos of my coffee dude on both sides of the cup at the bottom. The best laid plans don't always work out…not only didn't they fill the space quite right, it was just adding too much madness. I couldn't axe them entirely, so I kept the bright eyed one and slapped it on the mug. This left me with some space to try and pretty it up, so I researched what a coffee plant looks like, and added those super simplified branches. I doubt anyone would recognize what they represent, but they soften it up overall. Color-wise, I was originally going with a brown background, with multiple colored bright lettering, but it was way too crazy. I started toning it down and accidentally made the background a soft aqua, and I really liked it, so I kept going with it.

Make SURE you check out the gallery for tons of amazing pieces!!

Lilla Rogers MATS bootcamp June assignment

The June assignment for Lilla's bootcamp was to produce a nautically themed wall art piece. Now wall art is not an area I have typically ever felt my stuff was appropriate for. I well remember when I took MATS part A last spring, the wall art week was the week that really freaked me out, mainly because it was supposed to be an abstract collage piece, preferably done non-digitally. We were given two colors based on our horoscope and went from there. I had pink and yellow and ended up submitting this below, which while not abstract, it was at least, a "collage." Frankly, I was just happy to have gotten through the week with something to submit!

This time, the parameters were a bit looser in terms of media, but the mini assignment was to draw ships in bottles and other nautically themed icons. So, I did a bunch of crappy sketches and ultimately ended up using one anyway… the first one I did of the ship. As per usual, I did everything in illustrator, messing around with transparency, brushes and generally grunging it up at the end. I knew I wanted to incorporate some lettering and in trying to come up with a nautical phrase, "sea the world'" popped into my head. I'm sure the phrase itself has probably been used before, but I thought it would lend itself to a kids piece…the direction I knew I would go in. I thought it would be cool to show the curvature of the earth, given the title. The dolphin idea was kinda like having a reindeer pull the sleigh, ha. I almost (really wanted to) add a mermaid sitting on the back of the boat, but thought it would be a bit too much. If it had been a longer poster format, I definitely would have added one waving to him in the ocean, haha. I added the houses on a curve at the bottom to counter the curve at the top and this is where I ended up. In the beginning, I was hoping to give this a vintage travel poster feel, but ultimately, particularly given the square format direction, per the brief, it looks more like a kid's book cover. I'm ok with that, even though it is probably not considered your typical "wall art" piece.

Check out the rest of the boot camp gallery here. This month featured a lot of really strong pieces, enjoy!

Lilla Rogers' bootcamp...jello?!

I have to admit, when Lilla gave us the theme for March's bootcamp assignment, my thoughts along with the general consensus of the other participants in the classroom was whaaat?? Jello... and on bolt fabric seemed like an odd fit, but like all the assignments Lilla doles out, it's up to you to run with it as you see fit. Many others focused on the intricate molds, the fun translucency of it, or gave it a tea and dessert feel, many of beautiful pieces and approaches. Here is a link to the gallery that is super fun to browse through. For me, being a lover of all things vintage kitchen (yes, I have a large collection of cookie jars, pixieware condiment containers, tablecloths, etc.) going the retro 50's vibe seemed the most natural fit for me. For whatever reason, I stumbled onto vintage tea towels on interest, which really sparked my interest. They are always fun and kitschy, and are great examples of the use of limited palettes (something I always find extremely challenging). When I saw this pretty pink western themed example, I knew I had the beginnings of my palette. I don't think I've ever used that drab green, but I really like how it plays off of the pink and raspberry colors.

After the February cuckoo assignment, I decided I wanted to maximize my final design as much as possible, so I thought of incorporating a little kitchen scene onto my presentation. Hopefully, it does not take away from the main fabric print behind it. I really enjoyed doing the limited line and fill look that I've seen used in illos from the 50's, so this was my little ode to that era. In retrospect, it looks a bit more like a cookbook cover than bolt fabric, but that's ok I guess. I added teapots, pyrex bowls, spoons, etc. because that's what I think of when in regards to making jello. 

Like lots of kids, I was raised on the stuff. My mom had it as a side and almost considered it a salad (as opposed to a dessert) for many meals. Her usual formula was to dump a can of fruit cocktail in it for added nutrition ;) I can still taste the texture of those horrible hairy gooseberries...ugh! In fact, I found this photo below as an actual example! Note that I have to be at least 5 and am still in a highchair....hey, when you have to fit 7 people into a 10' x 10' kitchen, you take any seat that's available! I was a picky eater, and apparently did not want any part of "make-your-own-sub-night!" Gotta love those knotty pine cabinets, don't you?

Lilla Rogers' Bootcamp... gone cuckoo!!

Month one in Lilla Rogers' Bootcamp has come and gone, along with February, so I thought I'd give you a quick recap! First of all, I wasn't sure at first whether or not to sign up for this course, but somehow I knew that once I started seeing all the beautiful pieces coming in, I knew I would want to get in on the action. I work better with a brief anyway, and bootcamp is a more affordable option to Lilla's classes. If you have been on the fence about taking one of her MATS classes, this is a good opportunity to get your feet wet. The schedule is much more spread out, with a week for the mini assignment and then 2 weeks more to develop the final and upload it on the gallery on her studio site. In MATS, you have less than a week to do the same thing, so time seemed like a luxury.

Being a natural born procrastinator, no surprise I abused the time frame and essentially did it in a week, but somehow, it seemed far less stressful than MATS. I actually really liked the subject matter of cuckoo clocks! Being a collector of all things cute, german and wooden (a.k.a. smokers, wendt & kuhn flower children, angels and various other bavarian kitsch) , it appealed to me. We had a cuckoo clock in my house growing up. Can't imagine having one now with the chiming and cuckooing in the half hour, but you do get used to it. 

here's a little peek at my WIP in illustrator. I did everything in it.

The challenge came in when Lilla defined the end piece as a cell phone case. Cuckoo clocks are loaded with rich details, so it was hard to imagine how it would all translate well down to a such a small format. I played around with some different ideas, like turning it into a skyscraper type condo bird house, not unlike the ones you can buy for purple martins, or possibly making a city scape out of different clocks/houses, but in the end, I decided to focus on the birds. My thinking was that it might be a good way to fill the vertical space of a phone case and besides, birds are cute and fun to draw. As far as style, I went for a symmetrical folkloric look, kind of like the party paper assignment at the end of MATS B. What can I say, I'm a sucker for symmetry ;) It was fun to try to give some of them a little personality. 

The gallery of over 400 cuckoo cell phone cases is amazing. A ton of great pieces, so if you have the time, check it out here.  Enjoy!!