alphabet book work in progress

I'm working on a Thai alphabet book project. These are what I have done so far,
taking care of little details. This is my very first picture book. I'm quite excited
and hope it will turn out ok ;)

Life is getting into the direction I have always wanted it to be, to work mainly on illustration.
Right now I have only small projects but I determine to make it bigger in time :)
And I'm still learning, always learning. Make Art That Sells part B was already over.
I didn't have time to take the class when it's in session but I'm taking the class at my own pace
now and will start doing homework next week hopefully. Already have some sketches
for the first assignment :)

I'm also taking Year of the Fairy Tale online class with Carla Sonheim. Love, love the class.
So wonderful. It's a lovely way to nourish your creativity all through the year. I really
recommend it.

I realize how much I have missed blogging. I will try to write something, post my
daily work progress maybe, at the end of each day. It will be wonderful if I can do it.

Thanks for coming. Have a merry day :D

What I listen to : Demi Lovato - Neon Lights

I don't quite like the mv but fast songs are always good for long hours of working
in front of the computer. So that you won't feel sleepy ;)

today I draw

Almost 3 months that I have been absent from this blog. I should give this blog up already as it seems I will never keep posting consistently. But I like blogging. It's the best method of recording my life. So here I am again.

However, as I decided earlier since the end of last year that this year of 2014 will be my year of being offline, which means I will focus more on my making art offline rather than sharing online as I used to, this blog will mostly keep records of my everyday drawings for some time. Until I'm ready to share more of my art experience ;)

The good thing is today I'm still drawing :)

MerryDay Holiday Collection and a big sale is here :D

My newest stationery design collection is here! The theme is merry holiday. November is coming up and also the happy season of Christmas and New Year. I initially designed this for Make Art That Sells part B first week assignment of holiday card. Then I decided to make a whole collection for my shop. The idea started from Christmas ornaments and the rest just came to me. I had so much fun creating this design set :D

You can look at each item's details in holiday/christmas section in my MerryDay shop. I hope you enjoy this bright and cheerful collection. It's something that I'm proud of :) Don't forget to look around the shop and see if there's anything you would love to have. It's special occasion and I'm having big shop sale now until November 25, 2013! Remember to use the discount code : MERRYHOLIDAY13 when check out. If you could spread the word, I would be very grateful :)

Now some of you may wonder how I have been after last post about my creative struggle. I actually got a message from a facebook friend. She's following my Page and she wondered why I had been so quiet. I was so touched and thankful that someone would care for me and my work enough to stop by and leave a message. It's one of the things that help me go through the struggle, which I think will be a helpful story to talk about.

Not today though ;) Now I just want you to go and take a look at my shop and enjoy! :D

PS. Please note that I create and ship everything from my hometown in Bangkok, Thailand. It will take about 1-3 weeks for international shipping from Thailand. You may want to order early to make it in time before Christmas :)

Remember the 10% discount code : MERRYHOLIDAY13 !

That's why it is called the present.

I have been struggling with something inside me lately. I feel I cannot work on my art as smoothly as I used to as in months ago. I keep thinking of improving my art and shop and have a lot of sketches in my sketchbooks but somehow I cannot produce them into final artwork. I discussed my feelings with my friends and they kindly pointed out why I have become so slow.

First, I'm trapped in the attempt to be perfect. I don't think I'm a perfectionist but maybe I'm subconsciously trying to be. Strangely enough, I went through this kind of perfection struggle once already when I decided to open my shop. Now it comes back to me.

Second, I have been absorbing too much of information. I took e-courses, read a lot of creative business blogs and books. All these information are good helpful things and I'm learning a lot. But it can be a double-edged sword when I cannot organize things in my head well enough. Plus, during the process of learning, I get to know a lot of people and I can't help comparing with them. I know it's a no-no thing for those who work in creative business. Comparing doesn't help, instead, it slows you down and even paralyzes you. I know this too well but still...

I miss myself when I could draw without thinking, just drew and posted my doodles on my Page almost everyday. When I just had fun and get excited with occasional Etsy orders...

But I guess there's always a cure for a problem. Now I know my problem. Someone says that guilt and comparison are not productive. So, I'm going to let those unproductive feelings go and live with the minutes of joy when I draw and paint. Learn as much as I can but won't put too much pressure on myself. I want to be successful in creative business but not as much as to be happy with my art in the present moment, I realize :)

By the way, the drawing above I drew as a sample for a book illustration project. The idea is based on the famous quote :

Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why it is called the present.
---Alice Morse Earle

The illustration will look different in the final but this is already perfect for this post and my MerryDay :)

Thanks for coming. I hope you have a merry creative day :)

Coralie and Me : an art collaboration From Paris to Bangkok, The First Finalized!

Here are updates of Coralie and me collaborative art project and it is finalized! It's exciting to see one simple pink bird gradually transformed into this complete illustration.

I really enjoy working with Coralie. There was only one tiny moment that I wondered if this project would work out. As you know, everybody has his or her own ego, especially artists. In fact, we, artists need some ego. You cannot work on your art if you have low self-esteem. I was afraid that I might do something on the piece that she wouldn't agree with or vice versa. I'm so happy that the piece turns out lovely and we didn't have problem with each other's addition at all.

If you are familiar with my works, you may be able to tell which parts in this final are my additions.  Coralie also has her own unique style. The interesting thing is that my style and her style combined beautifully and the piece turns out to be something refreshing and unique :D

We are going to do more images.  I'm already excited to see what we will come up with next :)
You can look at how this artwork is developed from the very beginning in the slide below. :)


Created with flickr slideshow.

Behind the Lines and Colors : My Peace illustration, personalized bookplate and notebook

My merry bookplate design with illustration originally from one of my 365 days I draw sketches. The topic is PEACE.

What is peaceful to you? To me, peaceful means when I am at home with book or pencil and sketchbook in hand. When I take evening walks with my mom around my dad's garden and sit down on soft green grass when mom needs to rest. When we listen to the wind and little birds chirping in early mornings. When I do yoga to start the day and when I take my eyes from book I'm reading for a while to listen to quietness of night time.

I have been thinking about pattern in my art, meaning what I mostly have in my pieces. I guess swirly flowers may be that pattern. For this illustration, I drew the flowers first and imagined my little girl spending her time alone (with her little bear) in a tiny rowboat floating in a little pond after the rain. A book in her hand, a greeting from the butterfly and a glimpse of rainbow up in the sky. In her peace, my imaginary peace :)



When I took this sketch to put it into design, I decided not to add anything more, just change the colors to make overall picture brighter and more refreshing. I had dark green for flower stems first but liked this purplish blue better. I hope you like it too :)

This illustration is for sale on my MerryDay Etsy shop in various kind of product-- a set of personalized bookplates as well as One and Only Limited Edition MerryDay Notebook and also art print to brighten up your place.



I have just realized that having this shop and talking about my work process for each piece on this blog really help me in many ways. It keeps me on my track and when I look back and think of what I thought and did on each artwork, it seems that I see something new. I just hope I can carry it along and apply it to my next pieces :)

Thank you for coming and if you have just happened to be here, you can learn more about me with my post of the history of MerryDay here and other work process posts in Behind the Lines and Colors category :)