Sunday Sketches: Dreaming of summertime

The weather has finally warmed up here this weekend. After almost three weeks of rain here in our cozy town, it's been lovely to have the sun shining, making for delightful walks with the pups and much more.  In fact, the sweet sunflower illustration above was inspired from a morning stroll with the pups and my brother.  We're all enjoying this very wet Spring and looking forward to summertime.

I do apologize for such a short post this weekend. There's a lot going on, including prepping for my upcoming Barnes & Noble Artist of the Month. On Monday, I'll be hanging my artwork for the month of June and then on Saturday, June 6th, I'll be reading "Peanut Butter & Pumpernickel" to the children (the latest children's book I illustrated). Looking forward to catching up with everyone else. Happy Sunday Sketches!

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Submit your artwork by signing up below with a link to your website/blog.  PLEASE make sure to visit each other! One of the biggest reasons for this co-op is to encourage and lift others up in their creative endeavors as well.  Thank you!

Sunday Sketches: Tiny joys discovered in tiny things

For the past few weeks, I've had this inner creative desire to try my hand at painting some wildflowers without any sketching beforehand. A while ago, I read how freeing it can be to simply sit down with some dried flowers without any prior thought as to how you're going to do it and just paint. Now that I've tried it, I couldn't agree more. Here's why:

By allowing yourself to pick up a brush and paint without any artistic direction, you're removing the pressure of putting yourself in a box to have to complete your painting in a specific way. It also gives your creative soul permission to release any emotions trapped within, giving them wings to fly and possibly even heal. Life is good but life is also challenging and finding ways to help us cope along the way is important — especially to one's creative heart and mind.  I can't tell you just how freeing this was for me personally. After finishing my piece, I got up from the studio table feeling revitalized, smiling and excited to share this new bit of juicy wisdom with each of you this week. So, what are you waiting for? Grab your paintbrush and jump in! Discover new hope and joy within your work by setting your creative spirit free.

Wishing you all a fabulous weekend and upcoming week. Happy Sunday Sketches!

P.S. I'm thrilled to introduce to you my new teaser video for Ignite Your Inner Heart!

Grab the Sunday Sketches button HERE.
 
Submit your artwork by signing up below with a link to your website/blog.  PLEASE make sure to visit each other! One of the biggest reasons for this co-op is to encourage and lift others up in their creative endeavors as well.  Thank you!

WOYWW: Magical bunnies bringing joy...

It's been wonderful having a break from college classes to focus more on my artwork and illustration projects currently on the table. I'm working on finalizing three children's books and just started a brand new one, scheduled for the upcoming Christmas holiday. Eeek! Can you tell I'm excited? Hee I've been utterly blessed to be a part of so many projects that involve blessing the heart of children across the world. It's both humbling and life changing.

Above are some darling bunnies I sketched and painted yesterday in order to get back in touch with the Beatrix Potter style of illustrations for an upcoming children's book. It's unfortunately top secret at the moment, so I will share more about it when I can. Until then, enjoy the little video I put together here in my studio. May your heart be blessed in unexpected ways today.

Wishing everyone a delightful Wednesday and lovely week!

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For more creative desks, make sure to hop on over and visit Julia and her cozy home at WOYWW.

Creative Tuesdays: Fairytale Tree-land...

It's been ages since I've been a part of Creative Tuesdays and thought it fitting to hop back on board now that classes are done for awhile. Although my plate is running over with project work, I felt it would be good to be a part of an art co-op that would continue to push my creative brain.  This piece is definitely outside of my comfort zone but enjoyed designing it...all the way down to the gum drop vines wrapped around the tree. Hee

In the final stages of this piece, in order to add the right detail, I used a combination of tools: White gel pen, Copic Markers, Staedtler colored pens, and my black Zig Millenium 01. Usually, I'll lay down my white spots first and then paint. This time, I chose to add the white last, which provided a bit more 'pop' to the final illustration overall.

For more contributions or to be a part of Mr. Toast's, Creative Tuesdays, make sure to visit Mr. Toast's cozy home.

Sunday Sketches: Teapot Delight

If you were to visit our cozy home, you would find quite the collection of tea pots (...and tea cups!) Uh huh. This piece of art reflects one of the many that grace the cabinets of our kitchen and is usually the one we use to serve our guests that perfect cuppa when enjoying an afternoon tea of raising scones and Mr. Toast's homemade lemon shortbread.

As you take a look at the few process photos above, you'll see in the last picture what looks like a simple sketch of the teapot and yummy cookies. If you take a look closer, you'll discover that the text, "Yorkshire Tea" and various spots on the teapot are actually white - this is where I used a pastel pencil, which allowed me to create the 'white space' without the mess that wax or masking produces. If you're curious about this process, hang tight, as I'm currently developing a video tutorial to share this. In fact, I have lots of surprises and creative goodies coming up over the summer and look forward to sharing these with you.

Here's to a wonderful weekend for each of you. Happy Sunday Sketches!

Grab the Sunday Sketches button HERE.
 
Submit your artwork by signing up below with a link to your website/blog.  PLEASE make sure to visit each other! One of the biggest reasons for this co-op is to encourage and lift others up in their creative endeavors as well.  Thank you!

Sunday Sketches: New Dreams & Adventures

I've had a lot of fun the past 24 hours simply playing around in my studio, painting various illustrations in different styles. In fact, I used the owl you see above and created a brand new time-lapse video to show my process of mixing multiple colors with a lot of water in order to obtain a specific loose feel to this particular painting. I thoroughly enjoyed it and am looking forward to diving in to the number of projects on my desk on Monday, now that college classes are finished until Autumn. Yes, yes...I'll be starting the next round of classes to continue moving forward with my academic goals. In the end, I hope to teach art therapy as well as, being a part of a brain research program to help individuals recovering from head trauma.

In other lovely news, some of my summer goals are to write part 2 to my current online class, Hello, Courage. I've had super great results with this class sharing with women and men alike how to find creative joy when life gets hard. So much that I've received numerous requests for a "Hello, Courage 2".  I'll also begin focusing on the beginning stages of writing/illustrating my own book. Uh huh. I have a few ideas and am working through the process to narrow down which route to go. So, keep checking back for an update on this new adventure!

Wishing you all a fabulous weekend and upcoming week. Happy Sunday Sketches!

Grab the Sunday Sketches button HERE.
 
Submit your artwork by signing up below with a link to your website/blog.  PLEASE make sure to visit each other! One of the biggest reasons for this co-op is to encourage and lift others up in their creative endeavors as well.  Thank you!

Sunday Sketches: It's OK To Be Different...

Time continues to fly by as I check off project work, finish college finals and prepare for graduation in a week. In fact, I received a call from the college yesterday requesting a current photo and information from me as I am their "most successful scholar" - and that makes me super excited after all I've been through this past year. I feel blessed to be where I'm at today and couldn't be happier.

With that said, let me leave you with the final cover layout for my the next children's book I'm illustrating, "No Matter How Small", written by Sharon Gibbs - teaching children it's OK to be different. It's a fabulous book destined to touch the hearts of children and parents alike!

I'm off to finish Algebra homework plus exams and will visit everyone soon.  Happy SS!

Grab the Sunday Sketches button HERE.
 
Submit your artwork by signing up below with a link to your website/blog.  PLEASE make sure to visit each other! One of the biggest reasons for this co-op is to encourage and lift others up in their creative endeavors as well.  Thank you!