Illustration Friday- Old Fashioned

Sometimes I wonder if I was born in the wrong decade/century.
Seriously, I love reading and learning about the history of the world around me. Life seems like it was much simpler then. No constant facebook updates, no annoying media stories about celebrities and politics, no cell phones glued to our ears.

Here is an illustration of an old fashioned ship at sea. I've only ever been on an old ship once and it wasn't even in the ocean. I did one of those sailing things on Lake Michigan one July weekend with my mom and friends Juli and Linda. It was still pretty fun though and it felt like we were on the ocean.

Illustration Friday- Acrobat

Since I work as a screenprint artist, I get a lot of odd requests for designs. One time I had a guy ask me if I could draw a liver being suffocated by a wedding ring. Seriously. Odd huh?

Something about how all of the weddings he had to go to this summer were going to be hard on his liver. They loved the design and ordered over 24 of them. Needless to say, it was a strange shirt request.

This design to the right was another weird one. I arrived at work with a note on my computer that said,
"please draw me an acrobatic flying monkey"
No explanation as to what for. Just the note. I figured it was for one of our Kansas sales reps who were trying to sell Wizard of Oz designs. I came up with this character. He doesn't look very athletic but my guess is a monkey with wings would be pretty acrobatic.

Illustration Friday- Proverb

Here is my design for this week's word, "Proverb."
When I moved to the city, I left my cat Cairo in the country at my parents home. He was an outdoor cat and I just couldn't keep him locked up in an apartment all the time.
He's much happier at their house. Not to mention spoiled. All the little animals he can chase and milk he can drink. I do miss having a cat though.
Cairo looks nothing like this however. He's part Burmese. But the colors weren't working so a white cat it is. :)

Illustration Friday, Immovable

Haven't really had a whole lot of time lately to work on Illustration Friday. I've been working on a lot of paintings instead. Hopefully I'll find some time to get some of those up here once I finish them. Here is a quick vector graphic for this week's topic. Immovable.

Illustration Friday- Star Gazing

So I have a different idea I want to submit for this week but it's still in the works. Patience is a virtue, right?! Well, not when there are deadlines!

Anyhow, here is another idea I had. Wolves don't exist here in Iowa anymore, but wouldn't it be beautiful if they did? I'm sure the farmers would not agree. Although they would help with our crazy deer population. Even so, they are amazing creatures.

Iowa State Fair

So I went to the fair a few times this past weekend. The Iowa State Fair is probably one of the greatest places in the world for people-watching. Everyone comes out for the fair. And when I say everyone, I mean everyone. I will have to draw some funny people illustrations. The fair is great for inspiration!
For now, here is a quick cartoon of my friends and old college roommates Jill & Kelly standing next to the "How Tall Are You?" board last year. They are twin sisters. :)
More fair fun illustrations to come! Maybe some that aren't digital. I think I'm in a watercolor mood.

Rain Rain Go Away. Seriously.

Iowa is currently becoming one big giant river/lake. So far the cities of Ames and Des Moines have been hit pretty hard. Even my home town of Colfax is waist-deep in river water that should not be there. And unfortunately I think the worst is yet to come.
Now I love storms. Absolutely love them. But we just don't have any more room for this sort of rain. So would you please Mother Nature, just take a break and pour on some other state for a while? I hear some of the southwest is in need of water. I think it's time to share some of ours.

Also, for those who viewed this on Illustration Friday, these flood waters are really "caging" people in. I know it's a stretch but ask anyone who lives around here and they'll agree, it's hard to get out of some of these towns!

Sarah's Baby Shower

My cousin Sarah is due to have her first child this October. I've been working on her baby shower invites. (as is usually my job in the family.... I am the invites person).I'm doing a birds and bees theme. We're all very excited for the baby to arrive. They aren't finding out whether it will be a boy or a girl. I think that's great. Makes for so much more of a surprise. Although I bet she gets a lot of green and yellow clothes at the shower. :)

New updated blog

Welcome to the new blog!! I discovered "Pages" so now this blog functions much more like a web site. Please continue to check back as I upload some of my portfolio in each category. As always, I'll continue to use my home page as a daily source of art.

Happy Earth Day Everyone!

Happy Earth Day! If I had a yard, I'd plant a tree today. Unfortunately I don't think my landlord would approve of me digging up their yard at my apartment complex.

Illustration Friday- Rescue

Rescuing Earth, one piece at a time.

Illustration Friday- Expired

Winter has finally expired and Spring flowers are here!

Illustration Friday- Clumsy

My boyfriend got me a snowboard for Christmas. It is beautiful and will be sooo much fun.... once I actually learn to snowboard that is. I definitely under-estimated how hard it is to snowboard. Right now I am very clumsy on it and can barely make it a few feet without falling down. We just got back from a ski/boarding trip in Colorado a few weeks ago. It was wonderful! My boyfriend boarded and I....well... skiied instead! :)
Maybe next year I'll put my skis away and actually try boarding again!

Illustration Friday- Wilderness

My entry for this week's word- Wilderness. The people on the canoe are actually my parents. I took their shape and put it in a stylized foggy world. This was a fun project.

Illustration Friday- Confined

This is a crazy illustration I did for the band Trunk Monkeys. The word "confined" reminded me of the monkeys being confined in the trunk. Sort of stretch for this week, but I just got back from vacation so not a lot of time to illustrate. Kind of a fun drawing though, definitely different from a lot of my other stuff.