Work Makes Work

I've been in a slump waiting for my next bit of inspiration to strike and (I should know by now) that never works. Sloth begets sloth and work begets work. I am so thankful that Jenn came over today and worked with me because I was forced to actually make something. We ended up completing even more than I'd hoped for! We printed, signed, stamped and packaged over 150 prints in three brand new designs! A burst like this practically makes up for having spent the past two weeks "thinking".

I'm eager to share all three new prints but I'll try to restrain myself and space things out a bit.

I'll show my favorite one first. "Sweet Surprise" depicts a familiar scene in my home. I seem to be a big fan of buying a sweet potato and then forgetting about it until it grows eyes. Well, out of curiosity, I have let a few potatoes continue in their natural progression to sprout forests. Justin thinks they are disgusting, but I really think they have some lovely qualities. The stems that shoot up are often a pale violet transitioning into burgundy color with tiny dark green leaves at the top. I never would have expected such dramatic and colorful growth to come out of an old potato.

These prints are on a beautifully textured pale pink paper and printed in a rich rust ink. Available in my shop for $12. I'm excited about them.

Vampire Hedgehog!

It has been months since Justin and I adopted Acorn (our curmudgeonly hedgehog companion) and I announced that he would surely inspire many Argyle Whale illustrations as our bunnies have. To my surprise, having him around didn't give me any ideas for hedgehog illustrations.

Acorn is kind of a hard guy to get to know. For starters, he's primarily nocturnal and even when we'd take him out to play, his idea of fun was crawling under a blanket to take a nap. It wasn't until I got a quick peek under his chin that I noticed he had a pair of little fangs and a slight overbite.

The discovery of fangs paired with his nocturnal ways finally triggered my imagination and I started picturing Acorn as a vampire. I considered the pairing of adorable woodland creature with the sexy dark imagery associated with vampires and realized that Acorn didn't have what it takes to be an immortal bloodsucker. Clearly he was disappointed but I was happy to finally have a hedgehog illustration!

So, I am delighted to present "Almost Vampire" featuring our dear Acorn sporting a high-collared cape, looking into a mirror and coming to the tough realization that "Little fangs and a satin cape do not a vampire make." His reflection mocks him with his own personal reality. *Le sigh*

I promise that I'll make him a more triumphant character next time.

Blahg giveaway!

I just wanted to make a quick post alerting you beloved blog followers to the fact that *at this very moment* there is a giveaway at Blah Blah Blahg for my "take a deep breath" whale print. So, for the love of scoring nice things for free, I urge you to stop by and answer my question "If you could bestow your pet (or favorite animal) with a super-power, what would it be?". I think it's a fun question and I'm enjoying reading all the responses so far.

Personally,
-I would give Hodge the ability to effortlessly float in the air.
-I would have Yoshimi be able to speak Japanese and English and she'd become my under-arm translator.
-I think Acorn would enjoy the ability to shoot himself out of his cardboard tube with the force of a cannonball. He really can be dramatic in that way.

Miss B. of the Blahg has managed to create an entire month's worth of unbelievable giveaway's. What a treat! I hope I win this print.

I miss holding you.

I made a new print featuring my favorite bug. Behold the striped fluffiness of the woolly bear caterpillar! I think I'm more pleased with this print than anything I've ever made because I never thought I'd be able to successfully draw and print the subtlety of the woolly bear. I hope I don't come across as immodest, but I'm pretty proud of myself with this one! It's available in my shop for just eight dollars because it's a very small print (the caterpillar is actual size).

wooly memory time:
One time when I was a child, I was headed to a checkup with a doctor that I'd never met before and I remember being very very nervous walking towards the building because I was expecting to receive a shot. I was dragging my feet and looking down when I stumbled across a fine and fuzzy bug wiggling across the path ahead of me. My mother told me that it was a woolly bear caterpillar and that I could bring it into the Doctor's office with me if it would make me feel better. I was greatly comforted and have no memory of any stinging shots because I was probably distracted by my new friend.

another woolly memory:
In college, I went on a field trip to Storm King Sculpture Park with my class. I had a great day walking all through the park looking at huge installations in the brisk fall weather. After a few hours of art absorbing, I was pretty spent and decided to just stroll along a path that the park maintenance staff used with golf carts for the remaining hour of the trip. I was looking down with my hands in my pockets being a little chilled and over saturated when I spotted a woolly bear hustling across the path. Then I saw another and another! There were probably twenty caterpillars crossing the path in front of me and I was dismayed to see that a couple had been smushed by the golf carts. I spent the rest of the trip as a caterpillar shuttle and safely escorted the rest to the other side.

I haven't seen one in years. I wonder where they disappeared to. Maybe I need to get out more often.

