A Coastal Grandmother freebie for you!

To extend the celebration of Tiny Joys: A Guide to Embracing Your Inner Coastal Grandmother’s publication (and since my own birthday is in just a couple days!), I've got a few coastal grandmother-themed freebies I'll be sharing this week! First up is a coastal grandmother digital wallpaper to decorate your phone, tablet, and computer! The pattern is created from some of my favorite illustrations in the book.

You can download the desktop wallpaper version here, and the mobile wallpaper version for tablets and phones here.

Make sure to check my blog tomorrow and Friday to see what the other freebies are! Tiny Joys is published by Andrews McMeel and is available wherever books are sold.

Illustration Resources - Part 2

Happy November! I’m back with Part 2 of my illustration resources for you! If you caught my first post about this back in September, these are basically a way for me to share about some things/people I’ve found to be incredibly helpful in my work and creative life in general. The industry is full of a lot of very cool and talented artists who are sharing their wisdom and skills online, and I think you should know about them, too!

Today, I want to point you to my friend, Jamie Redmond, who is the owner of a greeting card company called The Memorable Image. She’s currently teaching a Calligraphy Club workshop online and it’s only $5 a month to join! Right now we’re learning the basics of calligraphy and will soon learn how to decorate holiday envelopes and create our own festive gift tags and wrapping paper. I, personally, think it’s relaxing and also an excellent distraction from the craziness going on in the world right now.

If you’d like to join, sign up here!

Have you come across any cool online workshops lately? Or have you picked up a new hobby recently? I’d love to hear about it!

Some gorgeous wrapping paper that Jamie created for my birthday present

Illustration Resources - Part 1

I’ve been working for myself as a designer, illustrator, Etsy shop owner, and author since 2012 (how has it already been 8 years?!) and it’s got me thinking about how much I’ve learned throughout this journey. I went to school for graphic design, and while that gave me a really great design foundation, a lot of what I know now was learned “on the job” when taking on new projects and building myself a self-employed career. I wouldn’t be here where I am today if it wasn’t for the generosity of other people sharing what they know and spending time creating resources that have helped me grow so much. That’s one thing I really love about this industry—there is a feeling that there’s room for all of us. Helping each other out is for the good of everyone.

So, maybe you’re just starting out, or you’ve been in this industry for a while and are looking for something you may not have come across yet. Either way, if you happen to be a creative person of any type, I thought you might be interested in some of these things I’ve learned and some of my favorite people that I’ve learned from. I’m going to try to do a post like this fairly regularly because there’s so much I’d like to share with you.

For this first one, I thought I’d talk about my favorite industry newsletters that I subscribe to. I don’t subscribe to a whole lot because it stresses me out to get a lot of emails, but out of the ones I get, these are the ones I consistently open up and read.

🌸 Becky Simpson’s Creative Nourishment newsletter

Becky is a friend of mine who I met through our mutual literary agent, Laurie Abkemeier. She’s an author, illustrator, and art director. A few months ago I started getting her Creative Nourishment newsletter and every single email has had an incredibly useful nugget of advice and information. She talks openly about the creative process and industry, including things like dealing with jealousy and *actual* pricing numbers for illustration projects. Thanks to the information she shared in one of her emails, I successfully applied for and received a PPP loan which has been a huge help. Before her email, I had previously assumed I didn’t qualify for it because I am a sole proprietor, but her email explained the process and requirements in a much more human way than all of the official websites and such. Her email about jealousy is really helpful, too, and I recall her words regularly when those icky (but normal) feelings pop up. Basically, her newsletter is full of very practical advice that I think will improve your day-to-day life as a creative person.

🌸 The Aesthetics of Joy by Ingrid Fetell Lee newsletter (scroll down to bottom of page to sign up)

This one isn’t particular to the illustration industry, but I often apply the information shared in it to my illustration work. My cousin-in-law recommended this website to me because it’s so beautiful and full of really helpful advice about finding joy. Seriously, go take a look at it. It’s so pretty! Each email is a nice, gentle reminder to prioritize joy in life without feeling guilty about it. It improves my mood because it’s just so pleasant and friendly and not the “make every day amazing/ good vibes only/ blah blah blah” toxic positivity that’s just not realistic. It’s more about finding bits of joy even when everything is not okay, taking in what’s around you, and recognizing the good in what may seem ordinary. When I’m in a good mood, it’s a little easier to create and feel productive. The idea of prioritizing joy reminds me to think about that in my artwork, too. Creating illustrations that bring me joy and amusement are likely to bring someone else joy and amusement as well.

