Promote Thyself

I’ve been designing a lot of business cards, but only just got around to updating my own. Here’s an instagram shot of ‘em with my favorite little blue scissors:

A Doll for Dylan

Tags

birthday card, doll cake, illustration

I made a silly drawing for my pal Dylan, so I thought I would post it here and take another opportunity to wish her a very happy birthday. Happy 25th, Dylan! A toast to you with only the shittiest and cheapest of beers!

Okay. So. Doll cakes. The internet is bursting with them and I can’t believe I never thought to draw one before (I myself had a small blue one with a plastic clown’s head all to myself for my first birthday). Now it’s all I’ll ever want to put on another birthday card. I’m particularly intrigued by the short stumpy ones. Are we to believe this bombshell Barbie (bottom right) is hiding 2 inch long legs under that frosted hoop skirt? More troubling still, I imagine cutting into this baby doll cake to be a lot like taking a seat at the Gross Clinic. Yikes.

Mug Shot

One of my 2012 resolutions was to paint more. In college, oil painting was my main method of art making, which is typical for undergrad art students, I suppose, but it was also my greatest therapy. After college, without the studio/classroom I so frequently had to myself to paint in at all hours of the night, painting started to seem like a messy, turpentine-smelly hassle. Last year, to my own horror, I found myself using my easel as a clothing rack. That’s when I realized things had to change. So, while I doubt it will ever be my main artistic squeeze again, painting makes me a calmer, saner person and is something I need to do more of for myself. That said, here’s an oil painting I completed a month or so ago.

Our favorite mugs; Star Trek is Ben’s and Kate Spade is mine. Obviously, right?

Now, by completed I mean maybe I’ll come back to it later. I’m happier with the Star Trek mug than the Kate Spade because it’s more painterly. I think I got too precise on the lady mug side of things and it reads a bit gaudy. Or maybe it’s just that I wouldn’t normally paint in the palette of colors on the KSNY mug. THEN AGAIN, maybe it’s better not to dwell and just move on to the next thing.

Bachelorettes & Business Cards

Here are a few bits of printed matter that came off the presses this April:

Business cards for photographer Lizz Kuehl and Mini May Creations, creator of adorable crocheted hats for kids. The text art is (or will be) featured on the websites for each. Two awesome ladies producing awesome work. Check ‘em out.

And thirdly, here’s a bachelorette party invitation I designed for one soon-to-be-wed Rorey. I really love designing personalized invitations like this. Weddings are always fun, but the two bachelorette invitations I’ve created so far have both been surprises commissioned by top notch bridesmaids, so the bride doesn’t expect them and is especially touched by the gesture. At least I hope. I always think it speaks a lot about a person when they take care to have their stationery — business cards, paper, a beautifully addressed enveloped, or a well-wrapped present — reflect themselves. Or maybe I just like paper too much. *shrug* (Mind the gap, RSVP info was removed for privacy)

Flower Girls II

At the beginning of the month, I posted an illustration I made that was inspired by an Orla Kiely pattern called “Flower Girls”. Since the figures in my illustration are based on a pattern, I decided to try putting my own figures into a pattern, to see how closely my drawing reflected the energy and spirit of it’s inspiration. And I have to say, pretty well. I’ve since removed the actual Orla Kiely print from my illustration and now my girls are wearing themselves. Not that it’s very obvious. In short: pattern begets illustration begets pattern begets illustration.

1. “Flower Girls” pattern by Orla Kiely 2. My sketch of the figures I saw in the pattern 3. A sketch based on my…er… sketch 4. Completed figures 5. Completed illustration 6. Silhouette I made from my figures 7. Pattern made from silhouettes, which I then put back into the illustration. FULL CIRCLE.

Prints of the new version of the illustration will be available this summer, when I launch my Etsy shop. Which reminds me, thanks to everyone who commented here and on Facebook as re: the Print Poll. Always appreciate feedback!

Print Poll

Tags

art, etsy, poll, print shop

Guys! After much printer research, I am in the process of setting up an Etsy shop. Finally. Is there anyone else left on the internet who hasn’t got their own internet store front? I think it’s just me at this point and I’m feeling left out.

If you have a spare minute or two, I would love to get your opinion on what prints to include in my shop. Of course, I’m happy to print any of my work on request, but I want to get an idea of which to stock up on for quick turn-around. Aside from any logos (obvs), anything on my website at shecanliftahorse.com is an option. In my mind, these three would make for the best prints (keeping 8×10, 8×12 sizes in mind):

I’m fond of the Flower Girls print photographed at the top of the post, but not so sure how tactful (or legal) including the Orla pattern in the print would be. May require tweaking…

But what do you think? Comments most appreciated!