I ate a wild mushroom omelette for breakfast

I stayed home sick today and kept out of the cold rain. I feel much much better now.

I had a pretty productive day for someone wrapped in blankets, confined to my office chair and working one-handed due to the other hand being constantly occupied by a mug of hot tea.

I've nearly completed the tedious task of putting a couple thousand prints into their individual cellophane sleeves with business cards as part of my attempt to streamline my shipping process. I also finished the long awaited "Danger for Breakfast" print which is now available in my shop.

The night is still young and I hope to print another something special before retiring. I'm all revved up with productivity now that Bazaar Bizarre is just around the corner.

Dear beetle, that is an understatement.

I try not to get into politics on my blog because my opinions are all totally predictable as a young woman living in Massachusetts. But, I can't resist sharing how joyful I am that Barak Obama will be our next president. I don't think I've ever felt more proud of my country. I'm also thrilled about another win I celebrated on election night. Massachusetts has voted to end greyhound racing in 2010! Yeah! I don't know what I am going to do with this overflow of elation.

As a reaction, I finally got around to making mini prints of an old sketch in honor of the refreshing change in our government. It's available in my shop for five dollars.

Animal Advice series

I just want to share a sneak peek of a new (first ever!) series I'm brewing up for the shop. The animal advice series will be a small collection of prints highlighting one particular animal and the advice on life I expect it would give if it could. I'm considering the natural habits and peculiarities of a few species and then translating those features into little pearls of wisdom from the animal kingdom.

The only one I've finished is the goldfish. Considering the goldfish's reputation for having a short memory; it's bit of advice is "fuggetaboutit". "Fuggetaboutit" has been a popular phrase in my home since Justin and I saw a hilarius skit about "fuggetabuddies". I hope I can find it on youtube to share.

The next few I have are sketches waiting to be printed. I have the serene whale advising us to "take a deep breath" and an upturned beetle realizing that " a little change can be refreshing.".

I'll probably make a bee, a sloth, a squirrel and a rabbit (of course) in the next few days. I'd love to hear what you think about these (especially since I haven't printed them up yet).

"I could snog forever."

I had a fine day yesterday and today looks like it's headed in the right direction. I found out that I was accepted into Craftland and I also was given a couple fun and profitable projects to work on while I'm unemployed. I'm stressing out much less now because I think that the combination of showing at Bazaar Bizarre, Craftland, online sales and odd jobs should keep me afloat for awhile. This time off work will surely help me make sure I can handle getting enough inventory and displays for the holiday season.

I also made a new print inspired by a magnificent snog-fest (Hey, what else are we supposed to do when we can't go out?). " I could snog forever" is as romantic as a pair of elephant seals can get. I'd seen pictures of elephant seal's vicious fighting and it always looked a little like necking (if you don't look at all the blood). The addition of "lovey eyes" to my drawing turned a nasty fight into a sublime bit of snuggling. The print is now available in my shop for a bit less money since it's an open edition.

Unicorn's have a little something in common with the narwhal.

So here is the the other print I made yesterday. I haven't decided what to call it yet because I'm reticent to write "Unicorn and Narwhal Venn Diagram" one hundred times. It is the first time I've made anything using just black and white and I'm not sure I can handle the contrast. I wanted it to appear very simple like some kid had doodled it in their school notebook but I don't know if that came across. I like the drawing but perhaps I'm too addicted to color to really be overjoyed about the print. I hope it grows on me.

Spooooooooky Forest

Thanks to drinking a whole pot of gunpowder green tea today; I already have used the phosphorescent ink that came in the mail this morning on a new Gocco project! The design is of a small wooded area that hides the secret surprise of glowing eyes when the print is in darkness.

This project marks three firsts for me. The first first is that I've never mixed my ink colors before but was encouraged to sacrifice a brush for the muddy green I needed. I also had never used two screens for one project before. I was always too stingy with my screens but it was necessary this time. Finally, it was my first time using any ink other than the special Riso Gocco inks. The glow-in-the-dark ink was Speedball brand and water based instead of oil based. Truthfully, I will probably never stray from my trusty Riso inks again because the Speedball ink dried so fast that my screen was pretty much ruined after I took a (very short) break and the ink dried on the screen. I ended up painting some of the glowing eyes by hand.

I'm pretty sure that this project damaged my brain and my eyes because of the Gocco ink and burning bulb fumes and constantly turning the lights on and off to see the glow ink. When Justin returned home from his internship this afternoon; he found me a very frazzled creature with glowing fingertips and dilated pupils.

My fancy wall

I noticed quite a few of my favorite bloggers have been showing peeks of their own homes and displays of their favorite possessions. I really like seeing the homes of artists because they are often very thoughtful spaces filled with unexpected treasures.

