Blossom Lullaby Giveaway

Get it now-The Blossom Lullaby Texture Package for Digital Artists and Photographers

I just got it uploaded and its ready for download

*CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD*

Password is spring2012 (not case sensative)

This package will be available for download until May 31!

Photography samples using a selection of textures from this month's texture package

Sample of book illustration work using a texture from the package.

New Work and Then Some

Well I have been so busy and that is a good thing. My artwork is my source of income so I cater to the demands of making art when I need to. I apologize for my lack of activity here on my blog. I wanted to share with you a few works I have been busy creating and wanted to let you know that I have a really fun photography/digital art texture package freebie I am releasing in April! 

Make sure to stay on the lookout for that, so far it is one of my favorite texture packages to create and I have a feeling that many of my photographer friends who are into macro imagery of plantlife will really dig the Yupo textures I made. The digital artists will also find these textures truly unique and will certainly enjoy them in the collaging efforts :)

Until I write again, here is a sampling of what I have been  up to this month....
Make sure to check out photographic work I have at my Glass Eyed Pony Photography Blog!

Getting It Together

I have been busy managing my workload this week. I often cannot fathom how other work at home moms have time to balance a full time business from their home and manage blogging as much as they do, unless of course, they limit the amount of work they take on. But rest assured I will be focusing on this blog and my photography blog in upcoming weeks.

I will have giveaways at both blogs as well as tips and other useful information for everyone, not limited to just fine art/illustration/photography.

I encourage anyone with specific questions about how I organize my time, run my business, and methods I use to create my art to contact me. I will try to address what I can when I have a chance!

Thanks for being patient!

LynZ

Creative Insecurity

I recently read an article in this month’s Somerset Studio issue entitled "Creative Insecurity" by Quinn McDonald. It resonated deeply with the current struggles I have seen myself slip into during my own creative journeys. Quinn McDonald stated that, "Creative Insecurity occurs when we receive praise or recognition" and I would like to add, when we receive criticism, and when we are consumed by our own fear of exploring all creative possibilities.

Facing our insecurities is hard but worthwhile work if we choose to combat them. I am at the point in my creative path where I have to make a decision and choose. I want to be a full time artist. That is my dream, but the criticism I hear often, is that an artist needs a day job don’t ever count on making a living with your art. This sets me back and snuffs my dreams each time I hear it, and it hurts me so much because the one person who says this is the one person I admire the most, my mother. Yet she is also the one person that gives me the drive to keep pursuing my dream, so I can prove to her I can do this and be successful with my art. It would mean the world to me to prove this to her.

I am working diligently on two children’s books that I am very excited about, for those of you who know me personally, you all know that I have a goal of one day winning a Caldecott Medal. It may be a reach, but one that is certainly worth the effort. I also want to settle down and start a family, and this is by far and large my biggest dream, and one that truly fuels my desire to be a full time working artist. Being able to work from home while raising my own family is very important to me, and I will make no compromise on this, what-so-ever, otherwise I will not even consider having a family.

So I am slowly coming to terms with my bag of neurosis called, Creative Insecurity, and starting to plan and strategize the rest of my life and the future of my artistic endeavors. The artist inside me has realized that when we look at all of the elements of anxiety and insecurity and sit with them instead of run from them, they no longer look big or pursue us, we open up and become more creative. In fact I have found much inspiration in this realization, enough to allow me to explore new directions to take my own art. This has caused me to create pieces that are uniquely speaking from my core being in a way that I have not been able to do before. I have found a creative voice that speaks from the art that I create. I am excited to be creating fine art that is more evocative of my personality and I look forward to sharing that piece of myself with you in the months to come!

Flop Flop the Turtle Top Roughs

Just wanted to post a sneak peak at couple illustration rough drafts I have for a children's book I am working on, "Flip Flop the Turtle Top". The brief synopsis- the books is about a young girl who finds a painted turtle in the wild. Brings the turtle home in an effort to make a pet out of a wild animal. The moral of the story in a sweet and childish way..."never cage a wild thing". She returns the turtle to the wilds when she begins to realize how unhappy he is.


Some samples of the story board on the floor in my studio.


I wish I had a larger studio ;)


There are many steps that go into planning the whole book project. Right now the author (who is my mother) is reworking the story so it is more lyrical, as children like rhyming and it has been shown rhyming patterns play a significant role in the development of a child's mind. My only hope is the story doesn't change too much so I don't find myself going back and reworking the illustrations that are already complete.


Some close ups of the sketch process



I will be starting the color study phase this weekend. I am also working on the illustrations of another story I wrote. It is lyrical as well and is a story I had in my mind for quite sometime. I put it all down on paper last summer and spent the better part of the year rewriting and reworking it. Now I am starting the drawing phases. I will post more on that later. I hope to one day have a Caldecott Medal winning book (or books) under my belt.

I am working on a poetry book of my own and have started the layout design for the book. The poems are done and it has turned out to be a very autobiographical work. The poems, for the most part, explore the darker side of my life and the circumstances that I have been dealing with. The creation of this book has become a healing process for me.

Well that is about it for now! Cheerio.