My designs on your ipod

I had some fun at uncommon last week!

For all you ipod, iphone lovers—a fresh idea I can relate to

OK— I know, two posts in one day. Sorry. I think this will be worth your while.

I was checking out all of my favourite blogs and noticed that Valentina Ramos had a new post about a site called uncommon. Her artwork has been uploaded to this site, and you can order a customized case for your ipod or iphone with any portion of her amazing designs. Here is the full blog post. I wandered over to the site and was really impressed with the interface and the artwork available. You can choose existing artwork or upload your own.

I contacted uncommon to get the scoop on royalties. As an artist uploading artwork, you get a 5% royalty on each case sold. It is a very small royalty, but I think the exposure may be worth it. Judging from the number of artists on board right now, this is a fairly new enterprise, but it may be a good one to watch.

Zero2Illo, Jannie Ho, and they-draw-and-cook

I joined a blog for aspiring illustrators called Zero2Illo this week. It is put together by Jonathan Woodwards who is a designer with a passion and goal to become a full time illustrator. The blog is a place to “expose yourself” and get feedback from other like minded people aspiring to be professional illustrators. 

As is always the case with these things, as I read through the posts I find the most interesting things that carry me down the rabbit hole so to speak into a world of wonder. Jonathan posts interviews with amazing illustrators—and when I check out their sites and blogs, I find myself intoxicated with excitement about the things I see.

The first interview I stumbled on was about Jannie Ho. Amazing digital artist!

You must check it out. On her blog she posted about they draw and cook blog.

 

What an amazing idea! Artists from all over the world illustrate their favourite recipe. And if all goes well, they will be compiled into a book.

There I found this great illustration by Salli Swindell. Of course I checked out her blog.

There went my morning!

I can so I did

Having the ultimate power to do what ever I want, when ever I want with this blog, I decided to do just that. If you are visiting for the first time, you will have no idea what I am going on about, but if you have been here before, I hope you will notice my fresh new banner and oh so fresh white background from edge to edge—yummy. I can't tell you how annoying the gray background and drop shadow was for me!

To my favourite owl

Owls seem to be a very popular topic for art. I seem to find them in all shapes and colours, and in every medium. Thought I should have at least one in my portfolio. Considering that my son's friends nicknamed him owl years ago, I dedicate this pattern painting to him!

To my favourite owl with love!

Moroccan inspiration

It has been several years since our trip to Morocco and almost 10 since our African camping adventure—yet the images and colours remain vivid in my mind. I have been playing with patterns from our trip for a while now, creating textures and new patterns—not sure what they would be used for. Tonight they came together in this new piece. Tea anyone?

The race for originalty

A couple weeks ago I posted a lovli day—a fresh idea I can relate to. Today as I was doing my etsy prowl, I came across Bleu de toi's new etsy shop (opened February 22, 2010). I was kind of taken aback to find they too have a wedding tree. Their take on the idea is slightly different. Each tree is hand drawn upon request. They can be for weddings, or family trees. The style is completely different but the idea is exactly the same.

I know in the science world, it is not uncommon for a scientist in one country to come up with the same discovery another scientist has come up with on the other side of the planet. I am hoping that this is a similar case in the etsy laboratory of art-making. Both etsy shops are doing extremely well from what I can tell, and it is not clear to me who hit the ground running first. I have to say, I really like both takes on this great idea.

Wherever the idea came from, it has caught on. As scientists of creativity, we are all running the same marathon with originality and success just across the finish line. Let's hope there is room in the marketplace for more than one winner for every good idea!