The Hunt is On

Happy Easter! I’m eating caramel-filled chocolate eggs as I type this and I hope you’re doing the equivalent as you read it.

Flower Girls

In a recent pattern post I mentioned being smitten with Orla Kiely’s Flower Girls print. Now, I’m smitten with Orla Kiely in general, but this print I love. It looks great just as an abstract graphic, but when you look closer, you see a field of flowers, and then when you look even closer you can see all these gangly gals, and that makes me love it all the more. So I decided I would draw figures based on the shape of the girls in the pattern wearing dresses inspired by those shapes and the lovely fabrics in the Orla Kiely Spring/Summer 2012 lookbook. Here’s what I started with:

a swatch of the fabric in “liqourice” and a few really quick sketches of the figures I saw. It was a bit like cloud watching.

And here’s the final illustration…

The background is scanned from a paper collage I made while in college.

One of my favorite things about drawing people has always been dreaming up clothes for them. It’s something I’ve enjoyed since I was little. I remember being about 7, maybe younger, and having drawing competitions with Michelle, my younger sister. We would pick a category (evening gown, party dress, swimsuit, generally anything you would find and be offended by during a Miss America pageant) and then give ourselves 10 minutes to draw three or so “looks”. Then we would vote on our favorites (and no, we didn’t always vote for our own), rank them, and repeat the whole process. We would do this for hours. That’s what I thought about while I was working on this. It was just fun. Now that we all know what my actual closet is full of, you’ll understand why it is I must look to the realm of fantasy (and Pinterest) for cupcake-shaped dresses and oversized bows.

Fell Into the Gap

Tags

iPad, sketches, What I wore

A couple things.

A combination of warm weather and a recent read through of Kendi Everyday’s “working closet” tutorial gave me the itch to spring clean my closet. During Step 1 (Purging), I discovered the following:

This is pretty much what I look like on a day-to-day basis. No shame or anything, I love the Gap. I just didn’t realize how much I loved the Gap until I went through my closet piece by piece. I didn’t even note the chipped red nail polish and skinny belt figural me ought to be wearing, both of them Gap products.

I enjoy “what I wore” drawings much more than photos. I get so sick of seeing the same girls photograph themselves on my Instagram feed that I start to hate them all. Danielle Kroll’s clothing illustrations are some of the best I know of and I love how Eveline Tarunadjaja visually lays out her clothes. They’re more art than self-indulgence but still have that voyeuristic diary element that makes the otherwise potentially mundane so interesting. Clothes are more like talismans in drawings. Not exact like a photograph.

Anyway, between sketching, regular internet image hoarding and closet cleaning, I wondered: what would it look like if I made one? And then I realized I might only ever need to make just the one. What I Wear as opposed to What I Wore. It’s not all the same, of course (my uniform turns to skirts in the summer and skirts with knee socks in the fall), but it’s mighty close. During a recent shopping excursion I noticed I was only looking at striped shirts (of which I had recently acquired two already) and it occurred to me that if I didn’t inventory my wardrobe and Assess (Step 2), I would soon find myself with a cartoon character closet of nothing but black/navy and white striped boat neck shirts. There was once a point in my life when I owned seven black sweaters, you guys. I don’t want to go down that road again. I’m not Wednesday Addams, much as it saddens me. So until I reach Steps 4 and 5 (Shopping and Remixing), consider this my look.

The other thing:

I am having a great moral dilemma concerning iPads. Or more specifically: tablets as sketchpads. This is related because I borrowed my parent’s iPad to try out some drawing apps this past week and it made me rethink how I use Photoshop. Drawing on the iPad without a stylus (I know that’s not the proper way, but it was just a test drive) and the low resolution made me feel like I might as well just be drawing on my desktop. But I liked the ease of the preset brushes in some of the apps. The 53 Paper app, for example, is so sleek but, as one reviewer stated, “featureless”. You can’t zoom in? Your palette is limited to nine colors? No brush size or opacity control? Really? But it looks great. There are little simulated Kyoto Moleskine booklets with manilla pages. And after I finished oohing and ahhing I thought… you want to spend hundreds of dollars to get a digital notebook and an eggshell background? It encouraged me to open Photoshop and create a more sketchbook like setting. Stop drawing on pure white, make your own brushes, add texture, and for god’s sake, try using the pressure sensitivity on your tablet for a change, Nicole! So that’s what this sketch is. A better desktop sketching experience that makes me feel excited to draw in a way I haven’t felt in a while.

Another digital sketch. A bit uncharacteristic but a really enjoyable bit of experimentation with brush transfers.
You can see other sketches at my Tumblr sketchbook.

