Behind the Lines and Colors : Mr. Giraffe and the Merry Girl mini love card

I have noticed lately that my 'I'll be with you, no matter how far' mini card gets more favorite on Etsy and I have already shipped out some of them to new customers. This really heartens my spirit as, although I have been working on my Etsy for a couple of years already, I'm still really a newbie in selling my art.

I am especially excited with this card sales because it means that my idea behind the design is working.



This drawing of little Merry girl having a date with Mr. Giraffe is one of my Love is... drawing collection which focuses on animals, something that I needed to practice drawing. The idea was to simply practice drawing a giraffe at first and then I wanted to have something to play with the height of the animal.  Then I thought of the ladder and the girl climbing up to kiss the giraffe. The idea was similar to what I had drawn for my 365 days I draw project here.



So, I put a different story to this design. I made up a scene of Merry Girl having a glass of soda pop with her date, Mr. Giraffe. How could she be with her tall boyfriend? She needed a ladder so I drew one. Then the design still looked too blank. How about some lettering? This was when the concept of long distance relationship popped in my head. I thought of the phase 'no matter how far' and tried different fonts and ended up hand lettering it myself. I incorporated the lettering to the ladder making it as one of the ladder's steps. The black cat and the '...or how hard' was then added to make it cuter. I thought I finished.

But not yet. The illustration was in portrait format which would look too small in a standard 4x6 greeting card. Since I printed all cards by myself using a nice Epson ink jet, I had to figure how to make things fit in A4 paper sheet. I thought of long card 4 by 11 inches but the image looked awkward and didn't really fit in. Different folding might be key. I tried cutting A4 sheet in half and folding it down in accordion way. It looked nice but I didn't want to have too many folding creases on my image. So I moved the image to the lower part of the paper and added the final touch of 'I'll be with you' in the blue bubble to complete the story of long distance relationship :)

I really enjoyed the creative juice that flowing during the process. It really gave myself more confidence when I launched it out on facebook and got good feedbacks on this piece. It also made me realize that the design format, the size and shape of paper were also important in making a successful work.

Hope you enjoy my work process. This card is available on my MerryDay shop. You can look at the details of this card here :

Mini love card - I'll be with you no matter how far

Work in progress : Bird sketches and letter set design

Further sketches for my current design project 'the secret garden' I already posted bird study on this blog. Now I'm adding characters and story. I'm thinking about a whole set of stationery design and already have a rough comp of letter set. The hardest part for me right now is that I was hardly at home last week and this week will be quite busy too. I'm always wondering how those artists with children could produce their art regularly. I don't have any kids and I seem to have a hard time finding a long proper hour to work on my creation each day. I think it will be something I have to figure out everyday.

Here a sneak peek of the letter set. I'm thinking I need to share more of my work in progress. It should be another way to push me to work harder to keep this blog going the same pace with my work and the other way around--posting work process may help push me to get the work finalized more quickly :)

Have a merry Monday!

Sunday Sketch. 365 days I draw and Inspire me Sunday

My Sunday Sketch and also for my 365 days I draw, the topic is BULK. This could be great to develop it into a card for my MerryDay shop :)

And here's what inspire me today. It's all about blogging :)

• I'm reading several books at the moment. One of them is insightful and entertaining Blog Inc. by Oh Joy!

• a simple designed I Love You Blogs and Coffee wall art

• It seems that I'm always trying to blog regularly. Somehow it's really important for me to record my thoughts and especially my work on this blog. So, I try to write down what I have already posted and what I will want to post in a small notebook. I don't want to make it sound too tense but this blog planner printable set may be helpful for you.

• Just love this simple sketchy doodle blog banner on Etsy

• I have just finished reading The Happiness Project and have found that the author's daily's blogging is also helpful and enjoyable :)

Thanks for coming and have a merry Sunday!

Keep calm and merry on and my self-exploration

I have been reading a lot lately. Both books and blogs. Most of them focus on illustration, design, creativity and art business. I have begun to be addicted to reading artists' lives/behind-the-scene since I took Creative Courage class, in which several insightful artists' interviews were provided. Before that I basically browsed blogs by pictures as in leisure time. Long English-written posts always got overlooked. Until I got serious about my dream.

I remember my very first dream came to me when I was a little kid drawing repeatedly similar big-eyed dolls imitated from several sets of paper dolls I collected. The dream was to be a fashion designer. Then being a kid who didn't think much, I forgot about it and drew less. I just lived my life reading books, studying languages which I knew I liked but not really knew exactly what I would want to do with them. I got in a university majoring in English and selected Spanish as minor, still not sure what I would work after the uni.

Then one day in an English poetry class, I suddenly felt like the big white ceiling of the classroom was pushing down on me. I felt suffocated. I began to get sleepy in classes and question why we had to interpret some old poetry so seriously (maybe the poet might just want to express their emotion purely, with no serious meanings?)

I still liked books, loved to learn more languages. It's just that I couldn't see myself working in the field. Not sure how I came up with the idea of working as a graphic designer. Maybe it's a combination of two things that I love, drawing and reading. After graduation, I took another degree in graphic design then worked as a freelance book designer and now I think I'm becoming a stationery designer.

