Happy Holidays to you!

It is a bit of a Winter Wonderland right now in Whistler. Everything is exactly like it should be.

WHITE

We have had endless days of snow, the twinkly lights are all lit up and the skiers have arrived for what has proved to be the start of an epic season. So much fun hooting and hollering through the snow drifts. It restores my love for here.

Thankfully with all the snow has come a pile of Christmas spirit. I have been in Christmas mode over here designing and decorating. It makes such a difference doing it now, versus in April, when the sun is starting to shine and the grass and flowers are beginning to pop. My goal is to get as much created now while inspiration strikes.

A series of wooded boughs and all things natural. I love the woodland feel of these. I am still painting and cutting daily and have enjoyed adding all of this Christmas flora and foliage to my portfolio.

A few colourful paper-cuts have been compiled all with a festive feel. I still like bit of traditional red and green for the holiday season.. plus it still sells well in the art licensing world!

 

Wishing you a Happy Holiday season! Enjoy every minute of it.

See you in 2016!

xo

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The “Illustrated” Advent Christmas Challenge

Well it”s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas around here, if only in my head.

My imagination is full of snowflakes and twinkle lights all aglow. Walks in the winter snow and skiing through the woods. Eggnog lattes.

Unfortunately, out my window  the rain is pouring down and the weather quite balmy. Not so good when you live in a ski town.

I am thankful for Faye Browns creation of this years #adventchallenge2014. A month-long challenge of  christmas prompts to illustrate, photograph, sketch and be inspired by.

I have been enjoying every minute and have to admit it has helped me get in the spirit of the Christmas season.

I have included a few of my favourites to date. I will admit I am already a wee bit behind, but that’s ok with me now ( I had to talk myself down the first day I missed, but now I realize it really is all Ok:)

I like to use these challenges to try new things. Maybe a new combination of colors or some different hand drawn textures. Anything that gets me excited to jump in and get immersed.

I have found this challenge to be a good exercise for practicing my hand lettering and characters, yes….those things with eyes. Why is it always so much easier to just draw a flower?

I will be tweaking all of these  designs in the New Year and making them ready for art licensing gigs, but for now it feels good to get some new ideas down on paper. I can play around with them later and add the on trend colours and style.

 

There are loads of gorgeous designs over on Instagram under #adventhallenge2014. As Faye says herself, popping by the challenge daily is like opening up your very own advent calendar. I have been enjoying all the colour and interesting interpretations of Christmas.

There is still  time to join in if interested. There is no pressure to create everyday, but if you have some time and need a little christmas inspiration then this is an easy place to start. Get a head start on your Christmas designs for 2016! All info on Instagram under #adventchallenge2014

Below are links to a few of the designers creating their own  advent calendars, either as part of the challenge or own their own accord.

Groovity

Genine Delahaye

Flora Waycott

Dawn Machell

The Print Tree

Tracey English

Sally Payne

Mondaland

Lindsay Buck

Rebecca Stoner

Happy Holidays to all!

Inspired by Make Art that Sells – Part B

It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas around here (only 71 days to go…)

Last week had me designing Christmas greetings for the paper market for Part B of Lilla Rogers Make Art that Sells. While Christmas is just around the corner, it was no easy task getting in the mood. The sun was shining, my outdoor deck was calling and while the snow is slowly creeping down the mountain, winter feels far, far away!

I did a bit of cruising around on Pinterest, googled vintage christmas images and even pulled out some old Christmas cards and decorations. I heard others had the christmas music blasting ~ I had to draw the line there! No festive FaLaLa’s for me. I just couldn’t face the music.

I am looking at this project as a way to ease into it all. If anything I am hoping it will find me a tad more organized then normal..I  will admit that during my research stage I ended up pinning many a homemade gift.

I have set myself some goals this time around for Make Art that Sells. The amount of info can sometimes be a bit overwhelming especially combined with the amount of creative work involved.

My goals for this time around include  ~ Icons, icons and more icons! I am going to practice my patience and spend more time creating smaller pieces. I am also really hoping to work on my color schemes and my POP value. My goal over the next 5 weeks is to develop 5 more  strong portfolio pieces with some corresponding patterns for each.

Work in progress – light, dark, birds, owls, more snowflakes…help?

Part B covers 5 more markets all in need of art! I am super excited about learning the ways of the paper, party paper and scrapbooking market. I am very interested in the baby apparel market. I am plain old terrified of the editorial market.I am not even sure what the editorial market is all about and have decided to leave it as a surprise instead of stressing over it right now.

In true julie fashion I know I am going to love all of it which is not going to help me in my decision to narrow it all down and specialize, but then why take all the fun out of it?!

My almost finished piece for this weeks market.If I had to do my own critique on it I would say it is definitely going in the right direction, however I still think it needs to be a bit more festive and fun.Maybe some christmas lights strung through the trees and a few more woodland creatures celebrating.The silent night type has to go. Any other suggestions?

What did I learn this week?

I hope all my Canadian friends had a wonderful ThanksGiving weekend. It was a beautiful, crisp and colorful weekend here in Whistler! Lots to be thankful for.

Pop by later this week for another Creative Process piece by Lindsay Buck of SlumberMonkey Designs.

See you then!