New Work - Meet Miss Ruth!

Hi Everyone! I just wanted to share Miss Ruth, the latest illustration in my Victorian Portrait series "Ladies & Gents".

Ruth is a 38 year old mystic looking for love!

Miss Ruth was really fun to draw. It was also fun to play with my love of Polka Dots (or stars perhaps)! In the future, I'm going to experiment with some new textures and fabric design in the next few paintings.

If you are interested my limited edition Miss Ruth print, as well as all the other, "Ladies & Gents", is now available in my shop.

I hope you like her.

P.S. I have been reading The Barbary Coast (An Informal History of the San Francisco Underworld) by Herbert Asbury.  This tells about the dark history of San Francisco from the Gold Rush era, c.1949 to the Great Earthquake in 1906. Asbury writes about so many amazing crazy characters, I can help to add at least a few to the series. I highly recommend this book! You can look at San Francisco the same again...

Let's Focus on Illustration

Last night I went to a talk about blogging at the Makeshift Society. One of the speakers was Victoria Smith of SF Girl by Bay, one of my all time favorite bloggers. I was so happy and inspired to talk to her for a bit. I'm amazed at all she has accomplished on her own.  It got to thinking about my own blog and what direction it is going in.

So here's what I'm thinking...I've got a lot to learn about being a professional freelancer. I've gone as far as I can on this level and would like to see what else there is in the world. I would like to share a bit of this learning experience with my readers. Maybe what I'm learning will help others on their art journey too.

After a years of reflection, I've come to realize that some of my favorite things such as helping others, doing research and illustration might actually be a good thing to share with the world. Maybe this sharing thing might be the one thing that is missing right now.

One of the biggest things that I have learned in the last few months is the importance of community. I think one has to surround themselves with creative folks to take some of the pressure off themselves. I mean, no one wants to do everything alone. We all need a cheerleader or two.

 The next few months I will be focusing a bit more on graphic design and layout. I won't bore you too much but I'll be putting may hours into taking Lynda.com online computer classes. This summer, I will also be publishing my first book collaboration. I'm pretty damn excited about this and will be sharing a bit more after I meet with the author again in early June.

Here's to learning new ideas and sharing them with the world!

P.S. As a reader, do you like the idea of sharing? Is there anything you would like me to focus on?
 

Happy May & It's Meetup Time!

Vintage Maypole Dance!

April a pretty terrible month. I didn't get as much as I wanted done and was kind of stuck in a bit of a funk for a couple of weeks. But now it is time I get back to action because there is a lot to be done.

So here's my business plans for May:

1. First of all, my first priority is the book. The illustrations are almost done and then I will be going on to the layout stage. 
2. For the book, choose type and create hand painted letters for certain pages.
3. Create a Step by Step for blog.
4. Work with author on back pages and title pages.
5. Work on new pieces for the shop. I'm hoping for one new piece a week.
6. Start my SFEtsy Mission Meetup group.
7. Get photography done for New Bohemia Signs.
8. Research and apply to upcoming craft/fairs, anyone know of some good ones.
9. Mini weekend trips! Time for some camping! 
10. Keep up with daily walks and exercise.
11. Start some collaborations with other artists.
12. Rework blog.
13. Rework portfolio website.
14. Work on my "about" page on my Etsy page. (Get some good photos taken of myself and rewrite bio)
15. Get more involved with the Makeshift Society.

One of the big things I learned over this depressing month is I tend to spend too much time inside the house. I think isolation is one of the hardest parts of being a freelance artist. There is so much to do and I tend to feel guilty taking a hour going for a walk. But you know, I have to do it. I am my happiest/healthiest when I am involved with other people and projects. Anyone else feel this way?

Here's to May being a super productive month with some relaxation and fun thrown in!

What are your plans for May!

What's The Meetup? Do you have any business goals to share? You are welcome to join us at The Meetup, where creative people join together online and encourage each other to share their goals and dreams each month. Sound interesting to you? You can find out more here.

Back to it...Ze Frank on Creativity.

Working through the weekend trying to catch up with my book project. (I'm so close to getting to the next level with this huge project). Sometimes, I have to remind myself to keep pushing through the work despite wanting to take the easy way out. I love this reminder by Ze Frank to just do the work...



Push yourself towards your dreams...everyday!

Update...I found this lovely post on Pikaland today that works really well with last weeks posts. Read it here.

lost and found

I just wanted to say a few words about the events in Boston. I grew up in Massachusetts and went to school in Boston (Massachusetts College of Art). It broke my heart to see such unimaginable wreckage happen on Monday, I got sucked into all watching all the pain and gory details on street that I spent a lot of time on in my youth. It sickened me, it sickened all of us.

There is not much that I feel like I can do when events like this take place. (There just seems to be more of them these days). I get lost in them. I lose my self for a few days and can't get much work done. I don't really care for this weakness in myself. I want to understand why? This kind of shit happens all over the world everyday and we don't hear much about it. We definitely don't hear the stories of the dead. We feel numb about it if we hear anything at all. With newscasts, it is all just a numbers game, isn't it?