It is amazing to me how much my home is my mirror reflection. When I'm feeling happy; my home is bright and clean. When I'm feeling moody or stressed; I tear the place apart. Justin just sort of goes with the flow. Our home is in a pretty constant state of change. It gets messy then clean and I'm often rearranging everything. Our apartment now is quite small and the three rooms have very obvious roles but when we lived in a bigger place; I was constantly switching the bedroom, office, living room and studio locations.

I thought I'd share a few images of a wall in our home that displays an ever-growing art collection. The wall is devoted to our small artworks (primarily prints). They are arranged in a semi-orderly blob that builds in an organic formation as we accumulate more art. I think we are beginning to run out of room though.

Pictures of our wall with notes over each print crediting the artists can be found here and here.

Apartment Therapy is making me mushy.

I just found out from a very nice buyer that my "Coolest Cloud" drawing was featured on ApartmentTherapy today. They were doing a little feature on rainclouds and I feel very lucky that they spotted mine!

I am thoroughly exhausted from being on my feet at work and from staying up late all last night watching the whole Indiana Jones trilogy but there are still butterflies in my stomach and I'm getting those shiver twitches that happen when I'm really thrilled but can't muster the energy to do some air punches and high kicks. It is a great feeling to be featured on a blog that I frequent regularly and that has a lot of readers.

My head is swelling and I'm going to be all full of myself until the moment I get into work tomorrow to find that none of my coworkers have heard of Apartment Therapy. That happened with the Boing Boing feature. Everyone was happy for me because they are excellent friends but I really wanted to hear someone squeal with recognition.

Boing Boing, Apartment Therapy and Etsy are so huge to me that I forget that many people haven't heard of them and they use the internet primarily to check their email. Few of my friends and family are as internet overloaded as I am with my Flickr, Etsy, blogging, Myspace and a handful of other web-pursuits. Oh, the great INTERWEB! I feel like it's my secret garden where I can see great design and cute animals. I know this is the dweebiest profession of love ever but ... I love the internet! There. I said it. I could definitely use a bit more fresh air and exercise though.

P.S. Today is Justin's birthday (we celebrated yesterday though). It's also a lunar eclipse evening. This is in honor of both. Feast your eyes and PLEASE watch the whole thing. She c r a z y.

Guinea pig pile! Snuggle time!

I love guinea pigs almost as much as I love bunnies. I love their little bean-shaped bodies and squeaky grunts. I've been wanting one for a few years and I'm hoping that I will have one (or two) someday. Justin is weakening to my will so I hope it won't be long.

Back when I was in college, I started a series of drawings and paper cutouts from catalogs of everything I wanted. I would put all the picture clippings of the things I wanted in a big pile and draw the pile. The result was usually a mountain of odd shapes that were hard to decipher. I'm mentioning this because I had forgotten about that project until I drew this big pile of guinea pigs cozying up for a nap.

I think it's amusing that when I really desire something that I can't have; I'm inclined to draw it in a big heap. It is a peculiar urge similar to how I want to hold everything that is adorable in my mouth. I am always trying to grab a sleeping bunny's ears between my lips. That is one reason why I should never have a pet mouse.

Well, I listed this drawing in my Etsy shop today. I hate to overuse this word but I think it's really cute. I enjoyed drawing each guinea pig's expression and posture while napping. They all seem to have little personalities. My favorite is the one that is to the right sitting up like he is in a recliner. Justin likes the one squished all the way at the bottom.

Wigs and monkeys

While Justin and his friends played an intense game of "Tumblin' Monkeys", I got busy printing my newest drawing. I played for two rounds but my monkey aversion got the best of me so I went back to printing and being antisocial. I did give them a brief Gocco demo but I don't think they were blown away.

"Epic Do" is a massively stylin' bit of hair sculpture printed in red and orange ink on the palest pink cardstock. I'm putting this Gocco print up for sale today in my shop. This print marks the first time I've bravely mixed inks on one screen without using foam dividers. It worked just fine and I'm trying to think up a new drawing where I can mix lots of colors on one screen for another time.

Gocco is for lovers

Kayla's drawing and Justin's Wii obsession have inspired me to create these two lovey designs for Valentine's Day. I have to admit that I usually don't do much for that holiday since it falls between our anniversary and Justin's birthday so I'm pretty sure Justin will be excited and surprised when he sees these. I'm giving him the "Wii belong together" print for a valentine and the "You're my Hero" print as a fan letter when he gets good enough to play Slayer on expert level.

I'm selling these in my shop for less than I normally charge for my drawings. Pricing really is the toughest part of selling art! These were sort of spur of the moment drawings and will be an open edition so I felt like they should be less. Tough call though.

