Fashion with a Twist

I have exciting news to share today!

Last night I was checking my Etsy email when I saw a message from a Judykou. This particular Etsy member has a website called Sundaybrunchdress.com The website sells beautiful designer dresses which she likes to feature with a new illustrator each month. She does an excellent job of pairing dresses in her shop to the illustrators she selects and lo and behold she took a fancy to me!

I am potentially going to be the featured artist for May or June....fingers crossed. I will definitely keep you all posted for more news to come.

In other news I'm starting a new illustration. Having only 5 prints available in my shop feels a little sparse to me. I'm hoping to offer one more illustration by the end of April and many more in the months to come.

O Ye of Little Faith...

So I was feeling a little down yesterday. I knew that my shop wasn't going to be an instant success, but I couldn't suppress my desire for exactly that. I suppose it's only natural though. I have been scheming and making artwork on my computer for this Etsy shop for some time now....

Part of my motivation has been to imagine great success, which for me involves have 1,000+ sales, traveling to different indie craft fairs and quitting my day job to do art full-time. It's a nice dream to reflect on (especially when your day isn't going so well).

So today when I opened my Etsy account I saw something that caught my eye....it was an email (a.ka. conversation) from jensiedesigns . She wanted to let me know how much she liked my work :) In that little message I felt all my doubt and negative thoughts about slow beginnings disapper....it was just the thing I needed.

I stronly advise you take a gander at what Jensie Designs has to offer.

Right now I'm going to perpare a new listing and do a little self-promoting...

Yeah!

Hopefully I'll have my first sale soon. Fingers crossed.

It's HERE!

Hey, I have four minutes before I dash out the door for work. I wanted to let my 2 followers (and any other fortunate peoples) know that I've got my Etsy shop up and running!!!!


Come check me out

Bloggiddty blog blog blog!

So I have lots of good happy news type- stuff to share. First, I have received almost all of my supplies for the Etsy shop I'm creating. The only thing I'm waiting on is the 8.5x11 Hahnemuehle paper I ordered. I suppose that's kind of important. Most people prefer their art prints on paper, right? I suppose taped together receipt paper wouldn't be appropriate...or McDonald's napkins. I guess I'll wait for the art paper then.

On another paper-related note I just finished another digital work of art. I had a lot of fun looking for photos on corbis and google image search for researching ideas. I've uploaded a few to share. It's very amusing to me that women's bathing suits were measured by police back in the 20's. Considering what women AND men wear today I think those old Victorian whoddy-whoos's would have an on-the-spot anursium from the likes of Christina Agularia.

Dirty up n' huuuurr!

It Begins...

So I FINALLY bought supplies for my Etsy shop today. It's a pretty short shopping list but the grand total I spent was a little on the pricey side. I'm telling myself it's worth it though. To stand out you need interesting work AND quality materials, right? I spent some time researching which type of art paper would be best for printing my artwork on. The company "Hahnemuhle" kept coming up in my research so I took the plunge and bought 20 sheets off Amazon.com.

Now I'm waiting in anticipation and doing my best to imagine when and what my first sale will be.
For now I've got to get ready to work so that's all I got....

Man against Machine

So yesterday evening I had a mini-heart attack. Yeah..... It was crazy. I came home from a friend's house and the first thing I do when I get home is take my computer off "stand-by" mode. I don't usually like turning off my PC because I'm almost always working on something in Photoshop and I don't like the "interruption". Anyway, my Wacom pad wasn't working, which can be fixed by restarting my computer 99% of the time. However, when it rebooted this time it would only show a blank screen. Ugggh. I hard restarted my computer 7 more times with the same results.

Like any person who has defunct equipment I mashed my keyboard a bunch of times and pleaded with my monitor to be nice to me.....this never works but it's the closest I'll ever come to being technically savvy.

At this point I was loosing it. If my computer never restarts I loose EVERYTHING I've worked so hard to create. Scenes from the episode of 'Sex and the City' where Carrie gets a "Sad Mac" virus swirl in my head. I know I would feel equally devasted as her character. Unlike her, however, I do have some images backed-up on a flash drive. This fact doesn't make me happy though. There are still plenty more images yet to be saved.....

To make a long story short, the computer finally let's me reboot (probably feeling sorry for me).
I'm a changed woman too. I promise that I will go out today and buy a flash drive to "back-up" all my work.

The moral of this story is don't think you're computer will love you forever. Soon it will start to resent you and act out. Protect yourself-before it's too late!!! mmmmwwwwahhhhh ha ha ha.

2001: Space Odessey, anyone?

Phrenology

So this latest piece I'm working on was inspired by the out-dated use of "Phrenology". In a nutshell scientist believed that you could determine what type of person you were by studying the bumps on your head. Each area of the head indicated a different aspect of your personality. For example, one of the images I came across showed language behind the left eye. Benevolence, wonder and wit were some of the other traits localized to that side of the noggin.

And you thought Phrenology was just the title of another Roots album! Psssht!

This "scientific method" was very popular in the 19th century, much like blood letting to cure sickness and drowning supposed witches in centuries past. It kind of makes me wonder what philosophies and scientific beliefs will be dispelled in years and decades to come. Any guesses from the peanut gallery?

I'm still waiting to purchase art paper and packaging supplies. Looks like I mis-read my pay date information. I checked my bank account today. It still looks anemic and on the verge of collapse. Nothin' new there. On the up side I finally did my taxes and the return and pay day should coincide nicely. Then I can buy supplies! I can't wait!!! Seriously, I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas Day.

Now I am off to start another project.

Here is the Photoshop painting I just finished today. I may still *tweek* it before it is officially finished....

Baby Steps...

Today I'm taking a bold(ish) move towards becoming a professional artist. I've created 4 pieces so far that I am interested in selling (with more to come). I just purchased a great printer that produces photo-quality prints and I'm going to be buying paper and shipping supplies with my next paycheck.

I've been using all my free time outside of work and new episodes of LOST to create art work on my computer. As clichéd as it sounds, I've wanted to be a professional artist for as long as I can remember. Insecurities, life and general f*cking up have "delayed" this dream. However, I am feeling pretty good about the prospects these days. I'm going to be setting up a Etsy account and promote the crap out of my prints as soon as above supplies are purchased. Setting up this blog and unveiling the first of my works are the first baby steps towards accomplishing this dream.

Time will tell if I am successful. Even if this remains a hobby I'm feeling very fulfilled by expressing all the little ideas that pass thru my imagination. Yesterday I thought of a Pandora's Box theme. ....I'll be starting that some time tonight I'm guessing.