I think we are all a little numb and waiting for the time to stop thinking about the events until the next one comes along. Something even more horrific to wake our selves up for a day or two. Something to be forgotten a week or two later. I sometimes wonder about what artists can do. What I can do? Is there still room for activism? Can we really make some sort of real change?

Art activism seems too political and p.c. these days to make a connection. I want to feel, I want to feel part of something. But where do you start? What can we do?

Any thoughts?

Illustration Hero: J.C. Leyendecker

It amazes me that I could of missed someone like J.C. Leyendecker (1874-1951) when I was in art school. (I'm sure some of my teachers must of mentioned him but I was probably daydreaming of other things)  His work is so incredible! But now that I have found him and have so much reference at my fingertips, I have no excuse not to study what he did.

His work is so detailed, and his colors are so rich. The lines and shadow work are pretty much perfect. Each of his characters are so fluid in their movement and so, so beautiful. As an illustrator, he was known for his advertising for Arrow Shirt Collars, The Saturday Evening Post (he did over 300 covers for them), Kuppenheimer's Good Clothing, illustrations for Interwoven Socks ads among many others.

Another really interesting aspect of J.C. is that he was gay. And although he was never out of the closet  during his lifetime, his illustrations contain a lot of homoerotic aspects. I love looking at all the connections between all the male characters in his paintings. In retrospect, Leyendecker is pretty damn brave to create the worlds that he did. So many of his images seem really contemporary now. It is also really fun to notice that his partner, the lovely Charles Beach, is the model for so much of his work.  Wouldn't that be a sweet tribute to the love of your life?


Here are a of my few of my favorite illustrations by J.C. Leyendecker:

J.C. Leyendecker, Couple Reading on Deck Chairs, 1904,

J.C. Leyendecker, Ridolfo & Gismonda, 1906

J.C. Leyendecker, The Vacation, 1907

J.C. Leyendecker, Arrow Collar Shirts Advertisement,  1910

J.C. Leyendecker, Charles Beach (the love of J.C.'s life and the perfect model for his illustrations)

J.C. Leyendecker, Couple Descending Staircase, Arrow Collar Ad, c.1930

J.C. Leyendecker, Interwoven Socks Advertisement, c.1920's

J.C. Leyendecker, Arrow Collars 

J.C. Leyendecker, Cupid's Kiss, 1923

J.C. Leyendecker, Saturday Evening Post Cover, Lifeguard, Save Me!, 1924

J.C. Leyendecker, Golf or Tennis, 1910

J.C. Leyendecker, Arrow Collar Advertisement, 1929

J.C. Leyendecker, Kuppenheimer's Good Clothes, 1920

J.c Leyendecker, The Butterfly Couple, 1923

J.C. Leyendecker, War Victory for Saturday Evening Post, 1918

J.C. Leyendecker at work in his studio via HagginMuseum

What do you think of Leyendecker's work? Did I mention that his work was all created on large canvases and painted with oil paints? Pretty impressive don't you think. I would love to check one out up close. Wouldn't you?

I heard that George Lucas is opening an illustration museum in San Francisco in the next few years, hopefully he will have a few of Leyendecker's painting in his collection. Fingers crossed...

Time for the Meetup! April's Goals!

Back Garden Cabaret, Poplar, June 28, 1935 via Steroge Will Do

Hi All! I don't believe that it is April already. March really flew by. But it was a pretty good one. As far as my March goals went, I continued to work on the book. I painted another custom portrait and I got my artwork in my first shop.

All in all March was good to me. The housing situation is a bit on hold. My husband and I decided to try to buy our place. Buying a house is a pretty scary situation anywhere, but seems even crazier in the intensely over-priced housing market that is San Francisco. Fingers crossed that we get this place...and I can relax once again and feel stable.

Here's what I have planned to April:

1. Continue working on the book. The illustrations are almost finished but I need to perfect them and make sure they all work together.
2. Scan illustrations and layout the book, add text.
3. Create at least one custom portrait a month.
4. Research upcoming art fairs and apply.
5. Start preparing more inventory for fairs.
6. Work on ideas for SFEtsy community. 
7. Add new work to shop. 
8. Continue learning better time management skills. (I've been working with the Pomodora App.)
9. Rework portfolio website (this has sadly been neglected for too long).
10. Get a exercise program working (even if it just 10 minutes a day)
11. Get back on a blogging schedule. Post at least 2x a week.
12. Get more active in the Makeshift Society
13. Take a screen printing class. 
14. Keep adding new work to my shop.
15. Get ready to submit work to magazines and blogs.
16. Start planning mini vacations and camping trips.

Well that looks like April is pretty damn full. I will be concentrating on the book most of the month, but hopefully I will be able to do most of this work.

What are you up to this month?

What's The Meetup? Do you have any business goals to share? You are welcome to join us at The Meetup, where creative people join together online and encourage each other to share their goals and dreams each month. Sound interesting to you? You can find out more here.