My latest illustration is in response to the Illustration Friday theme, “immovable.”  I thought about the theme for a while, and envisioned a robot seeking inner peace.  The robot is so incredibly determined that he will sit in the rain, risking rust and corrosion in order to find inner peace.  I could see the little rain droplets bouncing off his metal body, making tings and chimes like hundreds of Tibetan singing bowls.

I’m traveling this week to finish a contract teaching assignment for my former employers.  The money is a blessing, but it does take time from my focus on my artwork.  On another positive note, one of my students bought a painting from me on Etsy, so that really made my day.

Thank you all for your support, kind words, and positive thoughts.

The theme for this weeks Illustration Friday challenge is “atmosphere.”  I dreamed of a bird who was unable to fly, but found a way.  Whatever, your dream may be, I hope you find it.

Limitations can be placed on all of us, especially for artists and creative individuals.  “You can not be an artist, because there is no money in it.  You don’t want to go into that field because it will be boring, and on and on it goes.” All of these statements will be true if you believe them.  It simply takes a change of atmosphere to avoid the common trap of limiting yourself.  It is not easy to push against what people believe, especially people who’s opinions you may value.  People have various reasons for believing what they believe, but we each can choose to reject or ignore things that do not fit in with our own beliefs.  You can create your own atmosphere and mood, and rise above the limitations that other people might want you to have.  It is tough at first to distance yourself from those opinions, but with practice and perseverance you can create your own path, which is important as an artist, because there will be many critics and doubters along the way.

Here are few things that will help with negative atmospheres, whether they are created by someone else, or even your own inner voice.

1. Don’t ask for someone else’s permission on an idea you have.  Try your idea and see what happens.
2. If someone starts to criticize your work or idea(see step one if you asked them), politely change the subject.  If they don’t take the hint, thank them for their opinion, but tell them you would prefer not to talk to them about it.
3. Stay positive.  Yes, I know, easier said then done.  Remember, you can choose your own atmosphere.  Choose to smile.  Choose to be happy.  Choose to be positive.
4. Here is a really important one, for creating revenue and income.  The world is consuming more and more digital products, with little or no cost to try things out.  If there is a way to create your idea, art, or project digitally, go for it.  You don’t have anything to lose, but you might miss a lot by not trying.  The beauty of digital products is that if they don’t succeed, it is inexpensive to try out another idea.

These are some steps that have been helping me over the last few weeks.  You may have more ideas, and if you do, share them with everyone in the comments.  Oh, by the way, see step one, these are my ideas and I perfectly happy with them.  Good luck and be creative.

PS.  Don’t forget to enter for the chance to win a free Dinosaur Grocery Tote, ends Friday, September 3, 2010.  Good Luck.

It has been a long time since, I’ve had anything for the Illustration Friday challenge.  The theme this week is “Star Gazing.”  I love space, so this image appeared in my head almost instantly.  Ahh, the relaxation of enjoying a cup of joe in weightless space.

I typically don’t include personal info or trade information much in my blog, but change is inevitable.  I recently quit my job, to spend more time with my youngest teenage daughter, and to hopefully become a full-time artist.  I’ve always wanted to do this, so I’m reaching for the stars.  It is a little scary right now, without any regular income to speak of, or a huge savings nest egg.  I’m currently working on several projects, and will be letting everyone know as soon as they are ready.  I will need to market my work and myself more than I have in the past.  I’m very timid, when it comes to selling my creations, which many of you may find odd if you’ve ever been in one of my computer classes, but hey, we all have our little quirks.  I try not to be pushy, and hopefully never will be, but I will have to use every communication method possible to get the word out about new projects and items for sale.  I will be eternally grateful to anyone who can spread the word, and many of the projects coming up will help me reward those efforts with affiliate sales programs.  If there is anything I can do in return please let me know.  Thank you all.

star gazer - original sketch

It has been a while, but here is an entry for this weeks Illustration Friday theme strong.  It is hard to say which has a stronger attraction the delicious ice cream or the curious gentleman.  I had an image of an ice cream shop and the rather curious gentleman who owns the shop.  He is only referred to as the curious gentleman by those who know him.  It is not that anything is wrong with him or that he is weird.  He is rather a mystery.  Rumor has it that he was an officer in the Great Ice Cream Wars, perhaps even a spy.  He is very hush hush about it, but he is said to be a hero.  Regardless, he has that best ice cream to be found.  Hope your week is filled with excitement and perhaps even ice cream.