Barnacle Whale in brown

I have just made a second version of "Barnacle Whale" available for sale on Etsy. The original was very subtle with white ink on pale aqua paper. This time I wanted to show the details more clearly so the new print is a higher contrast of white on chocolate brown. The image feels completely different now and I wonder which version will be more popular. I really can't decide which I prefer myself.

Hey, (side note) has anyone seen that commercial that shows a pod of killer whales flinging a seal around? The ad shows this to some angsty rock music and at the end says "Still want to save whales?" and then "save pandas". I seriously shouted and shook my fists in the air when I saw it. Maddening.

Don't watch it if you have a weak heart. But if you're looking for something to get bent out of shape about then here is some premium material. I honestly hope that pandas did not approve this smear campaign.

Scarf bunny!

I've decided that scarf bunny will be my unofficial Argyle Whale Etsy shop mascot. I have made it my avatar and added two scarf bunny listings to the shop. I printed the bunny on a Moleskine journal a few times and that is now up for sale. I also made a new gocco print of a bunch of floating scarf bunny heads. I'm pretty excited about this new print because I added yellow hand-colored elements so each print is really different and special.

I made the new print because I drew so many sketches of scarf bunny to get her right that my notebook became populated with bunny heads. I ended up liking the way a cluster of floating bunny faces looked even more than one perfect bunny. I printed 16 and have made 15 available here.

Clouds and llamas

Remember when I made those patches with llamas and bunnies on them? Well, I had planned on making the patches to give away as little bonuses with purchase of a print but they turned out to be the most popular design I've made. I thought it would be lame to start selling something that was a freebie so I used the design on some Moleskine notebooks and have decided to sell those. I think they are just more substantial and I love Moleskines.

I just finished listing them on Etsy as well as my newest print, "Coolest Cloud". The shop is filling up quickly. I can't believe I almost have a full page already!

Bam! Bam!

I just put up two new Gocco prints for sale on Etsy. I'm trying to get lots of items up to make my shop look nice and plump and also so I can get going on new things. I have so many ideas! Today's new releases are "Dripping with Jewels" and "P U S S Y".

"P U S S Y" will probably get lots of attention but it may have to be a special rare someone who buys it to hang in their house. It is a little naughty. Perhaps I should give one to my mother for her birthday and make her blush. Pussy willows are my favorite plant. We had a huge pussy willow plant in our back yard when I was a kid and I would often fill my pockets with the fuzzy buds to enjoy them wherever I went. A few years ago, I found a tiny windbreaker jacket at my parents house that used to be mine. Every pocket (even the little chest one) was stuffed with pussy willow buds! I have always been into little textural joys. My mother says I was a very tactile child obsessed with softness. No wonder I love my bunnies so much!

"Dripping With Jewels" also depicts one of my favorite things from childhood. I loved chandeliers and I wanted to have one in my bedroom very badly. A big one! That was probably around the same time as I was obsessed with having a canopy bed and satin sheets. Sadly, I still have a taste for the finer things. Again, I quote my mother who says I've got, "champagne tastes on a beer budget". "Dripping with jewels" is just such a sumptuous phrase. I wish I could use it more often. I probably made this whole piece just for the title.

Patches made on my Gocco

Yesterday, I was excited to make my first attempt at printing on fabric using my gocco with the special fabric inks. I made two designs to use as freebie patches that will be included in orders from Argyle Whale. I made a llama proudly wearing handmade accessories and a bunny enjoying her handmade scarf. The bunny was inspired by a picture of the famous and always stylish, Coco.

As with most things, there were pluses and minuses to working with fabric on the gocco. I had fun making the patches but ran into enough difficulty that I wasn't inspired to make prints on fabric regularly.

the bad parts:
~ The ink was runnier and more prone to spreading so details were lost.
~ The fabric absorbs the ink pretty quickly and I needed to re-apply ink after about six prints.
~ The process is more expensive since it goes through the ink much more rapidly.
~ The prints need to be ironed to set the ink after they dry. That isn't such a big deal but it takes extra time.
~ I think that the steam from heat setting the inks is probably poisoning me.

the good parts:
~ Printing on fabric opens up lots of new possibilities with the gocco.
~ I think the fabric ink smells a little like butterscotch pudding.
~ It is still simpler and tidier than making a large silkscreen.
~ It looks pretty sharp!

I think the patch-making was a pretty worthwhile endeavor even though they took all night and are going to be given away for free. I made use of a lot of fabric that I had stashed for my LazerBeanz appliques which I don't think I'll be using anymore and I got to experiment in a low pressure way. Also, I figure that the extra layer of fabric in my mailers will protect my prints a little more.

I'm more in love with my little orange printing machine than ever with the addition of this new technique.