Eye Mandala Inking

So I have been working a lot on my eye mandala drawing, and I thought I would share the progress.  I love working on these mandalas because they take time to finish, so the final reveal is something special to me.  I am about a week away from that mainly because I have to work on it after my two-year-old Lula goes to bed - she wants me to hold her every time I pick this drawing up. 

Here are a couple pictures of the outline work completed.

Outlining is probably the most tedious part.  Once done I get to go on auto pilot and color everything in.  This inking process is very relaxing and satisfying to me.  I just love working on a drawing at this stage.  I have a bit of the inking done, as you can see in the following picture.

I am very happy with the way it is looking so far.  What do you think?

Be sure to stop by this evening...I will be posting a giveaway for a $25 shopping spree in my I Spy Jewelry Shop at 6 PM.

Eye Mandala - Work in Progress

I am working on a new illustration for my I Spy Jewelry shop.  It will be printed on my packaging some time in the near future.  I am in desperate need of new packaging, and I thought I would make something special that I can use for a while. 

Here is a detail shot of the pencil work.

And a picture of the drawing in progress on my Light Tracer II.

A picture of the pencil work done.

And one of my rough draft (in two pieces) on top of the finished pencil drawing.

It takes me a few hours to get my mandalas to this point.  And I still have hours of inking left to do.  Can't wait to get my Rapidograph pens out and get started.  

Try Something New

I have been working on some promo cards for my shop and thought I would share one.  I started out with a scans of some watercolor splatters I made the other day and worked on them in Picnik.  I adjusted the color, contrast, and saturation and added text.

I chose this one because I'm trying something new this week.  One of my New Year's goals was to learn to play the guitar, and hubby has promised to teach me.  We had our first lesson last night and I learned I am a total wuss.  I was only able to play for a few minutes before my fingers started hurting.  Yikes!  Gotta hang in there though.  Wish me luck!

Shop Revamp and Update - New Jewelry Listed

I have made a decision to turn my Etsy shop into a jewelry shop and list my art items on my blog.  I revamped my shop and have several items listed as of right now, and am currently working on more to list.  Here is a sample of what I am offering in my I Spy Jewelry shop.

I plan on adding a page to my blog next week to sell my art books and other crafty items, so keep and eye out for that. 

Until then, check out my shop and let me know what you think.  

Sugar Skull Flower Finished

So last night I took a few moments and finished an illustration project.  It was intended for our house, but my friend Julie likes it a bunch and she talked me into selling it to her.  I will end up making another copy for hubby (he says I never keep his favorites, including this one).

 This is the first big project I finished with my Koh-i-noor 7 pen set.  I am so happy with the performance of these pens compared to the Staedtler Pigment Liners I am used to.  And so far these pens have not been quite as high maintenance as I expected.  I get a greater variety of line width with the 7 pen set than the four pen set of Staedtlers, and since these are refillable I will end up saving a ton in the long run.  If you invest in these and have a Hobby Lobby nearby, consider buying them there.  I paid about $70 for mine after the 40% off coupon I printed off.  And I didn't have to worry about them being damaged during shipping. 

Here is the completed drawing.  It was done on a 14x17" piece of Strathmore bristol board, and the image itself is almost 12" across.

I am selling PDF downloads in my Etsy shop for $4, and hope soon to offer prints.

Happy New Year Everyone!!!!

To my old friends and new ones, hope you guys have a happy, fun, creative, and productive New Year!!!!!!  I'll be trying to step it up this year with my blog, shooting for at least 2 blog posts a week and one giveaway a month.  And I will also be listing more in my shops, so keep an eye out for new jewelry and vintage items. 

Last year I reached my goal of having my art published with an article in Art Trader Magazine and handmade books featured in the premier issue of Cloth Paper Scissors Pages.  This year my goal is to have an article published in Cloth Paper Scissors or Somerset Studio.  Wish me luck!!!!!

I would also like to organize my house/art room/life a bit more, but that might be a long shot.

What are your New Year's goals or resolutions for 2012?