Why do I suddenly talk about all of this? I don't know. It seems that I have developed some kind of self-exploration lately. Before Make Art That Sells class, I was lucky to work in the field that I liked but they were all clients' works. I hardly had my own design, my own projects. Now I become more acute of what I like and dislike, what I want to do and don't want to. I have said no to some job offer and really focused on my MerryDay, my own stationery brand.

I am taking a risk but, strangely, I think I'm happier than when I knew exactly how much I would be paid for my freelance projects...

This year is my learning year. I take e-classes, read several books and blogs about art business and artists behind the scenes and give myself more time to work on my illustration/stationery design. My next drawing collection should be unique and wonderful enough to make more people recognize my MerryDay.

Am I too ambitious? Can I make it happen or will I be still be blogging this same thing next year? I don't know but the latest Etsy order I have just got today tells me that it's no use to worry about what have not come yet. The only thing I can do right now is keep working :)

Keep calm and merry on, that's what I'm saying now :)

Thanks for coming. Again, I wish you a merry day :D

MerryDay playground journal cover Global Talent Search submission

Here is my journal cover designed for Lilla Rogers studio's Global Talent Search.  I don't usually participate in any design contest that requires a fee to enter. However, as a student of Make Art That Sells class, I was automatically eligible to join in the contest. I didn't expect myself to win from the beginning. This doesn't mean that  I gave up right from the start or I didn't think I was good enough. It's just that, after 5 weeks with Lilla's class reviews, I kind of had a glimpse of what she liked and what she felt so-so and I didn't think my work fell in the first.

Then, why did I still enter? This is because I viewed it as an extra assignment to accomplish (Lilla actually said this to prevent us from getting too tensed with the competition). It's challenging to work on a piece that has a real client, in this case Lilla herself and Paperchase. It would be great if I could get to the next round and if I couldn't, I still had this good piece for my portfolio :)

In this first round, we were assigned to work on a journal cover in the theme of 'playground'.  I started it by sketching things that related to the theme, swing tire, jungle gym, sand box, horse on spring etc. I'd like to add my merry characters in it too and then a whimsical idea of combining the playground theme with tea time bakery just popped in my head. Why tea time bakery?, I'm not sure, maybe because I associated fun in playground with kids and kids like dessert and sweet candies. I always like combining unrelated things together and transform it into new aspect. Just as I did with the tea cup and kettle as the see-saw in playground :)

Then, I tried to think more of bakery/playground theme. So came the candies swing, the strawberry Pocky jungle gym, the donut swing and berries tart sandbox. I really enjoyed working on each elements. I have to admit though that although I said I didn't care if I would win or not, I think when you work very hard, you just can't help hoping. However, at the back of my mind, I still thought that this would not be what Lilla would fancy.

Lilla always emphasized that good artwork had to read well in small size, meaning if you reduce the work into stamp size, the work should still be catching and attractive. This means you need to have strong contrast, great characters and compositions and stunning colors. I tried doing that but just as I said in the previous post, people really see things differently. I thought my journal popped up when reduced small but maybe it's not in other people's view? I don't know. It's really a matter of point of view.

Anyway, I didn't get through to the next round and I'm ok with it. This piece may not be the best ( I think there's still something that can be improved) but it is good enough and the most important thing is that I really enjoyed doing it and really happy to receive good feedbacks when I shared it in the class group. Besides, I already have a ton of ideas to make stationery items based on this design for my MerryDay shop. It's not a waste of time at all :)

So, this post is officially the end of Make Art That Sells class part A. I'm moving on to another e-course posts. This one is more relaxing and more play. The class is Painted Pages workshop.

You think I'm crazy girl addicted to taking e-courses? Yes, I think I am :) I have just realized recently that while I am learning new things from the classes, I'm also exploring my inner self spiritually too. I'm not sure if I will be able to express myself properly but I think it's an interesting and exciting topic to blog about. Let's see what I will have for the next posts.

Thanks for joining in my creative journey. It will never end and I hope you enjoy it along the way :)

Have a merry day :D

MerryDay Goes to School : what I think about Make Art That Sells Class (part 2)

Continuing from the previous post about what I think about Make Art That Sells Class, the big question I got from the beginning of the class is :

Do I think the class worth the money?

I have always had positive thoughts for e-classes both before and after class. My rule in life is that you have to accept the result of your own decisions. If the result is good, you are right and lucky. If it's not, it's not worth the time to fuss about what already passed. Learn the lessons and move on, that's what I always tell myself. Like I said in the previous post : Life is getting shorter :)

So, I already thought the class worth the money right from the beginning. Then while the class was progressing I was more confirmed. There are two majors points for this confirmation :

• The class REALLY brought me to focus on my dream path. 
Sometimes you know what your dream is but you just don't know exactly how you will reach your dream. I feel that this class sets practical guidelines for me. Each week we had a specific topic and we started the week with 'mini-exercise' on Monday, which was to draw/paint/experiment anything relating to the topic. Then we set out to do the week's assignment on Wednesday and the deadline for the work would be on Sunday.

One of my friends said that anyone could tell you to draw a lot and set your own guidelines but I think it's not just that. I agree that I can come up with my own commitment to draw everyday and to complete an artwork a week but the hardest part is 'to do it successfully'. This commitment needs to be in an inspiring environment. This leads to my other major point, the student group.

• Being among those who have the same passion really helps you grow in creative journey.
Being a freelancer, I have always worked by myself. My best friend to consult about design or technical issues was the internet and going through creative blocks or depression alone was not really fun. So, I'm so glad to find that fellow students in this class are so generous and supportive. We went through 5 weeks of tough assignments, anxiety and creative blocks together so it's like there's a bond among us, which I think it's hard to find in this virtual world.  Even when the class ended, we are still connecting, sharing and growing into some other sub-topic groups. I realized that this kind of connection is something I have been looking for and now I find it and it becomes one of the reason why I think this class, which brings us together, worth the money :)

There's also one important point for those who are considering taking the next session of this class : we didn't get one-on-one feedback from Lilla in this class. Due to the large amount of students in the class, each week Lilla would pick only15-20 art pieces to review. This is a major point discussed among those who were in class and those who were not. Some of the students are still a bit upset with not getting personal feedbacks and some who are interested in taking the class are hesitating.

As for me, I thought the class would have limited seats and it surprised me a bit that they kept promoting the course even when there were already a lot of students. I didn't expect to have personal feedbacks from Lilla though. I may think differently from others. I just think that getting feedbacks from one person doesn't really help you grow much, especially if that person doesn't have the same taste with you. Even if she or he has the same taste or same style, it's likely that you will become attached to that person and the attempt to please her or him will have a chance to ruin your own style.

I said this from my personal experience. I admired some teachers in my college time and it took me some years of struggling to realize that I was all wrong. The best way to improve your works is to listen to your own like and dislike plus feedbacks from other people, a lot of people, not just one person. Art is a matter of taste. You cannot satisfy the whole world as people really think and see things differently.

That's why I say that being in the student group with different points of view is really worthwhile :)

I think this is all my thought about Make Art That Sells class. In all, taking this class is one of my best decisions and I'm looking forward to learn more in part B which will start this October :)

There's one more thing relating to this course. I participated in Lilla's Global Search Talent. I didn't get in the next round but maybe you still will be interested to see my design?

I will write about it soon. Thanks for coming. Hope this post is helpful for someone.
Have a merry day :D

MerryDay Goes to School : worries, distractions and what I think about Make Art That Sells Class

Life always has unforeseen interruptions. Last week I was very excited with my carefully laid-out plan for my future business. This week I spend all of my time at hospital taking care of my parents who get sick at the same time. It scares me a bit. It's inevitable fact that old age comes with sickness. My parents are quite old right now and I am already in thirty-something. A woman who decides to go back to the very first stage of building up her new career path, which will take years to accomplish. Life's getting shorter everyday and I wonder if I can make it happen at the end...

But that's only one of million things in life that I'm worried about. I'm glad that I have aged and learned enough to know you should not add worries to worries.

I have just read Noreen's post of Winston Churchill - 6 Things to Do. The very first is "Focus on what you are doing right now." and someone commented on this post with "80% of what we worry about doesn't come true."---Two statements that I need to focus :)

So, enough with my worries and distractions, I'm coming back to focus on my illustration and design work skill now.

Above is a compilation of all my assignment done in Make Art That Sells class (Click to see the larger image here). Things haven't changes in term of design and style but I think there's a lot of improvement in details and background, which I used to consider as my drawback. I generally drew my subject in kind of stand alone format---no background and not a lot of details and sometimes didn't even have a story. So doing more details and building stories and backgrounds is what I intended to improve from the very first week of the class.

This comes to my main topic for this post : what do I think about Make Art That Sells class?  It's the question I have been asked often. To answer it properly, let me start with the question of "What did I expect from this class?" first.

Before starting this class, I expected that :

• I would learn more about art business in general.

• I would learn about how to use my art in different products.

• I would get to know more people (and get people know more about me).

• I would improve my skill in illustration and design (doing more details, backgrounds and stories)

Then when the class finished, I found that :

• I think I learn more of art business, not in specific details but I have a glimpse of what art business is like and how I can learn more about it.

• I definitely learn more about how to use my art in different products and markets. Lilla had planed this course neatly by categorizing each week into different markets and she did wonderful job in giving us details of how each market worked, how to get your work into that kind of market (although this requires personal talent and hard work too) and there were tons of beautiful art samples to keep us excited and inspired.

• I'm not sure if fellow students know more about me but I certainly get to know more people and being with those who are also in creative journey really helps me focus and stay on my track. I have to say that the class student group is the best supportive art community and I am glad I'm a part of it :)

• I think my skill in design and illustration has been improved, not technically but in term of thinking and implementing more details which is exactly what I want to improve.

This post is getting long now. I think I'm going to break it into 2 posts. The next post will be about the big question "do I think this class worth the money?"

Thanks for coming. Have a merry day :)