I'm very excited to share two collections I have available for sale through Oopsy Daisy, fine art for kids! Click here for the Let's Set Sail collection or here for the Puppy Portrait collection.
New YouTube Channel & Tutorials
Hello! I have started a YouTube channel where I will be posting process videos and tutorials aimed at helping other artists. I have learned so much from artist friends sharing tips and tricks about their processes, I wanted to find a way I could give the same kind of support to other artists. I have two videos up so far. The first is showing my process for creating a half drop pattern repeat in Photoshop. The second shows how I go about doing a reverse image search on google to check for unauthorized instances of my art online (previously posted). Click here to visit my channel or the image below to start watching!
Merry Christmas (belated) and a Happy New Year!
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!
Custom Pet Illustrations
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!
Christmas Advent Illustrations
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! :)
Gilbert of Good Dog Deals
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!
cats@work by Kathy Weller
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
Moyo Magazine Interview!
I am so excited to be featured twice in Issue #7 of Moyo Magazine, a design magazine by the amazing Beth Kempton and Rachael Taylor. The entire issue is packed with designy goodness. My artwork was featured as part of the Lovely Ink, a project by artist Nicole Piar, which offers free art from 12 amazing designers to your inbox each month of the year. You can sign up for Lovely Ink here! I was also interviewed as one of the winners of the Print & Pattern/Make It in Design 2013 Scholarship. You can sign up for this year's contest here. Moyo Magazine is a free online publication. Check out Issue #7!
Keeping Track of and Protecting Your Artwork Online
Are you an artist who posts images of your work online and wants to monitor how and where it is showing up on the internet? One reason for wanting to keep track of your art online is the ability to track positive instances of sharing, such as finding that it has been posted on a popular blog. My Society6 sales have been boosted unexplainably a few times and I was able to find the reason for the boost by doing a reverse image search on Google Images. The second reason for tracking your art online is to make sure no one has copied or stolen it. My artwork is stolen off of my Society6 shop by a new person or company on a regular basis and I've found that I have to be vigilant to keep track of it.
If you'd like to know how you can do a reverse image search with your art you can watch my video here. Every time I have done this process, I have found an illegal instance of my artwork! I hope you find this quick tutorial helpful.
Great Plains a 2013 Collection by Anne Was Here
Dear Friends and Lovely Supporters, I would like to share with you publicly a collection that I produced and copyrighted back in 2013. While western themes have been popular and en vogue for quite some time now, I like to think that I put a special twist on the idea. I was especially proud of my Native American inspired horses, which I spent countless hours studying historical images to produce. You can also see that my collection has been published in print and online in the following formats:
posted on www.annewashereandthere.com August 2013
posted on Lilla Rogers Blog March 2014
published in issue #21 Uppercase Magazine Spring 2014
published on the Tigerprint Blog in June 2014
to be published in Moyo Magazine Issue #7 coming out this November!
coming out on Notebooks with a stationery company soon (can't share details quite yet)!
I would be honored if you would share my blog post and images on social media to help spread the word about this original collection that I put my heart and soul into.
Thank you!
Print & Pattern Designer Directory
I am so excited to be included in the new Designer Directory launched this week by Bowie Style of Print & Pattern. You can check out all of the awesome designers included here!
Bari J. in Where Women Create Magazine
Doodle Time
I have been trying to make time each day to get in some doodling. It's the best way to get better at illustration! I have been using these great sketchbooks I got from Urban Loop Studio. They come in a pack of three bright colors and are a good size for carrying around. Some of the pages have design quotes on them, which is always a nice surprise. You can check out their facebook page here.
Who Inspires Me
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!
Dogs!
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.
Fabric8 Contest
Friends! I have made the top 100 for Spoonflower & Robert Kaufman's Fabric8 Contest. Now I need your votes to make it to the top 8! The winner gets the opportunity to design a fabric collection for Robert Kaufman along with some other amazing prizes. The theme is "A Cosmic Voyage." I based my design loosely off the true story of Ham the chimpanzee who was launched into space for a brief flight back in the 1960s! :D Would appreciate any votes I can get. Click the below link to vote!
http://www.spoonflower.com/contest_voters_temp/new?contest_id=256
Make Art That Sells - Part B
Hello Friends! You may have noticed I haven't posted in a while and that is because I was busy with work and a class I was taking, Make Art That Sells Part B, taught by Lilla Rogers. We just submitted our final assignment and I wanted to share what I've been up to! The class was amazing on many fronts. Not only did I learn a wealth of information on various art markets, but the assignments also pushed me to grow as an artist in a way that I couldn't do on my own. And then on top of all that the community of artist friends that I made in this class and in Part A is incredibly valuable to me! This was one benefit of taking the courses that I had no expectation for. These artists have supported, encouraged, critiqued, advised and enlightened me. They have shared inspiration and knowledge with me. I truly care about so many of them and can't wait to hopefully meet them some day in person! I am walking Surtex this month and will have the chance to meet a few. Yay! Here are the pieces that I created for the course. I'm so happy to also be enrolled in MATS Bootcamp so that I can continue to have these incredible assignments monthly. Thanks, Lilla! Week 1: Paper Goods - Holiday Card
Week 2: Baby Apparel
Week 3: Scrapbooking
Week 4: Editorial - Hometown Map
Week 5: Party Paper
Let's Make Something
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!
Kitty Peek
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
Business Cards
I just got my business cards in the mail from Moo.com and I love them! The quality is great and they came faster than promised. They allow up to 50 different designs for the back of the cards, which is great for a designer because you can feature an assortment of your work.