Last post of 2010!

Seems like I started this blog a month ago, but when I look back in my post history.... Nope!!

Last year's Resolution for this artist diary was to post more on my blog... Did I make it?  *checks back to look at post count....* YES! With 2009 not even making the count to 10, 2010 kicked it's butt with 26 posts (and now with this one 27!).  While in Blog standards that's not really a trophy winning stat, I think I did myself proud with at least tripling the number.

So for this year, my goal is to do a post at least once a week. Whether it be doodles, character sketches, or the real deal illos for my portfolio, by the end of 2011 I should have my personal goal at least 52.  Im super excited for what this year holds for me in this stage. I've got a real direction on where to go and 2010 has been an incredible year of knowledge regarding freelancing Illustration. In school you're taught design, concept, and story, but no one can really delve into what happens after graduation and it's different for everyone.  There's no true road map,you have to figure it out for yourself.

2011, I'm coming after you!


To all of you, I wish you a Happy and Blessed New Year!

2010 Christmas Card "Happy Owlidays"

Wow! Its been a really long time since I last blogged. Work has been INSANE and I indulged in one of my other hobbies (theater) and performed during the Christmas season in "The Sound of Music".  So much fun but mixed with other holiday responsibilities/duties it left me with little time for much else... like blogging... and cleaning....  :/  eww.


However! Before the season started to get out of hand in regards to the many places I had to be at the same time, I sketched out and finished this illustration in the hopes of it being a Christmas card for my family.  He'll definitely be in my stack of cards for next year as well :)

Hope he brings a smile to your face...

I hope everyone had a Fantastic Holiday! and wish you all a Blessed New Year :)

Owl headway

Here's a little sneak peek of part of my Christmas project :) 

Enjoy!

update 11/3

Hey everyone :)

Just a little update from the home front!

Project Postcard was a success! YES! It was my first time going through that process with an original work so it was super exciting to rip open (and yes, I mean that in a literal sense!) the box and with a beam of light (not really) gaze upon the fruit of my labor; My beautiful Halloween postcards. :)

Hopefully, everyone who wanted one received theirs already, but if you didn't just let me know and it will be sent to you pronto! Late's better than never :)

Sooo with that happy event now over, I've immediately moved onto a few more projects.  I've started working on some Christmas cards and envelopes that will be available to purchase hopefully in the next couple weeks. Im trying really hard to get these out in time for people to use them. Otherwise they'll go into a secret vault in my Annie cave where they won't see the light of day till next year. Or in my drawer.

Another exciting thing I'm working on right now is my new Website!! YAY!!  I've purchased the domain name, hosting site and I've got some framework up that now need to be worked out. If anyone has any advice on page elements or things you have in your sites that works really great, please send it my way.
Ive been following the advice of Jon and Lea Woodward and using they're 12 Week Challenge kit.

It's been soooo helpful and they've got some excellent advise on setting things up the right way.

So far I've used:
www.bluehost.com

 wordpress.org
 










I'm also thinking about using Headway as a Wordpress theme, but I haven't completely decided on it yet.

Well that about wraps it up :) Keep checking back because there's a lot of stuff in the works! Hope you all have an excellent week.

 

Halloween Postcards are here!!

I'm so excited to finally get these!! :D 

They'll be going out to anyone who wants one so, if you want to be on the list, send me your address! :)
hobbs.annie@gmail.com

I had a great experience using uprinting.com. I had a minor emergency after submitting the files and within seconds of realizing it, I was able to connect with a live rep via instant chat who took it out of the printing que, opened up the job, and let me resubmit my files.  Soooo thankful for their great customer service!!
I will definitely use them again and the printing quality is awesome as well.

10/25 Doodles: Pandas!

Who doesn't love the squishy face of a panda?

The other night I tagged along with my mom to a meeting and brought my sketch book with me. Sometimes its good to just get away from the every day space you occupy and sketch someplace else.  Tho I was technically present at the table during this "meeting",  I was lost in a world of watercolor pencils, new black pens, and little roly poly pandas. :)

I desperately need to get out of the mindset that some doodles are not "good enough" for a nice sketch book because I'm currently having an argument with myself over sketching in my nice moleskin.  Part of me doesn't want to mess it up and the other part of me is saying, "Don't be stupid, it's a SKETCHBOOK!"  These turned out pretty well and I think I just need to get over myself and DO IT!

