How do you conquer the blank page? Are you a cat or a dog (or perhaps a bug aficionado) person? We don’t have any pets right now, other than some free loading spiders in the garage, but I spend a lot of time drawing animals.
Hope you have a smashing weekend! *
* No creatures were harmed in the making of this cartoon. 🙂
P.S. – Just listed 2 new illustrated cards in my Etsy shop! For the rest of April take 10% off your order with this coupon code: SPRINGCOLEEN10
Hey all!
Just popping in to wish you a Happy Halloween…
As is my tradition (um, starting today), I’m going with the something cute
and something scary Halloween greeting
Although I imagine seeing my post in your inbox probably startled you.
But had to be done, because I miss you guys!
Anyway here’s something cute
Pencil, ink, gouache, digital color, and English breakfast tea (for me, not the art)
Okay
now brace yourself
next up, something super chilling
a practical crime scene on my sliding glass door this month
Nikon camera, 18-55 mm lens, and a rapid, and possibly a bit skippy, heartbeat
Yeah.
The circle of life
(wrapped around a fly).
I can’t sugar coat that for you
unless you show up at my door tonight in costume
(but only tonight)
So just in case here’s something to distract and soothe you
Hopefully I’ve calmed you enough to share in the comments your favorite Halloween costume.
Here’s a witchy throwback (way back) of a costumed me.
Happy Monday!
One of my favorite summer memories involves a garbage bag.
Classic summer, right? 😉
Okay so maybe not. But if you will, picture two large plastic bags on the grass, with a green garden hose coiled nearby.
And these two trouble makers problem solvers pursuers of possibility (who did not live near a pool at the time)
My sister B and me, Lake Michigan
Then add water. Up to our chins. Until we are blowing bubbles across the surface of our
non-Olympic regulation size Hefty pools.
And we’re grinning.
Because we really, really wanted to go swimming.
And so we found a way. Mostly. Even if that meant we gripped the edges of our bags
to keep our personal pools intact.
Ah, summer and possibility. They go together like garbage bags and swimming.
Even now I feel there’s something about the sun popping up early and sticking around way after dinner that promotes more adventure.
“Hey, you wanna go swimming?”
But this summer I keep thinking, do it for the process
Because it’s nice to swim (whatever your pool may be)
and blow bubbles on the surface
or go for a hike, or take photos of hummingbirds in your backyard
or write a story, draw a picture
just because
Sure I’m mostly still a problem solving, direction oriented, check off the box on my to do list kind of person…
Here are some of my drawings turned greeting cards in my new Etsy Shop
…but it’s really nice to let summer take over for a bit.
Happy Monday!
Last month I tried meditating.
The kind where you sit in a quiet place and repeat a mantra.
It didn’t go so well.
Maybe I was a little too desperate for it to work, or maybe it was because my brain likes to tell stories and refute mantras in quiet moments. Either way it was kind of like trying to pat your head and rub your stomach while watching and waiting for a pot of water to boil.
I felt more anxious.
In the past, I found yoga calming, but sometimes those “yoga clouds” were not in fact carrying away my thoughts, but sorting into my to do list.
A black-capped chickadee slinging seeds (and perhaps thoughts).
And walking. I love walking. But I like to go over projects and stuff. Or whatever. I just like to break stuff down when I walk, not push it away.
Then last week I wanted to take some pics of the birds in our backyard. So I sat on my deck, about ten feet from the bird feeder. I had to sit still while holding my camera and somehow that stance forced me to keep an even breathing rhythm.
And so I watched the birds.
Or did they watch me?
I was still. Breathing nicely. And my thoughts were…I don’t know. Like scattered seeds on the ground? Because wherever they were they weren’t bothering me.
Do you meditate?
HAPPY WEEKEND! xo
This week I spent hours researching website logos.
I already have a logo, but I just wanted to tweak mine, maybe find a little inspiration, make it somehow more representative of me.
Well, at least that’s what I told myself. I’m pretty sure though that I went looking for validation.
On the internet. *sigh*
Yup. I went against all my Poltergeist quoting and went directly into the internet light.
But it’s so shiny (and don’t forget the entertaining cat around the bend).
And of course, I find super amazing, beautiful mind-blowing websites that make me wonder why am I not a marine biologist who takes her flying ship into the sky to paint sparkly whales swimming with the clouds?
Um yeah.
Sometimes I forget that I get to be me.
This is me. The smaller 1970s version. But a lot is still the same.
Obviously blue haired dolls make me smile/feel grateful/feel as if I have a special super power. But so does writing for kids and teens. And drawing. Then there are cookies and Scottish Breakfast tea and of course my family and road trips, and taking pictures, and people who are funny.
Okay so I’m also stubborn. And prickly, especially before I have my coffee (but I’m still a morning person, just don’t try to have a conversation with me). But there are advantages to these powers. I’m sure of it.
Porcupine in a snowstorm (I added snow to this drawing due to current snowmageddon forecast)
I love feeling inspired by the world around me (including stuff on the internet), but Teddy (Mr. Roosevelt or President, if you’re feeling proper) said it best:
“Comparison is the thief of joy.”
So for the sake of blue haired dolls and cookies everywhere (and YAY joy!), it’s for the best that I get back to writing and drawing and other stuff, i.e. being me.
#grateful
Do you ever forget that you get to be you? Are you a morning person?
xo
Wishing you and yours peace, love, and joy.
Happy Holidays!
xo
.
I love how even the tiniest of discoveries can uplift
Tiny turtle power.
We discovered this little guy on the Greensprings trail in Williamsburg, VA.
And just last weekend I left the house and saw this:
The cherry blossom trees are blooming!
It seemed like they bloomed overnight.
(Much like my kids.)
We also found Edvard Munch’s Scream in the James River. Can you see it?
Oh and he’s in this doodle too.
Just kidding.
Here’s some chocolate.
Did you know that you can put the chocolate on the inside of the strawberry?!
Oh the freedom,right?
Hey, look at me doodling on the definition of writing. 😉
Although,
I have to say I could’ve done without this discovery when I walked in the door at work last week:
Dummy at work.
Note: Mannequins are not a typical sight in a library office.
Hey, after this surprise, who needs coffee?
But back to a slightly lower level of adrenaline,
I got the proofs of the illustrated covers that I designed for my Chasing Normal series
and I discovered I’m pretty excited with the way they’re turning out!
Happy Monday!!
xo
Coleen Patrick 