Pearls of Promise

A friend and coworker of mine is going to be designing dishes for breast cancer awareness. She came to me and asked me if I could do some designs for her. She scribbled out on paper what she wanted, and here is what I came up with for her. She is going to get them made and start selling them, and a percentage of sales will go to me, if it ever takes off. Pretty cool huh? She swears we'll be on OPRAH one day...haha. But seriously, she is a sweet lady. Her mother died of breast cancer, and she is a survivor of it TWICE! She also had a tumor removed in her brain not long ago after collapsing at work, so she's been through a lot. She said that God came to her in her dreams, telling her to get these designs done and start to sell them and an angel would help (being me). She is very religious and spiritual. So when I designed these for her, she cried. She cried and cried. She asked me how I got into her head and created exactly what was in her head...lol. So we'll see if this business venture of hers takes off. I can't wait to see these things actually made!! I will also be designing the cover of a book she is going to write on her life. But I told her lets focus on one thing at a time. I don't want her crying every day now! Below are some logo ideas I had for her, some plate designs she wanted, and a cup she wanted me to create. Click on each image for a larger view. Enjoy!

Petey!!

One of my very good friends, Stacey, I've known for a very long time, has a Boston Terrier named Sampras....after Pete Sampras of course. My husband love, love, loves to call him Petey. Anyways, her birthday was last week. She is always thinking of others all the time, and always remembers me on my birthday. So I wanted to get her something special, but wasn't sure what. So I got thinking, maybe she'd like a portrait of her dog. I wasn't sure what I was going to draw, what medium I was going to use, etc. So I decided to go with Illustrator and hand-drew her dog in Adobe Illustrator. This is what I came up with. I hadn't posted this yet, since I wanted to wait until she received it first. So again, HAPPY BIRTHDAY STACEY!

Finally!

So I finally drew a picture....well, a quick sketch. When I was working in Fairfax for a week, I had a lot of time to kill at my desk at work. Sooo, while i waited for some actual design work to do, I brought up some animal photographs on my screen, and decided to sketch from there. This is just on typical printer paper and a regular old ballpoint pen, so no real art supplies. So this is what I made. The tiger was super cute. It came out alright for something quick. I wish I had my Micron pens and real art paper, but, since it was doodling at work, I guess I can accept it with all its issues...lol. Artists are always picky about their work, can't you tell? Hopefully I'll actually sit down and really draw, but for now, you will have to settle for quicky-art with desk supplies. More to come soon....i hope.

I am a Badger

Well, I was sent off to work in Fairfax, VA for a week to work on a major project for my company. It was a last minute assignment that I was requested to drive up in less than 24 hours. I got a phone call at work saying, we need you ASAP in Fairfax....so, I got home, packed, kissed my baby and hubby goodbye and headed up North. I am here now, and am workin diligently (sp?). As I sit between graphics, I created a silly sign real quick. You see, back home they call the graphic artists, graphic rats....and well, the last time I worked on a project with my friend and fellow coworker, Kevin, we decided we didn't want to be rats....so instead, we called ourselves Badgers, since folks Badger us to do graphics. So, that's where badger came from, and well, since I was sitting here at work, between graphics, I made this "graphic badger" sign for myself to put on my wall as I wait to get "badgered". Sigh...life as a badger isn't always what its cracked up to be, i will be home soon!

Party Ponies

So I'm designing a website for a friend of mine. Her family owns a Pony Riding business. They do the pony rides at The Farmers Market, Pungo Strawberry Festival, for birthday parties, etc. So I am not sure exactly what I'm going to go with yet. A more professional approach or child-like approach. I'm giving her options. Anywhoo, I drew this Pony for a possible child-like approach to the site. We'll see what I end up coming up with in the end. The site will most likely be www.beachpartyponies.com once its up and running. Here is the pony I drew. Hope you all enjoy. I am trying to squeeze in art when I can. Having a little one sure does make things more difficult.

The Drunken Polack

So I haven't done any art in awhile, obviously, but now I have something I can post. I designed a logo for a very good friend of mine for his beer site. So this will be a plug for his site as well. Be sure to visit The Drunken Polack to find out all the information you wanted to know about different types of beer. You've heard of it, but haven't tried it? Then check out the site and see what its ratings are, where it can be found, etc. Anywhoo, enough advertising, this is the logo I came up with. I'm sure it may change, but for now, this is what I've got. Here is the site too so go visit! http://www.drunkenpolack.com/

Happy Easter

Again, I still haven't had a chance to do much art, but I did photoshop a picture of my little girl. So I'll add this darling photo my hubby took of Cali. Happy Easter everyone! I'll post artwork soon!

My baby girl

My first child was born Jan. 10 at 5:35 am, she weighed 6 lbs, 15oz and was 19.5 inches long. Here is a pict of her. Sorry, no art yet, got a little one now that will keep me pretty occupied for a good while.

Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays!

This isn't really any art, and I know most of you have seen this picture already, but this is our out at Christmas this year. So we can call this "Allen's Masterpiece" since that's about as artsy as he gets. We hope everyone is going to enjoy their Christmas this year and if you don't celebrate Christmas, then enjoy your holidays! Soon Cali will be born and then I can start getting into kickball shape once again. I can't wait! And if Cali becomes a little artist herself, I will include her artwork on my blog in the future (that won't be for awhile I know). Happy Holidays!!!

Pumpkins!!

