Heyo! I am so excited to announce the launch of my Skillshare class, Illustration In Photoshop: Professional Work From Your Sketches. In this class we will be illustrating our pets - what could be more fun? Click this link to watch the class trailer and see what it's all about! If you are new to Skillshare you can use this link for a 1 month free subscription to any class including mine.
This is a notebook set that I licensed to Studio Oh! They make really great products and I am so proud to be working with them. They support/work with many talented independent artists including, Katie Daisy and Helen Dardik. Be sure to check them out!
I stopped in Homegoods today and was excited to find several of my Valentine's Day designs that I did last year for Molly & Rex. They may also be available at TJ Maxx and Marshalls for a limited time.
If you get a chance today, read Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. It is profoundly relevant today!
Hope you all are having a lovely holiday season. Wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas, it's not really over until tomorrow, right? I also wanted to share with you my advent illustration round up. This was a fun and daunting project. A true exercise in discipline, but well worth it. I've already got some products in the works that will feature some of the artwork, which I will share with you when I can! Have a lovely NYE and start the year off with a BANG!
I have always been an animal lover and as a child literally dreamed of having a dog. Growing up my family moved around A LOT and it didn't make sense for us to have one. In 2012, as a married adult, I finally got my first pup, Midji. I am now officially a "dog person." Getting Midji unleashed a passion in me that I didn't even know I had. I create art with a lot of different subject matters, but I keep gravitating back to pets and more specifically, dogs. When I opened my society6 shop back in 2013 I didn't intend for it to become a dog art shop. But of all my art I put up there, the dog art is what sold. I think it's because I love drawing dogs so much and that shines through in my art. Due to the success of my doggy themed art, I get a lot of requests to do custom pet illustrations, which I love to do! I wanted to share a few recent projects. If you are interested in a custom pet portrait, email me for details! PS - Even though I am a "dog person," I love cats too!
I'm drawing a Christmas illustration a day for advent. Here is what I've done so far. You can follow along on my facebook page if you'd like! Otherwise I'll post them all here once I'm done. It's getting me in the holiday spirit! :)
I recently illustrated the mascot for Good Dog Deals, a place to find the best online deals for your dog brought to you by the popular site 3milliondogs.com. This is such a fun on-going project because they have me create new versions of him for holidays and occasions. Here are a few that I've done so far!
I love to follow the work of artists who inspire me to be better at what I do. Kathy Weller is one of those people. She is smart and funny and this shines through her work. She recently launched a character brand called cats@work which I especially love. Anyone who has ever had an office job can relate to her kitty characters that bring you a daily dose of humor through fun and vibrant illustrations. Last week she announced a cats@work 2015 calendar which you can pre-order now. You can find, follow and order cats@work from Kathy through the below links. Enjoy! Store: www.catsatworkstore.com Facebook: facebook.com/catswork Instagram: @catsatwork Twitter: @cats_at_work Tumblr: cats-at-work.tumblr.com Blog: www.catsatworkblog.com
My friend and fellow designer, Mary Tanana, asked if I would be a part of a blog hop all about people who inspire creativity. I was thrilled to be chosen as someone who inspires her! You can read her blog post here. Mary Tanana is a designer who is inspired by many things; art, photography, gardening, landscapes and nature. She approaches her work with a boho, edgy flair. She’s had a life-long love affair with anything patterned, and after a long and successful career as as award winning jewelry designer, she has once again embraced her first love of surface pattern design. Mary originally studied fashion illustration, and has adapted her fascination with textures and patterns into a unique design style. Her style is influenced by the diverse art and architecture she observed while traveling and living overseas. She currently resides in Providence, Rhode Island, also known as the “Creative Capital”. A very appropriate city for a very special designer.
I met Mary in an online class I took last fall called, Make Art That Sells, taught by Lilla Rogers. I have stayed in touch with several of the artists from that class and we have become great art friends. A few of us join in on weekly skype calls with artists from around the world and talk about art, business and life in general. It's something I look forward to every week! Mary is not only a talented designer but she is also a caring friend with a hilarious sense of humor!
Below are a few of her magical designs! You can see more at her website, www.marytanana.com.
(above images ©Mary Tanana)
Mary asked me to answer the following three questions as a part of the blog hop.
1. What are you currently working on?
I just finished building out my first fabric collection and sent it off to the manufacturer! That was a great learning experience. It was based on my Lady Bug Blooms collection pictured below. Moving forward I am working on building a solid portfolio of collections so that I can have my debut exhibition at Surtex 2015!
2. Why do you create what you do?
It makes me happy to create and I hope putting my designs on products can make other people happy too! :) It's fun and exciting to be in a profession where you can create something that the world has never seen before. An original piece of art is like a fingerprint, no two are exactly alike. 
3. How does your creative process work?
I like the thrill of a creative brief and having a problem to solve. I usually start out in my sketchbook doodling and brainstorming. Sometimes I move on to painting or I'll scan my sketches and bring them into Photoshop. Next I rearrange the sketches or paintings in Photoshop until I'm happy with the composition. Sometimes I'll start with a color palette pulled from something that inspires me and try to stick to it. Often it changes as I'm working on a design. To finish it off, I add details and textures.
But enough about me! Let's talk about some more people who inspire me!
Dari Design Studio
Dariela and Dariana are two sisters, originally from Venezuela, who form the dynamic duo behind Dari Design Studio. Their impressive roster of talents include graphic design, teaching online tutorials, blogging and art licensing. And they do an amazing job at all of these things - wow!
