Art is Life / 30 day challenge

Let's face it. Life can be hard.

I'm stopping in today to share this fun new art challenge I've created for myself. Why? Because life can be insane and it's so easy for someone who is creative to lose sight of the joy of creating art! I used to sketch a lot. It was and is very therapeutic. I want to go back to that! Will you join me?

For the next 30 days, I will create art once a day. Whether it's sketching, drawing, painting...whatever. I will follow each day's challenge and see what happens! That's it! So easy and I think it's going to be a blast. At the end of the challenge, I should be able to look back on 30 pieces of works that speak about life. Hopefully I'll feel better about myself as an artist and what I've accomplished.

Here is what you need to know if you want to participate in this challenge:

The rules above are self-explanatory. This challenge is suppose to be fun, lighthearted, family friendly and inspirational. I know inspiration for everyone is different but please let's keep this clean!

- You don't have to start at the beginning of a month. No sir, just start from whatever day YOU decide. From that point on, the challenge starts! It can be the 2nd of the month, the 10th, the 21st...just from whatever point you start the challenge, follow it through the next 30 days. This way if you just find out about this challenge in the middle of a month, you won't feel bad about jumping in because "it's almost half over."

- Feel free to share the challenge through your social media and get other artists on board! Pin the photo above, share on your Facebook page, tweet about it and be sure to share your art challenges on Instagram. I'll be checking out everyone's art and even sharing some! Just use hashtag #ailchallenge

- Link up your posts below
If you blog about the challenge and share your artwork in a post, link it up! Hopefully it will be a cool gallery of daily inspiration. *The linky gallery below is setup for an entire year! I'll be checking it periodically to make sure all posts are only related to this challenge. Please DON'T link up your home page, shops, social media pages etc. DO link up blog posts featuring your works from this challenge!* 

I am going to do my best to stick with this challenge! The great thing is, once the challenge is complete, I can start over because my artwork will be different each time.

I won't be posting daily art on here but I will on my Instagram and Twitter. Hope you will come along for this journey and join me in the Art is Life challenge!

Porcelain Poppies {Video Tutorial}

The other day I had a stroke of genius...okay, maybe it was more of a mild heart attack of inspiration.

Anyway I realized, duh, I should do more videos of me sketching and doing my art!
Kinda makes sense since I've had a Youtube channel since 2010...with only a few sorry videos to share.

"Porcelain Poppies" was SO much fun to make! I setup my tripod, gathered all my materials, set the camera and recorded a freehand sketch on a porcelain tea cup and saucer set. Not gonna lie, setting up took MUCH longer than the actual filming! I had to work with the lighting (since I have all of my studio/art stuff in the basement...goodbye natural light, hello natural light lightbulbs!)

Overall, I think it came out pretty cool...enjoy the video!
If you'd like to check out past videos and/or subscribe to my channel, click here.
Comment below if you like what you see and want more videos.

Drawing in the Buyer's Eye

I hope everyone's week is going good! Mine has been wonderful and busy. I have been doodling lately and realized how much I love to draw eyes!

If we think about why the eye is so admired, we have to think about its function.

Without eyes, we cannot see and if we cannot see, we cannot perceive or know what is around us.

These are old sketches from the past few years.

Can you tell what they all have in common?

(Besides being all females)

Eyes have power because they hold the power to see.

Why am I bringing this up?

I want you to think about a customer and their eyes. What colors might be more soothing and appealing? What design elements might spark their interest better? AND what product or item are you trying to sell that will appeal to their eyes first?

I feel sometimes as shop owners we tend to get off track a lot.

We start out simple but then I think we feel we need to "add more."

But often times "more" is not necessarily easy for the eyes of a browsing customer.

I've recently realized this about myself.

I love to decorate and play with graphics. Though Photoshopping the heck out of an image may not be "soothing" to a customer's vision.

I think we have to go back to the simplicity of color and design. That is not to say completely change your style...oh no, that is what makes you, well, you! But sometimes when you are creating and you feel the project is done...but wait, you want to add one more thing...wait no, two more things...try to stop yourself.

A customer's vision should be treated like a newborn baby.

Careful. Not too tight. Not too loose. Not too much light, but never dark.

As the design process flows, try to keep a conscious mind how your product will look to a new customer...a new "baby" :)

Here is what the Book of Proverbs (15:30) says about eyes:

"The light of the eyes rejoiceth the heart: and a good report maketh the bones fat."

Light can make the heart happy and a good reaction to what we see will leave us satisfied!

Doesn't that make sense?

Too much can make us feel fat, but too little can make us feel hungry.

But with the right combination, a buyer's eye can leave their heart comfortable and filled with satisfaction!