I haven't had the chance to post my pumpkin picts yet till now. We had a pumpkin carving contest at work, and I won 1st Place and Most Creative too for my Finding Nemo Pumpkin. The other pumpkin I made called "The Topless Pumpkin" got Honorable Mention....lol. I drew the face and had Jen carve it out, so that is her very first pumpkin carving! Yay Jen! The Finding Nemo pumpkin has a Nemo hanging from a string attached to the cat's paw (made out of paper mache') so I am posting a pict with the Nemo in front of the pumpkin so you can see, but Nemo was actually hanging inside the fish bowl. I also put clear marbles inside the pumpkin to look like fish bubbles. Enjoy!!! And for Halloween, I was a Pumpkin Smuggler this year.

Cali's Room

So, this past month I've been painting Cali's room. It's been a lot of work, but it's starting to come along. Here are some of the pictures of my progress. Here is also a link to all the picts I've taken so far.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11456210@N08/

Running-Man

So a lady at my work requested I draw her boyfriend. I warned her that I don't hand-draw people real well. Now in Illustrator, I can work my magic and make cartoony type folks, like the Super Ben and Jedi-Dave, but she insisted on a hand-drawing by me. Soooo, this was my attempt. I will be bringing it with me to work tomorrow, so we'll see what she says. I drew it in about 2 hours, so it was pretty quick. Anywhoo, this is the running-man. This is my first drawing in awhile, and I'm still working on the pen&ink giraffe that I started after the turtle, I have yet to finish that too. I'm such a slacker!

Simpsonize Me

So I've seen tons of people do this, and I finally decided to try it one day. So this is me as a simpson. I noticed that many of the characters really don't look all that much like the original person, but hey, at least its not too bad. But then again, simpson characters aren't the most attractive cartoons there are. Anywhoo, so this is me. If you would like to see how you would look as a simpson character, go to http://simpsonizeme.com. Sometimes the site is slow since many folks are trying to log on and try it at one time. Hopefully the hype has slowed down a bit. Don't worry, I'll post more of my art soon. For now, simpson-Cattina will have to do. Enjoy!

Brides

Well, I've ventured into something new. I'm helping a fellow co-worker of mine design her ads and business cards. She is a wedding/event coordinator/planner. She didn't have much imagery to choose from, so I decided to draw images in Illustrator for her to use. I'll update my progress as I go. For now, these are some images I drew for her that I am going to incorporate into her ads and business card.

jedi dave

Well, I was bored, the boyz are in Atlantic City for a Bachelor Party for our dear friend Ben. Then I remembered, I wanted to draw each of my friends as something unique. Ben like Superman, so I drew him as SuperBen. So, I was doodling in Illustrator and figured I'd draw a picture of my dear friend Dave. He really likes StarWars and gave up a lot of his stuff over the past year (I still don't know how he got rid of such a collection!) Anywhoo, I figured I'd try and draw him as something relating to Star Wars...so, here we go, a Jedi. So this is Jedi Dave. I hope you like it Dave! I thought it looked kinda like ya at least. If you want a copy of it larger, I can print it out for you like I printed out one for Ben. So as I find some slow times, I will continue drawing images of my friends when I get into an Illustrator "mood." I have to be in a "drawing mood" for some reason to handle the patience of Illustrator. Hope everyone has a great weekend, and the boyz are livin it up in AC! Cya when you get back boyz!

Doodling

So, I was doodling one day in Flash, and this was a mini drawing I did, from a simplified smile to a cartooney guy. I don't know, I was bored, so a quick doodle and this is what it turned out like....sigh. Not my best, but hey, it will do.

Just another birthday

I just had my birthday a few days ago, it sure doesn't feel like a birthday, but I guess as you get older, birthdays just aren't as exciting as they used to be. Its just another number. Anywhoo, on to my recent image. So this was a business card I designed for a co-worker of mine's daughter who was doing a doggy-day-care business, but she ended up not starting the business. I then passed it on to my sister for her one day to use (the name of the business would be different of course). So I figured I'd post the business card cuz I thought it turned out cute. Hope everyone is enjoying their summer so far. Have a good one!

Let's Try This Again....I'm Back!

Okay, so yes, it has been awhile since I've posted anything, and I'm super sorry. As I mentioned in my last post, I recently graduated with my masters, and that took up a lot of my time the past few months. Not to mention, I'm pregnant now, so that will soon consume my time as well. Anywhoo, I am posting a postcard I had designed for a Tim McGraw contest I had entered. I didn't win (but I think its because I wasn't part of the Tim McGraw FanClub, apparently it was for FanClub members only, but I thought it would be fun to design one anyway, just for me). So the contest was use photos from Tim McGraw's concerts and make a collage postcard with it, so this is what I came up with. I made it pretty quickly cuz I was bored one day. Anywhoo, hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July, I know I did! It stinks having to be at work the next day!

Graduate!

I finally graduated with my Masters in Instructional Technology from Virginia Tech! Whoohoo! It's been a long time coming, and now I can have more time to do some fun stuff! Also, with a little one on the way, I'm sure my time is going to be bombarded. So for now, here is a bizarre photo to keep you entertained till I draw something.

Shame on Me

Well, it's been a long while since I've posted anything. I have been working so very hard on my thesis project this semester. I've started drawing a new pen and ink sketch, but I haven't finished it yet, so for now, here is a mirror I made for my best friend's little girl back about 2 years ago. I took a pict of it on a scrap piece of poster board to make it stand out. Hopefully I'll get some recent stuff up soon!