Halloween Illo

For the last month or so I've been trying to finish this illustration so I could send out postcards. I finally finished!! I went through uprinting.com, which I have not used before. Hopefully everything turns out fine and I can get them sent out in the mail this weekend or early next week.

I'm still experimenting with watercolor, not sure I quite have it down yet, but I'm getting better! :)

Here's the final illustration :)

I would like...

Thanks!

Spankin' New Logo

If you're looking at this blog post then you've probably noticed the new logo on the top :)

This is a new marketing strategy I'm using to put on packaging, note cards, business cards, promo stuff, magnets...etc. I also decided that if the illustration is holiday or event themed (such as Autumn, Halloween, Christmas etc) the color scheme can be easily changed to match, all the while keeping the form and feel of originality.

Ive been thinking a lot about how I want to brand myself because of the 12 Week Challenge I'm currently working on. I think it's important to brand yourself as a business as well as an artist. Ive skipped ahead a few challenge weeks, but because of current freelancing projects I felt that I needed to address this part sooner.  Here are some questions I've been asking myself;
- What kind of logo or image can be universal enough to stamp on the back of a professional print or a silly birthday card?
- Do you only want to use images of your new and changing illustrations to promote yourself?
- Or should you include a simple logo that can be consistantly repeated and identified by clients?


Anyway, some food for thought for any fellow illustrators reading this :)

As always, Your comments and opinions are eagerly welcome.

Fox Sketches

I have some friends who are working on their own animation project about a fox sorta like Zorro. They aren't really cartoonists so they asked me to help them flesh out this character for animation. Instead of using an actual mask I utilized some natural markings I saw on some reference photos.
This is a page of one of the character designs I came up with.

Roy Rogers and Annie Oakley

My Uncle's Birthday is this month and my mom wanted to make something special for him. He's hard to shop for in that he doesn't really need anything, so we came up with the idea of a specialized card with a poem she wrote about them growing up together.
One of their favorite games as kids was playing "Roy Rogers and Annie Oakley". So naturally I HAD to take advantage of 2 kids in fantastic cowboy gear and come up with an illustration. (the Annie Oakley costume is based on an outfit I had when I was three. I was pretty cute, not gonna lie)

Anyway, here's the final product I did this evening! Still deciding if we're going to make it the cover of a card or if we're going to frame it next to the poem.


*** WARNING*** Any family members who may be reading this... NOT a WORD to Uncle Bud! Its a surprise :) Ok, everyone... As you were!

Updated Portfolio Site

I realized this week I didn't have a lot of options within my online portfolio to show the different types of work I've been doing.  So to correct that, I Updated!  Imagine that :)  Click on the link to see some of the New things I've been working on.
Online Portfolio

I'm still working away on the 12 week challange. It's going a little longer than the actual 12 weeks, but I'm completing step 3 this weekend!! Next: 3 new Portfolio pieces! So excited and I can't wait to get started on them. I keep reminding myself that I can't skip ahead and do the weeks whenever I want, gotta stay on track and do them in order.

Anyway, Everyone have a great weekend!

Quinn makes a mini cameo

In the aftermath of Comic Con 2010, I scurried to send off a Thank You to my friend Katy's Aunt & Uncle for letting us stay with them during the week.

*Note* Staying with people during Comic Con is MUCH cheaper than trying to find a hotel!!

I love this little penguin, I really do. Adorning his dinosaur suit, he has fearlessly entered the US mail delivery system and is on his way to San Diego. Safe Travels Quinn!

I managed to snap a quick pic with my phone before scooting him out the door. (sorry for the blurriness)

Back: ".....means THANK YOU in Penguin translated Dinosaur"

Update!

Hello Everyone :)

It's been a crazy couple of months over here and this poor little blog-o-mine hasn't received the attention it's deserved. Sad Day.

A few months ago, I began studying to get a CA Insurance license for my job. (hence the lack of fun posts) After 52+ hours of said studying and cramming and STRESSING, I took the test on July 1st and PASSED!! Wahooo!
Everyone else scheduled that testing hour were so nice and we all sorta talked each other down from the stress before and after. Many of them had been there multiple times to take it (which didn't exactly calm my nerves when I heard it), one older gentleman was on his 6th attempt for the Life Insurance only test!  He unfortunately didn't pass again :( I think it had to do with the lack of studying materials he had. However, I did find out the questions presented in each test are meant to confuse and trick you, another reason I was super stressed!  But, I Passed :) and I don't have to worry about it anymore. YAY!

