Watercolors

Here's a little Red Fox I've been working on in my Scientific Illustration class in school. I was hoping to learn how to be more comfortable with watercolors, under the guidance of the amazing Peggy Macnamara (my hero!). I think I'm finally getting the hang of it...!

Anyway, here he is in all his fluffy glory:

A closeup...

I think he still needs a few finishing touches, but I'm very happy with how this exploration with watercolor is going! :) I love his cocky little smirk, too... He reminds me of Mr. Fox (in Fantastic Mr. Fox, the cutest movie ever).

Tonight, I'm going to start on a big painting (22x30!) of this Fu Lion/Fu Dog I've been sketching all day. I'm really excited... I've been wanting to draw one for a long time now and finally worked it out the way I want. Let's hope he turns out well...!

Spring Art Sale, 2010

A huge thank you to everyone that came to see me for the Spring Art Sale this weekend! There was a great turnout and I loved seeing all those familiar faces. :) It's my last art sale at SAIC ever, so I feel very relieved, but also very sad...

I sold a lot of work, so I'm pretty pleased with myself, hehe. I have tons left over to put up in my Etsy store, which is great because I overproduced for that reason exactly.

I was really happy with my location in the ballroom this year, and my wonderful table partner (KMH Jewelry!), and my adorable display. It's hard to believe I've participate in four sales during my time here and it's amazing how my display as evolved since my first sale in almost two years ago. Everything was just flat on a table then, and I've learned so much about displaying my work and how best to show it off.

I even bought a fresh bouquet of daisies for my display this year! I don't know if it made anyone else as happy as it made me, sitting there and staring at those flowers all weekend. :)

I was smart enough to take pictures of my table this year, but not smart people to do it when all my merchandise was still there. So there are a few pieces missing. Oh well!

Might I mention that Photoshop works wonders

with the awfully dim lighting of the ballroom...

Look how cute those daisies are!

I'm actually listing things up on Etsy as I'm writing this blog post... But it's really late at night and I need to get to bed, so I'll be putting things up in the store here and there throughout the week.

Thanks for all the wonderful comments I received this weekend and for your continued support! (Sounds so official, right?)

Wallpapers

So I was bored (or maybe just procrastinating other work), but lately, I've been approached by several people who say they've set my illustrations as their desktop wallpaper. In a stroke of genius, I decided to make wallpaper versions of the chickadee and bear!

They are 1280x960 resolution. I wasn't sure what the standard was, and was too lazy to make 10 different versions, so sorry if it fits weirdly!

Click for full-size versions. :)

I couldn't resist and set my own wallpaper as the bear already. I just love his little face!

Two new illustrations!

Unforeseen circumstances are forcing me to offer the five prints I introduced in the previous post as digital prints instead of Gocco prints. I will definitely be putting my Gocco to good use soon — just not right now.

In other news, I've been very busy this weekend. I've whipped up two more pieces that I just sent off to print. Here's hoping they'll arrive in time for me to package them and offer them at the art sale! I'm very excited about them and I hope to see everyone at the SAIC Ballroom in two weeks!

Here's what I've been up to:

Little Miss Chickadee

Frownybear (with vacant stare)

I'm pretty happy with this drawing kick I've been on lately. I hope to produce a lot more work that I can offer in my Etsy store, even after the sale is over.

I heart Gocco!

Hey all! I know I've been pretty quiet lately. I've been working on a lot of freelance jobs and all that. It's pretty a little difficult to concentrate on my own work. I can't believe I'm already halfway through my final semester in school! I am so excited to graduate and be a real adult, haha.

I purchased a lovely little Gocco printing machine on eBay back in December. If you don't know what a Gocco machine is, it is a little Japanese contained screenprinting system developed in the 70's. Kind of like.. a hybrid of screenprinting and stamping. It's very cute! Here is a link that describes it much better than I can. (It even includes a video!) The machine you see there is a little different than the one I have. I have a PG-10 Super.

I was first introduced to Gocco in one of my classes in two years ago. I fell in love with it, and have dreamed of owning my own Gocco ever since. Two long years later, I found a great deal on eBay and bought it!

Unfortunately, the company that produces Gocco, Riso, has stopped production of the machines and all the supplies. Sigh! I've known this ever since I was introduced to the Gocco two years ago, and it has definitely played a part as to why I waited so long in buying my own. I wasn't sure if it was worth it if all the supplies were disappearing so quickly. Supplies really are dwindling and prices are going through the roof, but I am still excited about using my Gocco as long as I can. The Gocco community is slowly developing alternative methods for printing, so hopefully I can put my Gocco to good use for a long time...

Anyway, sorry for the long ramble. I just wanted to show off some of the designs for the Gocco I've been working on lately in preparation for the upcoming art sale:

Sorry for the watermarks. The internet is a scary place to share art...! These are just computer mock-ups, so the actual prints will be slightly different, with no watermark, of course. :)

Hehe, they are all pretty silly... but I love them! I was going for a more retro look and limiting my color palette. These are among some of the favorite things I've ever produced, so I'm really excited to print them on the Gocco this week! They are going to be printed as 5x7 greeting cards for sale individually or as a set of 5.

I also want to thank my friend Jen for sitting on iChat with me pretty much the entire weekend, telling me what animals I should draw next. 3 out of the 5 are suggestions from her! <3

We've been featured!

Great news! My tiger screenprint has just been featured in a blog! FIRST TIME EVER! I'm super excited, so check it out here:

http://theexpertsagree.com/2010/02/etsy-schmetsy-year-of-the-tiger/

I'm drooling over all that other tiger stuff... Etsy and my shopping addiction do NOT get along! (Or maybe they get along a little too well...?)

Everything lately.

Quick update on everything going on in my life right now. Kind of like.. SparkNotes run-down on Amy's life lately, hehe.

Sorry for the lack of posting. Been lazy and on vacation. I went home to Taiwan for most of January and just got back two weeks ago. I'm still pretty jet-laggy. I am so homesick now and miss my family all the time. :(

Classes have started up again, which means I'm going to start screenprinting again! Pretty excited, but honestly, I have no idea what I'm planning to do this semester. Oh well. I hope inspiration strikes soon... I'm looking forward to drawing and printing new things to put in my Etsy store!

My Etsy shop has been doing really well! I'm pretty surprised and psyched! Shipping out orders is tough, but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it soon. I think buying shipping supplies has been the biggest challenge so far. It's so hard to predict what I'll need, and how much I should buy. I can't afford to buy 15 different sizes of mailers, much less 100 of each size! I'm not that successful, hahaha.

I am starting a new internship at The Evanston Print & Paper Shop this week, working on letterpress, screenprinting, and graphic design. SO EXCITED! I've been wanting to intern with them for a while now, since the shop pretty much encompasses everything I've ever wanted to do with my life. :)

Unfortunately, with this internship, it means I can't work many hours at my actual paying job. :( I'm going to be pretty tight on money this semester, but I hope I can still afford all the supplies I need to make my art. I'm going to try to focus a lot more on doing freelance projects and selling art to help finance more art-making! Wish me the best! <3