I first met Dariana when I started working as an in-house designer at Punch Studio, a stationery and paper goods manufacturer. She was the first person to ever tell me about art licensing! We have both moved on from Punch Studio, but continue to stay in touch and meet up at monthly Art Circle meetings that we share with other Los Angeles based creatives.
Dari Design Studio inspires me with how they have diversified their business to get the most out of their range of talents. They also have a unique portfolio of art which is created through their two differing creative styles that compliment one another. Check out some of thier work below and visit www.daridesignstudio.com to see more!
(above images ©Dari Design Studio)
Victoria Johnson Design
Victoria is an English artist who studied fashion/textile design, worked 12 years as a print designer and co-founded a textile and greeting card design studio based in London and New York. She now lives in Rome, Italy and has a successful career in commissioned and licensed art. You can find her art on products on the shelves in many big name stores, and they are sure to put a smile on your face!
Along with Mary Tanana, I also met Victoria in Lilla Rogers's Make Art That Sells class last fall. As one of the more experienced members of our community, Victoria quickly became an invaluable source of knowledge and advice for many of the artists in the class. She is so generous with her wisdom and the first to offer a word of advice to anyone who needs it. Many of us have urged her to start charging for it! If she ever offers an online course, I will certainly share the info on my blog. It would be worth every penny. Victoria is also one of the most talented people I have had the pleasure of knowing. I have learned so much from her and feel blessed to have her as my art friend!
In addition to the delightful images below, you can check out more of Victoria's work on her website at www.victoriajohnsondesign.com.
(above images ©Victoria Johnson)
I've asked Dari Design Studio and Victoria Johnson to also write a blog entry about who inspires them, so keep an eye on their blogs for a future post!
Worked on some dog journal designs this week for Molly & Rex. Fun! I love drawing dogs. Actually, I just love dogs. The first set is hand painted with watercolor, the second was drawn digitally in Photoshop.
I am so lucky to have so many creative friends. One of the best of them is Lisa, who is a graphic designer AND photographer. She is equally talented at both and it's not fair, I know. Check out her awesome creations at www.wisteriadesignstudio.com. Last time we got together we said, "Let's make something!" So we went to Color Me Mine and hand painted some plates. Below are the before and after pics. Lisa's is the floral and mine is the goofy horse. It was fun but it also made me realize how talented traditional artists are. I am almost entirely digital these days and control Z (undo) has become my best friend. You can't control Z a hand painting. All you fine artists out there are amazing!
Hi Friends! My doggy peek products on Society6 are doing so well, I thought I should start adding cats! Here is my first release. www.society6.com/annewashere
I just couldn't get enough of Lilla Roger's Make Art That Sells e-course so I signed up for Part B and Bootcamp! There are so many crazy good artists taking the course, including a few that are well known. Working alongside these artists, is as much an education as the class itself! The first assignment from bootcamp was to create a phone case featuring a cuckoo clock. Lilla also challenged us to use new and trend forward colors, which I really struggled with. I've included three different versions of the phone below. Let me know which is your favorite! I ended up submitting the crazy bright one for the final. I also was inspired to make the design into a real clock, which is now available in my Society6 shop at www.society6.com/shop/annewashere. It is also available on other products, including the iphone case.
This was a fun project where I got to create some stationery items for Molly & Rex that included a lot of illustration. I can't wait to order some of the sticky notes!
These are a couple of birthday cards I designed for Molly & Rex. It's hard to tell in the photos, but they are embellished with gold foil. The banner card was done completely in photoshop. The balloons I hand painted with watercolors and scanned them into my computer where I added the gold foil strings. It's fun to be able to mix art done by hand with computer generated art.
This was my last week participating in the class, Make Art That Sells, taught by super star art agent, Lilla Rogers. Our last assignment was to design a zipper pouch using mirrored elements and imagery of items from our personal collections. A close up: "So Anne," you are thinking, "you collect Pegasus' (Pegasuses...Pegasi)?" No, you got me. But unfortunately for me, I don't collect anything. I let this freak me out for a few days and then I said to myself, "Screw it! I'm just going to do whatever I want." So I did. And you know what? I'm glad I did because instead of trying to force myself to be something I am not and being unhappy with the result, it turned out so ME and I freaking love it. Yay! So, the big lesson this week is to embrace what I love to do and what I am naturally good at (whimsical) and to stop trying to force designs that are sophisticated or mature. Children's market - here I come!
Hi Friends! I am participating in my first ever art show this month! My amazingly talented friend and coworker, CJ Metzger and her sister, Miss Mindy, are headlining this show and have invited several artist friends to join them. You can check out CJ Metzger's enchanting work at www.cjmetzger.com.
I was invited to create an ornament for the show and here is a peek at what I am contributing. I had so much fun making these that, if I have time, I am going to try and make a few more.
This week in the e-course I am taking, Make Art That Sells, we were tasked to design a book cover or two page spread for an old Russian folktale, The Language of the Birds. I had so much fun working on this, I wanted to share images of my entire process so you can see how it evolved. I think I'm going to work on a few pages of the interior so I can add it to my portfolio.
I placed top ten in the Pie inspired Spoonflower contest this week! I wanted to share some of the fabric images they posted with you. I included an image of the horoscope pattern from a few weeks ago as well.