🌸 Juliet Meeks Design newsletter (make sure to check the “art business + painting tools” selection when signing up)

Juliet Meeks is a surface designer and illustrator who is well known for her beautiful floral paintings. I really love her artwork, so I signed up for her newsletter earlier this year to follow her shop updates and get her art business tips. The main thing I like about her art business newsletter is that each one talks about her experience with that particular topic. One of those was where she talked about how doing a 100 Day Project really kickstarted her career and she detailed what that process was like. I love getting advice from artists I admire, and I like it even more when I can hear more about what that person’s actual experience was like. She’s also very transparent about the industry and has shared actual pricing numbers that have been so helpful to see. A lot of her emails about geared towards the surface design/ licensing industry, but there are a lot of helpful tidbits about working as a creative in general.

Lizzo's "Truth Hurts"

When I have a bit of extra time in my schedule, I like to take online courses to grow my illustration skills. It's easy for my work to start feeling stale to me, but learning something new really helps energize things again. I'm a big fan of all the Make Art That Sells courses which are taught by art agent, Lilla Rogers. I have been taking them since about 2014 and each time I feel rejuvenated and so inspired to keep creating. The courses can be pricy, but in my experience they have always been great investments to make in my business. In addition to insider tips about the industry and very fun portfolio projects, you get to join a Facebook group with other people who are taking the class. That’s always been one of my favorite parts because the sense of community feels so cozy and friendly.

I recently finished up a course about Editorial Design, where we learned about what type of work to have in our portfolios to catch the eye of art directors, how to illustrate icons and abstract concepts like body positivity, how to break into the Editorial market, and tips for what to do when we land projects. Next year my goal is to get more editorial projects (like illustrating for magazines for example), so I was very excited to get to take this class. I feel like it really helped me sort out what exactly I need to do to hopefully achieve this goal soon.

The assignment we were given in this course (to practice illustrating in our own style and to create a good piece for our portfolios) was to illustrate the lyrics of the song “Truth Hurts” by Lizzo. I had heard of Lizzo before the class, but never had listened to her music before. I must say that I’m totally in love with her songs now and I can’t believe I didn’t start listening to her sooner! To me, her music is very empowering and feminist and bad ass. The songs are so catchy too! If you haven’t listened to her yet, I recommend starting with “Truth Hurts,” “Juice,” and “Good as Hell.” Warning, some are explicit so be careful turning up the volume if you are at work!

I really enjoyed working on this illustration. I was pretty intimidated at first to be honest, because I find it hard to illustrate concepts, as opposed to icons or scenes that are more literal. One of the tips that Lilla gave during the class was to read through the lyrics multiple times (as well as listen to the song lots of times of course) and find parts that stand out to you or speak to you the most. For me, that was the part of the song where she sings about never being a side chick. So I wanted to illustrate her looking like a goddess and pushing aside a bunch of “losers” that the song sort of references. At the end of the course we also learned how to create animated GIFs in Photoshop to add simple animation to parts of our illustrations. That was really fun and I want to make everything an animated GIF now!

Pre-Order The Escape Manual for Introverts

I have something exciting to share! 🎉My third book, THE ESCAPE MANUAL FOR INTROVERTS, is coming August 6th from Andrews McMeel Publishing and you can pre-order it now!

A blend of humor and inspiration, THE ESCAPE MANUAL FOR INTROVERTS is a funny, sometimes absurd guide to escaping the painfully awkward situations of everyday life as an introvert. The book guides readers through a range of social scenarios that introverts dread, such as being trapped on an airplane with a chatterbox or hosting a dinner party with people who just won’t leave, and offers escapes and tips for each situation. From the silly to the sincere, these clever, hilarious escape plans and bizarre excuses speak to the introvert in all of us.

I'm really excited about this book because being an introvert is something that I think really defines me and has my whole life. I enjoyed so much getting to create a funny book about my interpretation of the introvert experience. 😃

Find all the links on where to order here.

New Etsy Products!

Springtime is here and that means wedding season is upon us! I've added some new congrats cards to my Etsy shop like these ones here:

In addition to wedding cards, here is a peek at some other new designs in the shop: