ArtSnacks Review ~ July 2016

This month was all about watercolor. I have been wanting to try different watercolor mediums, so this came at a great time. I have never used tube watercolor paint before. The color seems so much more vibrant from the tube. I enjoyed all the supplies I received in this month's box. See below for my review and more information on the supplies.

Here is a list and my perspective on the supply:

1. The first thing you get is a bookmark with a list of all the supplies. There was a corny little joke on it this month "Why was the painting sent to jail?  ~ Because it was framed." 

2. A Sticker of the ArtSnacks Logo. I love the design of this logo. 

3. A yummy treat. This month I got a small pack of Smarties.

4. QoR Watercolor by Golden ($15.79 Retail Value). This is the first time I have tried a tube watercolor paint. I have been using pan sets. The color seems so much more vibrant and easier to work with than the pans. I think I might have the invest in some more tube watercolor paint. 

5. Elite Synthetic Kolinsky Sable Brush by Princeton Brush ($12.50 Retail Value). I got a size 6 round brush and it was the perfect size. It comes to a nice point so you can do smaller detail areas.

6. The Masters Brush Cleaner & Preserver by General Pencil ($2.59 Retail Value). I have been meaning to get some of this professional brush cleaner. I have been just using Dawn dish soap to clean my brushes.

7. Pentel Arts Hybrid Technica Roller Ball Pen ($2.99 Retail Value). I liked this pen quite a bit. Although it seemed easy to smudge on the Yupo paper that was provided to work with. I think this will go in my everyday pencil case. It glided so smoothly.

8. YUPO Watercolor Paper by Legion Paper (This was a Bonus Item so there wasn't a cost included). I have heard of this paper before but I haven't really worked with it. The paper is a non-porous, water-resistant polypropylene blend of paper. It was really strange to work with because the watercolor wouldn't go down completely smooth. It would pool up in areas. I used this to my advantage and worked in a few layers.

I decided on drawing a lizard for the #artsnackschallenge based on the green color I received. Overall I really liked all the supplies. I will have fun experimenting with the Yupo paper.

Do you get any type of subscription boxes? Which ones do you get? Let me know what you think of these ArtSnack boxes.

Chapter Books Sales Sheet

This is a sales sheet I design last year for New Chapter Books for Rourke. At the time we only had a few of the covers designed, so I was able to use the artwork from one of the covers for the background. I liked the way it came out, using the stage to show off the covers of some of the books as an announcement piece. I enjoyed reading some of these stories as we were working on them. My favorites are the Adventure Series.

Studio Office Update!!!

So here it is finally an update on the new Studio Office! My nephew moved out a few months back and I was finally able to set up a Studio Office space. I have been dreaming of this space for years. Of Course my idea of the design changed throughout those years. I don't think I ever would have done the lime green walls a few years back. I do love the color of the walls though.  

As you notice the floors are a bluish color. I took a blue pigment dye and put drops of it into first a concrete sealer, but it wasn't coming out the way I wanted. Then I got a can of water-based polyurethane and put the blue tint in that and just kept applying it until the can was done. I love the color but feel like it could have used a couple more coats of the polyurethane.

When you first walk in you can see the art carts I got from Ikea a few years back. There is my painting of Hedwig and a few paintings behind the easel. Oh and yes that is a zombie deer with a skeleton on its back (I told you I loved Halloween, this kind of stuff is scattered throughout the house). The flower that you see there my Mom made out of plastic soda bottles. I love how whimsical it is!

This is a picture of my desk/table. I wanted a counter-height table so that I could stand when I got tired of sitting for to long.

In this corner are a couple of my drawer units I got at Ikea. I love these drawers. In the very corner there you can see a mess of stuff. I have quite a few blank canvases that I need to get started on painting!

My painting table. I still haven't gotten to far on that painting I started months ago. I can't seem to get the background the way I want it and I got discouraged.

Another view of the painting table from further away. I love the big window that lets so much light into the room. As you can see with the shelves on the back wall I still have some room to grow.

These are the shelves hanging above my table desk. I still have a bit of room on these to grow also. The 3 small prints on the top shelf I got when we were in New Orleans over Christmas last year. I do not remember the name of the artist and wished I would have grabbed one of his cards.

And then the big monster unit of cubby shelves I got from Ikea. I love this unit, it holds so much stuff! The Jack and Sally prints on the top of this shelf were done by Vaughn Belak. The fox print was done by Don Martin of Torch and Paintbrush.

Of course a studio tour wouldn't be complete without the Murphy dog making an appearance. Let me know what you think and I would love to see pictures of your art spaces!

June Adventures

June was a mostly quiet month, until towards the end of the month. We ended up at the beach a couple of times, but now it is getting to hot here in Florida. The picture above shows a beautiful sunset as we were leaving the house one night.

This is one of the drawings I completed for the ArtSnacks Challenge. You can read more about that here.

On one of our nightly bicycle rides we noticed some storm clouds off in the distance. We decided to go for our ride anyways. As we were about halfway through the storm started moving in faster. We just beat all the rain home. Here is a picture of the sky when we got back to the house.

Speaking of bicycles. Here is a picture of my new toy. I just love it!!!

We have this rabbit that has been hanging out in our yard for a couple of weeks. He was out there gathering grass. In this picture you can't see it to well but his mouth is full of grass. Sorry about the grainy picture, I tried to zoom in on my phone and it didn't turn out to well.

Last week I was invited to the Tampa Bay Area Writing Project for the Aha! Writer's Institute with BeauLu Books, to discuss the design process for children's books. 

These pretty clouds were from my drive over to Tampa.

This is such a great group of people. I enjoyed talking with them about their book ideas and discussing how we could best represent their text in design. I can't wait to read all of their final scripts.

I guess it is tradition for the Tampa Bay Area Writing Project people to mug the newest members. Here is a picture of my mugging!

And the beautiful sky on my way home, watching the sunset behind me.

The next day I got up a drove to Orlando for the American Library Association Annual Conference. I decided to go for my business to network with more publishers, because this is the industry that I am most passionate working with. I was able to stop by the Mason Crest booth and see the banner I designed for them. It was so nice to be able to meet a couple of the women who work there.

Look at all that swag I got from the conference. I was so exhausted from walking around all day, but had so much fun.

After the conference I drove over to my Mom's nursing home and spent a couple hours with her and my stepdad. This Momma duck was walking around with her five baby ducks. They were so cute.

That was it for June. I am still working on getting the office/studio put together. I am hoping to have pictures and a tour for you sometime next month. If you would like to see my work in progress pictures or just some randomness you can follow me on Instagram and Facebook.

Let's Explore Science Book Design

This series of books in an ongoing series for higher grade levels. This was one of the series where I designed all the covers but not all the interiors. When approaching the design for covers, I like to read the script and do as much research as I can on the subject. This helps spark ideas for the concept and design. These subjects were really tough to come up with original ideas.

When thinking of the design for the Hypothesis, Theory, and Law cover, the first thing that came to mind was from watching the tv show The Big Bang Theory. I thought of how Sheldon uses his white board to work out the equations for whatever project he is working on. Then of course I thought of Newton's Law and about the story of how the apple fell on his head.

On some covers it takes a little longer for inspiration to hit. Sometimes I get inspired by a photo while doing photo research for the book. On this Erosion book, this photo showed so many different types of erosion and it was so pretty that I thought this was the best representation for the subject.

The interiors for these books require a lot of illustrations, charts, and photos. As I read the scripts and do the photo research, I try to find what is best to represent the text. In doing this I have to do additional research on the subject to find what I would need to help support the text and add further information to help the child understand the material.

I learned so much when designing these books. I have always found science fascinating!