the Pursuit

I've been busy studying on-line and getting back to my roots with my sketchbook. I'm trying to improve my knowledge and skills in Adobe Illustrator. Fantasy: get into surface design in some way, shape or form. Generate income by selling stock art. Refine my online shops: Etsy, Zazzle, and Cafe Press and Studio6 into successful stores. Possibly pick up some commission work.

Putting the pencil to sketchbook is something I haven't done regularly in a while, but for the last week I've done a lot of doodling and stream of consciousness writing and drawing. I'm already "feeling" a difference in both mind-set and result, which is a great thing! I'd like to consider a personal project that could help me build a portfolio... I currently have a lot of random drawings but I've never put forward a REAL portfolio, and it's something that I need to do.



The goal for me is to continue working my hourly retail job part-time, but supplementing my income via my art/design. The other option for me is to work full-time, and presently the only option(s) for me are retail (with the dreadful ever-changing work-schedule and crappy pay). It's not just a dreamy pursuit anymore: it's an absolute necessity born out of the disastrous past 12 months of my personal life. The next 12 months could be even worse if I don't do something!

My new reality sucks, but it's one that many many people find themselves in. I can no longer depend on someone else to provide my income, the roof over my head, my health benefits, my security. I'm mad at myself for ever depending on someone else in the first place... and I'll never let myself be in that position ever again. I'm determined to figure out a way to provide with the least amount of disruption for my daughter. I'm hoping that I can do it using my talents rather than being forced into a low-paying, soul-sucking, crazy-schedule job (or jobs!)



My photography gigs help some, so I continue to seek out sessions here and there, but on-location shooting is a seasonal thing in my mid-west climate, so supplementing with graphic-design is what I'd like to do. There are a lot of sellers on Etsy and elsewhere who work their asses off in order to be profitable, and it is possible...

So it really truly is now or never. I am under no illusion that it will be easy, but I am determined!

Hand-lettering

Long ago and far away, like in the 1970's when I was in grade-school, I used to love to decorate my school folders and notebooks with all kinds of hand-drawn lettering. Bubble letters were a big thing with all the girls, including myself, but I was also smitten with fancy signatures, calligraphy, and album cover art. The very first album I purchased was Fleetwood Mac: Rumours, and I fell in love with the decorative lettering across the top of the album jacket, with it's beautiful glyphs and serifs.



I wanted to be able to draw letters like that, with swirls and curlicues and lines of various weights and thicknesses. Soon thereafter, albums like the Eagles Greatest Hits were added to my collection and I spent hours studying the albums and practicing my "E"'s and "A"'s and "S"'s in pencil and ball-point pen.

My love of decorative typography has never left me, but I never made the time to practice or play with it once computers made hand-lettering seem like a quaint but obsolete skill. However, with the resurgence and demand for handmade it's not surprising that hand-drawn letters, signs, posters and info graphics have been enjoying a new appreciation in our increasingly homogenous and mass-produced world.

Recently I've stumbled across the amazing work of Sean McCabe (or Seanwes as he is occasionally known) and his work kind of re-ignited my love for decorative hand-drawn typography and composition. I went so far as to enroll in a small on-line course that Sean teaches called "Digitizing Hand Lettering, from Sketch to Vector" over at Skillshare.com. Sean suggests learning and understanding the how's and why's of typography design, but emphasizes that the only way to truly learn is by putting pen to paper and practicing again and again and again. So I did, a simple doodle of my name, and though I could pick it apart bit by bit I am, after-all, shaking of layers of cob-webs, and I have no doubt I'll get better.



My tracking is weak and my line weight has some serious issues, but the process itself was rather meditative and fun. I sketched first in pencil on a lined piece of notebook paper, inked it with a Micron pen, scanned it into photoshop and added the texture and vectorized it in Illustrator.

Yay for hand-lettering! If you'd like to see some lovely examples simply check out Pinterest and search "hand-lettering". I've found several tutorials, step by step photos of processes, and some really cool posters, signs and other graphics that are inspiring and just plain old fun to look at!

1st Day of School!

First Day of School... Kindergarten in fact for my girl G and her Bestie, our neighbor M. G was so fired up, excited to officially be a "Big Kid", and I managed to hold it together, although it feels a bit surreal! G & M have different teachers but i'm sure we'll still be together for Field Trips and other activities. I just can't believe this day is officially here!

Facebook Timeline Covers

I've been busy designing Facebook timeline covers. Many are completely designed and rendered 100% by me, and others use a combination of digital elements that I purchased a commercial license to use in my designs. My intent is that these are an affordable way for everyone to pretty up their timeline banner. Below is a small sampling:



I enjoy making these because they are quick, and give me the opportunity to play around with color, layering, and composition without being on a deadline, as I often find myself with my other interests (photo editing, ordering etc.) Next week I have several days off in a row and I'm hoping to use some of that time to jazz around in Illustrator and design more elements of my own. I try not to get discouraged by the large number of digital artists out there. I tell myself there is room enough for everybody!

In the meantime I'm adding new timeline banners to my Etsy Shop daily. I hope you'll stop by! Maybe there is a design you would like for your own timeline!