I've taken about 3 weeks of vacation this summer which has been great!  Living in a small town is a big change from the hustle and bustle of Orange County and I tend to feel a little cramped sometimes. It's good to get away every once in a while and see familiar faces and places.

Anyway, the purpose of this post was to give you an update on what I've been working on! oh ya! haha
Soooo, back in April, one of the blogs I follow zero2illo  started a 12 week challenge to start up your freelance art career. I couldn't start it at the time everyone on the site did because of the studying, but I'm finished now and have been doing the challenge for the last 2 weeks.  It focuses on setting up your work as a "Business" and not just trying to sell a few commissions or pretty artwork.  The main points will cover setting a specific business plan and purpose, research, portfolio pieces, websites, and marketing.  Hopefully by the time the 12 steps are completed I'll have a pretty firm direction and start to my Illustration career. :) *fingers crossed*

Other than the challenge, I've just been doodling some, painting some birthday presents, making cards, fun logos with friends. Nothing super exciting but small projects here and there.
I've also been looking into taking some animal science classes in the local Jr. Colleges.  I plan to pursue the Biomedical Illustration angle as well and in order to go that route, I need a little more education in the sciences. For now that's on the back burner until I can really get myself out there with the Children's Illustration.

This turned into a larger update than I intended! Haha Thats about it for now. I'll post some pics up of doodles probably this weekend. (hopefully) :)

Everyone have a fabulous rest of your week!! I leave you with a Cute.

New Doodles!

Hi Everyone :)

This week marked a very important event in the life of my cousin. She graduated from HS with a full Presidential Scholarship to Cal State Long Beach (My Alma Mater! Whoo Hooo!) So Proud of her hard work and accomplishments.

I did a medium size "doodle" of a wise ol' owl for her present. It's a running theme with us ;) Anyway, I did some acrylic color washes over the drawing on canvas board and then used a bamboo pen with India ink to doodle on the top. So much fun, and I'm totally going to do more of these. A lot of people doodle fabulous art and I don't want to take from their work by doing the exact same thing. I plan to use more of an illustrative take on these. We'll see how they turn out!

Next, I made a doodled card out of colored card stock. This was super easy and got the idea from Artsyville   Here's the link to her Doodle Cards

Hope you guys go over there and try out this cool idea. She's got a ton of other fun things to try as well. :)

Costume Figure Drawings

I took a class in school focusing on clothing and how it lays upon the figure. It was a great class and I recommend everyone to try and take something similar. Here are some drawings I did during that class.

These first two were drawings I rendered to be fairytale characters. The final project was to make a poster advertisement and I chose to do one on Children's Theater.

I'm still here!

I'm working on some Top Secret projects for a few birthdays :) so of course I can't show them yet till the recipients open them.
[Insert Spy Music]
Check back in a bit to see the finished projects!

2nd Blog by Me :)

If any of you guys are interested in Disneyland or stuff relating to the company and films, come check out my new blog I've started:   Mousehouse Musings

It's gonna be my ramblings and information I pick up about all things Disney. Probably most posts will be about the Disneyland Park and it's history, but I'll be bringing in some animation posts as well.

Come check it out!

Grandma's Birthday Card

My Grandma's Birthday was this Month (tax day!) and she has practically everything she needs. What do you get a Grandma that doesn't have a birthday wish list??
You make her something :)

Grandma Loves birds, she has them all over her house on plates, pillows, figurines, etc. So I decided to create a different kind of bird that would bring her birthday wishes since I can't be there to celebrate with her.

The bird was drawn out, painted with watercolor, "india inked" with a bamboo pen and then mounted on the good paper. The top flower is a scrapbooking embellishment, the larger I traced onto an old book page and cut it out.
(these pics turned out a little grainy, sorry :/ I have bad light in my room)

Hope this little bird brought you a wish and a smile on your Birthday, Grandma!

Paris comes to Reedley!

Yep! You did read that correctly! Paris has migrated across the great Atlantic and landed right smack in our little town.
The Women of our church are setting up a "Paris Fashion Show" to feature Reedley's own stores and little shops. Some of our congregation are going to be modeling them down a runway!

This is the ad poster we made...




... and then this (which I think turned out Great!) are the event tickets which I designed based off of an airline boarding pass. I was lucky enough to find a Canada Air pass online and used the French translations according to what we needed.