Check out the Curious Gentleman stuff in my Zazzle Shop.  Create your own adventures with the Curious Gentleman.

Most dragons have a craving for gold, jewels, and wealth.  They hoard all of their treasure away from the world, in dark caves and fiercely guard it from anyone or anything that may try to take even one single coin.  Over time the dragons grew larger and larger, trapped with the very treasure they hoarded.  Pip, the little red dragon, did not crave the selfish ways of the older and larger dragons. He enjoyed sharing his wealth with his friends and family.  He preferred the sunlight instead of dark caves.  Flying in the early morning air was one of his favorite things.  He would glide, float, and soar.  His scales were red and gold like the rays of the sun light.  Anyone that witnessed his early morning play could not help but smile.  Over time, Pip became legend, however to this day his image is said to bring happiness, joy, and wealth to all who see it.  May you be filled with happiness and joy, and share it with everyone around you.

“Adapt” was the theme this week for Illustration Friday.  I thought about fun little monsters and robots having to adapt, cooperate, and work together to achieve a desired goal, but nothing was really striking a cord with me visually.  I left the topic alone for a few days and then it hit me.  What kind of car would different animals drive, and which one might have to adapt the most.  A fish seemed like the animal that would have to make the most changes to drive a car, or would they.  A VW Beetle, sort of looks like a fish bowl, so maybe more fish will take to the streets and help the ailing car companies.  It could happen.  Well, it can in my imagination anyway.  Have a wonderful week.

The theme this week for Illustration Friday is “cracked.”  Eggs and things breaking came to mind first, but then I thought about the sad story of Hungry Bot.  Hungry bot is normally one of the nicest robots around.  He had been on a low-car diet for several days, and finally cracked due to the temptation of so many tasty cars and trucks.  In his defense, the local freeway did look like an all you can eat car buffet.

I’m having a huge sale right now on my original watercolor paintings in my Etsy Shop.  Also, my Zazzle shop is full of wonderful summer t-shirt designs.  I’m trying my best to develop my art and design work into a full time job, so if anyone needs some wonderful illustrations, art, or design work please let me know.  I would like to thank everyone for visiting, and for your support and encouragement.  Have a wonderful week.

With all of the horrible flu and virus stuff going on right now, especially in the news, my thoughts initially turned to negative ideas for this weeks illustration friday theme “contagious.”  My negative thoughts were soon pushed aside, when I thought about how someone can have a smile that is contagious, or that laughter can be contagious.  Happier notions prevailed, and I produced this happy little robot.  The color palette was influenced by thoughts of food for Memorial Day, and a fresh produce stand that I noticed a few days ago on the side of the road.  The farmer had a truck overflowing with watermelons.  I’m not sure where they came from since, it should be a little early in Tennessee to harvest watermelons.  Whether food, robots,art, friends, or family bring happiness to you, find something that makes you happy, and let your happiness be contagious.

The illustration friday theme this week was “parade.”  My mind often takes fun turns, when I start drawing.  I thought about all of the typical parades, with floats and bands, but with the warm weather approaching, my thoughts turned to summer time parades.  The summer heat reminded me of the fun popsicles we enjoyed growing up, whether it was from the freezer or the crazy ice cream van in the neighborhood.  Have you ever wondered what goes on in your freezer, when the door is closed?  I know it probably just something that I think about.  I imagined a freezer full of parades and fun.  How else could a popsicle make you so happy unless they were fun loving themselves.  I was able to catch a quick snap shot of the party in my freezer.  I hope the image brings a smile to your face, because it was certainly fun to create.  Have a wonderful day full of imagination.

The theme for Illustration Friday was “hierarchy.”  I will admit this one gave me a little trouble.  I thought about my usual birds on tree branches, but really wanted to do something different and to challenge myself a bit.  I’m a big fan of Japanese art, animation, and culture (hint to Japanese package/design artist representatives and agents).  I was looking at a new mechanical pencil that I wanted to buy from Japan, and was reminded of how wonderful their package designs are, because they very often have cartoons on them.  Anyway , the thoughts of Japanese product design collided with an MP3 player, music players of old, and my art to produce the image above.  My imagination is a happy place, so the music players old and new get along great and just enjoy good music together.  Go get your music player, turn on your favorite music, smile, and have a wonderful day.