Spring has been official in Ohio for about a month now, but it is now solidly displayed around me! My cherry trees are in full bloom and their scent fills my nose when I walk out my front door. My sidewalk isn’t quite lined with flowers yet, but the greenery is up. It’s been inspiring me to spend a lot more time outdoors! I’ve been taking walks during my lunch time at work, and even spending some time on my newly-scrubbed deck furniture which I bought covers for this year because this is the year I get my life together like an adult. You know, before I turn 30 next year. Ha! Ok, maybe my life will not be entirely together. But I have taken some good steps forward, at least! Just look at my deck furniture- safe from rain and bird poop.
Anyways, all this time in the outdoors has been great for my mood, but not so much for my productivity. My drawing time during lunch is now spent on the walking trail. This doesn’t mean that I haven’t been doing any work, though! I’m still putting some work into a commissioned piece that is taking me a while, and I finished two new pieces for SCBWI things. The first was a coloring page to be used at the Ohioana Book Festival in Columbus, Ohio this weekend. I was pretty pleased with how it turned out!
I did a bit of the digital inking at my son’s t-ball practice and gained myself a friend. A tiny younger sister of one of the players came right up to me and sat down to watch me work. Her mom gave her a phone to watch Bubble Guppies, and she came back with it to settle in once more against my side. So sweet!
The next piece I finished out was one for the Draw This monthly challenge put out by SCBWI. April’s challenge word was “Bloom.” I thought about using my little guy from my last post, but decided to make something new.
I wanted something that showed a literal bloom of spring, but also tried to reflect the internal bloom I had been feeling with the change of the season. I ended up coming up this little girl.
I have a booth reserved at a Women’s Expo in my hometown here in a few weeks where I hope to get some leads on more commission work and make a little bit of money selling some small prints. The expo itself is helping raise funds for a Relay For Life team headed up by a friend of my mother and myself who has battled cancer multiple times in her life. She does so much to try to give back, and I was pleased to participate when she approached me about the opportunity.
On a non-art note, I have started some story-forming for a possible YA fiction piece! I have always entertained the idea of being an author/illustrator, but I always pictured that being achieved through picture books. Never would I have guessed that I would pursue something this … lengthy? Haha. Obviously, this will be a project years in the making and I am only just getting started, so there will probably not be too much to share regarding the story for quite some time. I have just been so excited about it that I wanted to at least say that it has been started.
I hope everyone is having a great spring! Get out and enjoy some sunshine while you have it.
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