10 Things I Found in the Garage this weekend...

First off, let me say that cleaning out the Garage Sucks!! OK, now that I've got that off my chest, lets get to it! ;)

It always amazes me what I find in boxes whenever I move or happen to be in the mood to go through things. Some have incredible memories to them and others usually have a "Why the heck did i buy this?!?" thought after discovery.

Here are 10 Treasures I uncovered from the depths of the Garage...

1. Art Paper - I have no need to buy drawing paper for the next 10 years.

2. 4 Paint Palettes - again, I think I'm good in this area

3. A Bazillion gesture drawings.

4. 2 big Cork boards

5. 2 Boxes packed full of Beanie Babies

6. My entire Pog collection w/slammers and the matching board

7. A Kangaroo Scrotum I bought in Sydney, Australia (yes, you read that correctly, it looks like a marble pouch with colored beads and such)

8. A lightbox of the Virgin of Guadalupe - it has rainbow lights and fake wood stickers on the side. (my sister forbid me to hang it up in our apartment ... i dunno why ...)

9. iZone mini Polaroid pictures I took my senior year of high school

10. 3 Lightsabers - That's right... 3! of which were promptly rushed in the house to my room

There you have it... my eclectic heap of pillaged treasures from the dusty dungeon of a garage!

You know... It would be really interesting to see what other people find in their junk boxes... *hint hint!

:)

Something Wonderful this Way Comes!

look what appeared on my doorstep ....... :) .........






look at all this fantastic packaging! it was a surprise at every fold


................



AWWWWWWW!!
..... so of course now that i have one of these babies, I shall now be the World's Best, Most Talented Illustrator, right??

I Wish! haha

So far I've just spent some time getting used to it and getting the feel for how it works. I'm already in Love :)

IF - "Perspective" final

My First Illustration Friday Post!!

I really thought about how big something might seem when it's right in front of your face. Even if it's just a little ladybug :)
...and why wouldn't a penguin be excited about a ladybug?? In the snow? :)

Illustration Friday - Perspective sketch

Sketch of the Perspective topic. I hope I can get him done before friday.
I think i've become a little obsessed with drawing this penguin, but he's just too cute to not let him do more things in more illos. :)
It's kinda got two parts to the perspective theme. The size of the lady bug on his nose the closeness to him as well as the actual perspective his body. He's been fun to draw on this one.

New Character!

I've come up with this new character in the last month. He's so fun to draw and I find myself doodling all kinds of poses and costumes for him (usually at work...haha). He's been sent on postcards for birthdays and if someone just needs some extra encouragement. And maybe a smile :)

this original postcard was an experiment with my new watercolor pencils.

Cupcake Apron!!

This was the most frustrating project I've ever done, but it turned out soooooo cute!!
Let me just say, I'm NOT a sewer(?) at all and the so called "Easy" patterns for this design were NOT so Easy! Somebody lied...
Anyway, hahaha I decided to make this Craft Apron for my sister for her birthday. She's into making costumes and fun little pjs and whatnot on her little sewing machine. Before the apron and matching pin cushion I gave her she was using this little basket and a Victoria Secret dog (you know the ones they always have for special promotions that you put on the gift boxes?) well, she was using that as a Pin cushion. The dog looked like a Voodoo experiment... :/ So I decided she needed something that was usable for her craft and looked super cute!

The apron has 4 main pockets and then 2 small pen pockets or a place to put a seam ripper.

Without further adieu.... TA-DA!



The cupcake pin cushion is just tied on for now and she can take it off if she wishes. There's an elastic loop for scissors right underneath it too. The back ties are a white ribbon. I loved the way it turned out. I ended up finding a denim material that I used for a backing to make it a little stiff, otherwise it was very floppy and didn't hold up well.

Charcoal Drawings

These are some Illos I did during school in an Anatomy for the Artist class. Super fun projects and I learned a lot about using the space of the paper.


This first piece is of a made up creature. I combined a lion, eagle, and a mustang. It was really fun doing. This was the turning point in school where I realized the impact of this creature would have been stunning if I had done it larger...like a LOT larger!



This 2nd piece is a life portrait that had to be pretty much lifesize. I love saltwater fish and creatures so of course I turned myself into a mermaid! DUH! haha! this took two sections of 2ft wide butcher paper so you can see how big it is. It's very hard to get a photograph of it, but I need to document this better. So much fun to do, it kinda makes me want to do another...