But I still feel torn about the iPad. It’s so impressive, but compared to my desktop, so limited. Is it worthwhile or just frivolous? Up until now I’ve pretty much written them off as bulky iPhones without the phone. I don’t need to be able to surf the web more often or even more comfortably (which would only lead to more of the more). I don’t want to read on it (I prefer eInk screens). I don’t have a long commute anymore and don’t need a portable device to entertain me on any kind of regular basis (the phone that’s glued to my palm aside). But I wonder, would I sketch more if I had one? Would I sketch better? Would it make me lazy? Would I be writing pen and paper off forever in favor of lesser digital approximations? I don’t know why I have this all or nothing attitude. I used to sell Nooks and always thought that the people who approached buying one as if it meant they’d never be able to purchase another hardcover novel again in their lives and were they willing to give that up (at this point, said people would generally mention how they loved the smell of books, which I always find stupid. I love books too, but when books smell it’s because they’re old and musty and it isn’t actually a pleasant thing so let it go). YOU CAN HAVE BOTH. Children’s novel with full color illustrations that I’ll probably drool over numerous times? Buy the hardcover. Latest stupidity in the Pretty Little Liars series? eBook. Poetry collection I want to be able to quickly leaf through? Paperback. 800+ page Russian novel that I don’t want to throw my back out lugging around? eBook. So why do I have the same stupid feelings about my sketching habits that other fools have about reading? Well… it isn’t exactly the same. Books are typed words either way. Digital pencil strokes will never look like real ones. But most of my finished work is digital at this point anyway. I don’t know. I guess that iPad as sketchbook makes me feel like I’m at some sort of crossroads. Like it will make me irreversibly art-lazy. Fortunately I don’t actually have any iPad funds and this whole debate I’m having with myself is utterly pointless! For now. But it’ll come around again (it’s the FUTURE after all) and I guess I want to know how I feel about it.

Matilda and Other IMPORTANT Books

About this time two years ago, wonder librarian, School Library Journal blogger, and certainly my most referenced and trusted children’s book reviewer, Elizabeth Bird, posted poll results for the Top 100 Children’s Novels and Picture Books on her blog, A Fuse #8 Production. The outcome was fun and interesting, as polls tend to be, but they were also researched. She included a timeline of covers, and quotes from readers about why they love each book, amongst other details. It’s a really excellent list. And now she’s gearing up to do it all over again, with a new fangled ratings system. If you, your kids, students, etc. want to cast votes, read how here. Submissions are due before midnight on April 15th.

Making my own list got me in the celebratory, love-o’-reading spirit, so I decided to illustrate a quote from my personal #2, Matilda by Roald Dahl.

In her call for entries, Elizabeth used the word “important”. Important books. While I’m limited by what I’ve read, I didn’t approach the task of choosing my top ten children’s book from the perspective of “which ones are my personal favorites?” If I had, the list would have consisted of the same top three plus anything by Frances Hardinge, Joan Aiken, or Polly Horvath. And those Nicholas books I’m always going on about. Great books that I wholeheartedly recommend you read, but that aren’t necessarily what I’d pack any random 10 year’s overnight bag with for a desert island stay of indeterminate length. Entertainment value is important, good writing sets stories apart, and lasting power counts for something as well. With all that in mind, I asked myself which had the most overall value; which ones make you think or make you better for having read them, and are still absorbing or beautiful or fun? Which dispell the greatest, most lasting truths and still make you want to keep turning pages? If you told me to pick 10 books for a kid to get them through life (or at least middle school), this is what I’d give them:

1. Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne – There is no point in life when this book isn’t funny and touching and perfect.
2. Matilda by Roald Dahl – The BFG, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and The Witches would all make great introductions to the work of Roald Dahl (and Quentin Blake), so why Matilda specifically? I mean, aside from the fact that she’s one of the smartest, kindest, bravest girls you’ll ever encounter? Because this book kind of has it all. It has the customary humor and bits of vileness that all of Dahl’s children’s books have that make them so fun and so true to life. It has loveliness and celebrates knowledge and reading. It has enthralling writing that you just want to devour and wonderful illustration. But most of all it has somebody to cheer for. Yes she has supernatural power, but in the end it’s Matilda’s sensibility and thoughtfulness, it’s just doing the right thing that leads to the take down of a horrible villain and encourages all the kids around her. She’s someone to root for. And it’s like eating candy, reading this book. One of the best storytellers of all time. You must read him, so why not start here?
3. Harry Potter & the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling – the first book is one of the most generic in a series that becomes increasingly (and rewardingly) complex in it’s study of humanity, but it’s an essential beginning, and still a great one. Seeing Hogwarts for the first time is as satisfying in rereads as it was the first time around. Harry Potter is a pleasure that, once having, you never want to give up.
4. Wonder by R.J. Palacio Put this in every school library everywhere, please! Every library anywhere, really. A story about an otherwise average 10 year old boy with severe facial deformities attending school for the first time. It succeeds in teaching empathy without being overly sentimental or Beaches-style manipulative in pulling your heart strings. What I think it does best though is create a magnifying glass that shows us how we react to difference through the frank and honest perspective of various kids’ voices. It’s a bit shaming at times, but with the power to change and open minds. It’s very readable and the rotating narrative adds perspective and keeps things moving.
5. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis – I still remember the day I finished this book, laying on my parent’s family room couch on a bright, sunny summer day. I would have been playing outside in the sprinkler had I been able to put it down. Instead I was SOBBING on the couch as Aslan died. I finished it and read it again. And again. I don’t always think the oldest, most classic version of a tale is the one that kids should keep rending. If someone else comes along and does the tale better, by all means, let’s read that one… but has anyone done this better?
6. When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead – This is a book you can give to any kind of kid with any kind of interest and they will probably like it. Adults too. It’s such a strange but expertly written sci-fi meets mystery meets… something else. It’ll also make you scratch your brain a whole lot thinking about destiny and free-will.
7. Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai – One of the greatest lessons in empathy a kid can read, yet the protagonist is feisty as hell. When I think of what it means to be an IMPORTANT book this one quickly comes to mind. Especially crucial story for American children. We live in a nation of immigrants. We all need to understand what it feels like to be foreign and unaccepted so that we can better understand how easy but silly it is when we misjudge the person and intelligence of others because of a language barrier. Plus it’s written in a really approachable style of poetry.
8. Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder – My inclusion of this one even surprises me a bit. I admit to being bored out of my wits by Little House on the Prairie, but I also remember devouring Big Woods in a truly bonnet-head (see The Wilder Life by Wendy McClure) fashion, and being a bookseller taught me the unbridled love kids have for this series. They transport you. Curled up in a blanket reading this I fantasized what it would be like to be barricaded inside that little cabin, playing with corn husk dolls instead of Barbies. A story that will always be fascinating in the way it details a past way of life in America while at the same time being a sweet and funny tale of family life. There are few examples of historical fiction (or nonfiction) that have turned so many kids on.
9. Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh – There are certainly dated elements, and elements that are so NYC-specific that I think my fifth grader brain must have rolled right over them when I first read it. Even so, there isn’t a girl who could read this an not immediately want to grab a notebook and start up her own neighborhood spy route. There’s a lesson about gossip and secrets and friendship and just plain old growing up at it’s heart, but’s it’s Harriet’s self imposed “job” that’s so thrilling. Harriet M. Welsch was a take charge gal, and I wanted to be just like her. I think, or at least I hope, kids still feel that way reading it today.
10. Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt – A beautiful story about mortality. Gets you thinking without being morbid.

RUNNER’S UP:

• The Real Thief or Abel’s Island by William Steig – It seems a shame to leave him off the list when he produces sentences like “One by one, Gawain’s friends took him aside to ask his forgiveness, and he freely forgave them. He was able to love them again, but he loved them now in a wiser way, knowing their weakness.” (From The Real Thief). I know he’ll make it on to my Top 10 Picture Books list though, and that relieves me of my guilt.
• Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White – Friendship and sacrifice and humor. This remains one of the first chapter books many kids concur on their own, which only makes it more memorable.
• Holes by Louis Sachar – I just think this is one of the most undeniably fun books you can read. If you can get kids to read it when everyone’s already seen the movie. Hmph.
• Coraline by Neil Gaiman – It’s just good old fashioned scary nonsense. And I love it. And kids love it.
• The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place by MaryRose Wood – I haven’t had the pleasure or reading the third installment in the series (just released on Tuesday), but it’s quickly become one of my favorite series of all time just in the first two books. It’s main protagonist, a young governess to three howling children that appear to have been raised by wolves (though there’s clearly a mystery to be solved involving their adopted but neglectful father), is one of the freshest, most likable heroines I’ve encountered. You’ll chuckle so much as the kids and their shenanigans (not to mention all of the fantastic and highly quotable words of wisdom from Agatha Swanburne, fictional headmistress and sayer of such things as “there is no alarm clock like embarrassment” and “‘If it were easy to resist, it would not be called chocolate cake”) that the sophistication of the stories will sneak up on you. Then you’ll love it all the more. I didn’t include it on the list because the series stills has a lot of developing to do, and the first book is a bit too open-ended to stand alone. Still, I have great hopes for this and aside from being fun and wacky and well written, it’s quite wise. An important little series, if you ask me.

Now to whittle down my list of picture books…