Little Baby Owl

A super quick doodle of a little baby owl named Tomsk. My sister sent me this link this morning. I just had to.

I am going back to school

If there is one thing that I absolutely love, it would be learning. And, if I could learn from the best, it's even better. This is why after a long consideration, I decided to invest in myself and signed up for Lilla Rogers' "Make Art That Sells" e-course last night, and I am really glad that I did. I already have bunch of artist friends who also enrolled in this course, so it's going to feel like going back to school with my good friends and it will be so much fun (challenging, but fun!)

Lilla is one of the top illustration agents in the industry; just check out her Lilla Rogers Studio site and you will see why. She will be covering 10 hottest markets in this 2-parts e-course (5 weeks each). Professional-level assignment will be given every week, so this will also be the perfect chance to build up a portfolio. Lilla will also interview some of the industry's top leaders during the class, so you'll learn exactly what the art directors and buyers are looking for within each market. On top of that, there is also going to be a private community space where artists and designers can connect, share their work and support for each other. It's just like going back to art school. If you'd like to learn the details about this invaluable e-course, please click here.

So after reading all this, would you join me and be my classmate? :)

Car Ride

Did a fun little illustration for boys. Come take a happy car ride with us! : )

A little portrait for a little girl named Adora

I'd like to show you a drawing I did for a little girl named Adora. Here is the story:

I received a sweet email from Adora's dad last Saturday. He had Adora 3 years ago, his first child ever, at age 56. Last year he started commissioning artists from all over the world to create artworks based on photographs of his cute baby daughter. Since then, nearly 600 diverse pieces had been published so far on her blog. So when he invited me to draw his precious daughter, I had to say yes.

My drawing is based on this photo of Adora, and I picked the outfit from her other photos.

If you'd also like to participate in this fun project, you can visit Adora's blog for detail. Adora's family often pays a token fee per submission, or make a donation to a charity of the artist's choice.

Adora's blog, artworks + photos of Adora:
www.growababy.com

Adora's blog, artworks only:
www.growabrain.tumblr.com/tagged/Adora_Art

Shop Update: Unicorn

I have a new art print in my Etsy shop; it's a magical unicorn on sweet bubble gum pink background; it will look perfect in a little girl's room. Also available as iPad and iPhone cases in my RedBubble store.

Kokeshi Doodle + New Products

Playing around and doodled this kokeshi doll with some new Photoshop brushes I made today. I am also trying to get used to Photoshop and Illustrator CS6's dark interface; it looks quite different from previous versions, but not in a bad way, just need some time let my eyes get used to it.

Update: A lovely reader has informed me that the dark background color in CS6 can be easily changed. Here is the how-to link. Thank you!




Also, I just opened a shop on Redbubble, and I have a little selection of iPad & iPhone cases there. (Meanwhile, all my art prints still remain in my Etsy shop). I was told that Redbubble's iPhone cases are pretty good in quality. Also, according to Redbubble, their cases are made by Uncommon, whose cases are chosen by Apple to be sold in Apple stores. You can read about it here. (iPad Mini cases are not available yet, but will be soon.) Too bad I don't own an iPhone myself, but I am going to order myself an iPad case. :)

Girls

I don't think I'll ever get tired of drawing girls; they are just too much fun to doodle. I sketched a bunch of them yesterday and just couldn't help but turning them into vector works. I thought it would be fun to show my sketch with the digital version. I followed most of the sketch and just changed a few minor details. They could look good as a collection of prints. What do you think?

It has become an obsession...

Since last week, I just couldn't seem to stop drawing potted flowers. Why is that? Maybe it's because I am such a bad gardener and no plants every survive in my house, so to compensate, I draw them instead? Or is it simply because spring is finally here and flowers are starting to bloom in my hood? Either way, they are just too much fun to draw. Also, I can design my own pots on paper, and that's definitely easier than throwing them on the potter's wheel (I am still taking pottery class, by the way, not giving up yet).

Last Thursday, my team at work went to Hallmark's Kearney farm for a relaxing and creative day-away, and we could bring whatever project we want to work on. I packed my woodburning tool and a few wooden panels and finished 2 pieces while being there. My right hand's middle finger had a big blister at the end of the day due to high heat emitted from my tool. (You'd think I should've learned the lesson after a couple of years' woodburning, but I don't. Stupid me.) Here are what I did on Thursday.

(That amazing gourd in front of me is made by Donna Van Hooser. )

I like the color combination, but I don't like the red color seems to bleed along the wood grain a tiny bit. This doesn't happen when I paint on maple, but on birch plywood the red just bleeds. So I did another one last night with just the yellow as background, and I am much happier. Which version do you like? I think tomorrow I am going to get some basswood panels and see if the red color bleeds on them.

Sketchbook Doodles

Turned some of the doodle girls from my sketchbook into the header for my personal Facebook account. (Update on 4.9.13: Doodle Girls is now a print in my shop.)


And doodled some potted plants before going to bed. Why do I stay up so late everyday anyway (it's 1:55 am now)? Bad habit!!! Well, good night then, I am going to get some ZZZZZZs now.

Little Robot

This little robot has just landed in my shop, and look, he is saying hi to you! Won't you bring him home? You can find him here.