Cheers To A New Year

New Year's Eve is my all-time favorite day of the year. It's the day when we get to be the designer of our dreams. A new year holds so much promise and possibility. It's a clean slate. A new chapter. A fresh start. A do-over. On this day we get to dwell in possibility. We get to believe that this is going to be the year that ________ (fill in your wildest dreams here) Tomorrow we'll have to roll up our sleeves and get started on working to make 2010 everything we hope it will be. But today we get to sit back and just imagine all the possibilities.

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

I wish for you a joyful and peaceful Christmas doing whatever makes you happy. I hope Santa brings you lots of art supplies!

IF - Undone

I doubt that Yoshida Kenko was referring to laundry when he uttered this phrase, but that's how I'd like to interpret his words. I've been feeling a little artistically "undone" lately. Not due to lack of inspiration--more likely due to over-inspiration. I can't seem to focus on one project, one idea, or one technique. I keep flitting between projects and starting new ones with no sense of direction or purpose. This illustration is a perfect example. I started painting the pages of yet another altered book with gouache and then decided to try lettering with a paintbrush rather than markers and watercolors. I have a lot less control with a paintbrush and the result is pretty primitive. How many projects do you have "undone" right about now?

Over The Top Is Over And Out!!!

A few months ago, I posted about the Art House Co-op sketchbook project that I decided to join. I was assigned the theme: OVER THE TOP. After several months and hours and hours and hours of work, I am thrilled to report that my sketchbook is finally finished and on its way to Art House to join all the rest in a permanent Sketchbook Library.

I decided to use this project as an opportunity to practice my lettering...and boy did I get a lot of practice!!! Since the sketchbook paper was a bit thin and I did everything in markers, I only used one side of the page and left the other side blank. (I have this thing about show through--I don't mind it in other people's work but don't like it in my own.) I can't say that I'm happy with every page, but I'll include them all so you can see the entire finished sketchbook. You can click on the images to see them larger, and of course, you can visit the Sketchbook Library and see ALL the sketchbooks!























That's all folks! Over and out.