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

With the summer heat bearing down on everyone, I thought we could all use some lemonade to cool us off.  The concept sketch is below.  If you want to show your love for lemonade and kawaii art, you can find the design in my Zazzle shop.  Thanks for stopping by.

Here is a sketch for a work in progress.  The giant robot wants ice cream.  The idea was from my friend Sara(her blog, she has cool art by the way) posting on twitter that she wanted ice cream, and it made me want to draw ice cream, and I always like drawing robots.  She suggested something over the top.  It has been a few weeks, but better late than never.

I bought an extra 2mm holder, that I intend to use in DIY iPad/iPhone stylus project.

don’t push the button

I’m trying out the ArtStudio app for the iPad.  I like it’s traditional feel, but it does have a bit of a learning curve.  I enjoy being able to create digital art in a very portable format.  I’m trying out a few other digital drawing apps for the iPad and may have to release some reviews of the apps soon.  I created this happy robot, who doesn’t really care what drawing app I used to create him.

Here is one of the two final illustrations(each class received an original illustration) that I made for Mrs. Griffith’s class and Mrs. Plever’s class.  A few weeks back the two classrooms meet online using Skype to create the story, “Mr. Bobblehead’s New Gadget and the Valentine’s Surprise.” I was really fortunate that they chose to use my artwork to tell their story  on StoryBird.com, the collaborative storytelling site.  The illustration is from their story, when Mr. Bobblehead and Goldie(the fish) were in the park at sunset.  I hope they like the artwork, and are inspired to keep writing and drawing, because they certainly inspire me.  I wanted to share a little more of the artwork process below.  Thank you Mrs. Griffith, Mrs. Plever, Mrs. Ditzler, StoryBird, all of the super talented students, and to all of my friends and supporters.

Here is a look at my sketch book from the perspective of working through the concept drawing in my mind.  Often I go through several versions of a drawing, before I settle on one that I like.  I believe that there is a method to my madness, but to quote the Cheshire Cat, “We’re all mad here.”  I leave you with the sketches behind my concept of why is a raven like a writing desk.

New sketch.  Have you ever been so happy that you malfunctioned?  This little robot has.