At Last...

...my studio is complete!

All it's missing now is that homey, lived-in look, (and a giant cork board on the wall) but I'm sure it will get there quite soon. I'm so fond of it, I took pictures! Let us gaze upon the loveliness...

 

While cleaning and collecting all of my art supplies that have been dispersed around the house over the past few years, I have learned a few things:

1. I am the Queen of Post-Its. *see proof at the bottom of this post

2. I actually DO have enough rulers and straight edges. It always seems like I only have one, and I can never find it. Apparently these things like to hide in weird places.

3. Finally putting together my studio is the BEST thing I could have done for myself. Seriously, I love it.

Since its completion, I have already spent a few creative hours in my new studio space. I'm trying out some new techniques to see what works best for me and my drawing style. Today I took page out of Judy Schachner's book and tooled around with the technique she uses to illustrate her Skippyjon Jones stories. I LOVE the textures she achieves using acrylics on watercolor paper, and the way she layers her vivid colors like so:

Spread from "Skippyjon Jones and the Big Bones," by Judy Schachner

I figured it would save me some time to work with an image I already had lying around, so I tried out this new look on my little logo. I outlined with black Prismacolor pencil, and added a few touches with some Caran d'ache water soluble crayons. Not bad, but it seems to be missing something:

I'm also going to play around with this pelican that I drew a while back, and see how that goes.  I outlined him in pen and ink, which I find to be very satisfying...much more so than a black pencil. I guess I'm not into colored pencils that much right now.

And, since I've achieved the goal of making my little creative space, it makes sense to attempt yet another goal:

Get on a Schedule! 

I've got a log sheet on my door so I can write in the times I work, and I will also set aside working time from 10 am until 2 pm, four days a week. That's sixteen hours each week I will be devoting my time to illustrating.

Sounds like Awesome-ness to me!

told ya so...