Hold on to Your Dreams

In between My Furry Family pieces I stumbled upon a beautiful, inspirational quote, and so I drew this:

"When you have a dream, you've got to grab it and never let go." -Carol Burnett

Here's a close-up of the little bear who helped me illustrate this beautiful quote.

I wanted to add a simple, subtle background. I sort of like how this turned out, although I'm not sure I'm 100% there yet.

Another close-up of Mr. Bear.

I hope you like it! And don't forget to hold on to your dreams!

The Pencil Penguin

I finally finished this little guy:

He's been in the works for quite some time now. For some reason, right after I started him, I just couldn't seem to find the time or the inspiration to complete him. But then today it snowed -- the first real snow I've seen this winter -- and that really put me in the mood to see this wintry little fellow completed.

I have tons more stuff in the works and in the planning stages that I intend on sharing soon. First and foremost, I've been keeping up with my sketchbook scrapbook journal, but I just haven't finished photographing and uploading the pages I've thus far completed. I can't express how much I'm enjoying keeping this journal, so I really am excited to share it with you guys.

And as you've seen with my recent Post-it art, I've been in an especially crafty mood lately. And that crafty mood hasn't diminished at all. I've got a number of new pieces of Post-it art as well as other various arts and crafts planned, and I'll continue sharing them as I complete them.

But now, this is when I ask you to have a little patience with me...In case you couldn't tell from all of my artwork, I love animals. That being said, my 21-year-old cat will be undergoing surgery on Tuesday, and in the meantime I've having to administer more medications and keep her under an even more watchful eye than usual. Then she'll require extra care after the surgery. I'll do my best to continue making regular posts during this time, but over the next week or so please be patient with me, as I'll admit that my animals are my children and their care is a priority for me.

Anyway, I hope you like my little pencil penguin! And I'll be sharing more of my arts and crafts with you soon!

Have a great week!

The Pencil Panda

I recently realized that I had not done a pencil drawing in quite some time. I love doing the pen drawings I've been completing lately, but at the same time I miss drawing with my trusty pencils. So I decided that I'm going to get back into the habit of doing more frequent pencil drawings. I've told myself that I will try to swap turns with my pencils and pens, alternating between completing pencil drawings and pen drawings.

That all being said, I just finished a new pencil drawing. Here it is.

This is my pencil panda.

I enjoyed completing this pencil piece. I had forgotten how much I really enjoy doing pencil drawings, so it feels good to get back in the habit of it. What's more, I got to test out a new pack of tortillions and stumps on this little bear. Good times!

I hope you like it!

New art prints on Etsy!

There are three new prints available in my Etsy shop! "Grizzly Gus" and "Hang the Moon", both in my animal nursery art series, are now available as prints. The third one available is "Queen Anne's Lace", which belongs to my fantasy garden series. You've seen images of the originals of all three of these here on this blog, but now they're available as prints on Etsy!

"Grizzly Gus"

"Hang the Moon"

"Queen Anne's Lace"

Visit my Etsy shop to see these and more of my available prints!

Grizzly Gus

I have finished the next piece in my animal nursery art series! Meet Grizzly Gus.

Here's Grizzly Gus.

It had been awhile since I'd had the chance to finish a piece in my animal nursery art series, so I really enjoyed creating this one! It was quite satisfying seeing the long overdue completion of this furry critter, and now I can't wait to get started on the next one!

I hope you like it!

This, That, and the Other

I had a great time at the crafts and art show at my local church this weekend. Nevertheless, I am excited about turning my focus back to some of the new pieces I have planned. I have so many ideas that they're all warring in my head over which will be the first ones drawn. I know for certain that I'll very soon be creating some drawings of cute animals celebrating Christmas, so stay tuned for those!

In the meantime, there is a small bit of news for my Etsy shop. And that is, there are now animal stickers available in my Etsy shop!

I plan on making all of the individual animals in my nursery art series available as stickers. As you can see, the ones available as stickers so far are "Percy the Polar Bear", "Pete the Panda", "Ferdinand the Fox", "Calico Clarice", and "Randall the Retriever".

You can buy the stickers in bundles of three or five. Check out of my Etsy shop for these and other goodies!

Percy the Polar Bear and The Fauna and the Fairy Ring on Etsy!

My pieces "Percy the Polar Bear" and "The Fauna and the Fairy Ring" are now available as prints in my Etsy shop!

Both of these are included in my Animal Nursery Art deals on Etsy. These deals include buying one and getting one half off, buying three for the price of two, and buying four for the price of three.

I hope to see you over at my Etsy shop!

Hang the Moon

I finally finished my latest piece of animal nursery art! Here it is:

"Hang the Moon" (tentative title)

I had a lot of fun with this whimsical feline piece. I love cats, and I also enjoy all things whimsical. So this piece was a great combo for me.

The night sky background took me a good chunk of time to finish. That is in large part my own fault, as I prefer to use fine pens, even when filling in large areas; therefore, such large areas can take me awhile to complete.

Now, do you want to know a little fun fact about me? As a young child, my first two cats were a sister and brother, a calico girl and black and white boy. They were the inspiration for the two little kitties hanging the moon and stars in this piece. And do you want another fun fact? Although the sweet black and white boy passed away years ago, I still have the calico girl cat that I acquired as a child. She is 21 years old.

This piece will be available in my Redbubble and Society 6 shops tomorrow morning, so if you like it check it out there! And be sure to stay tuned to find out when it is available in my Etsy shop!

Fantastical Feline Fun

I wanted to share a quick work-in-progress shot of my current animal nursery art piece. This one stars two little felines and a bit of whimsy.

I'm having a lot fun with this one and cannot wait to see it finished. There are a couple of details (color choices, etc.) that I'm still trying to decide on, but I figured I would sleep on it and pick it back up tomorrow.

Good night!

Animal Nursery Art DEALS on Etsy!

I am offering some package deals in my Etsy web store for my animal nursery art series. Continue reading for details and links.

You can buy one piece of my animal nursery art and get another half off. To view this deal in my Etsy shop, click here.

My second package deal offer is to buy three animal nursery art pieces for the price of two. In other words, buy two and get one free. Click here to view this deal in my Etsy shop.

And there's one more deal! You can buy all four of my current animal nursery art pieces for the price of three. To view this deal in my shop, click here. (NOTE: As I continue to create more animal nursery art there will be more than four choices of prints to choose from.)

I am continually creating more artwork for my web stores, including animal nursery art as well as other pieces. I will continue to let you know as I complete pieces and make them available in my shops.

Enjoy!

Animal Nursery Art on Etsy!

My first round of animal nursery art is now available in my Etsy web store. These include "Pete the Panda", "Calico Clarice", "Ferdinand the Fox", and "Randall the Retriever". Remember them?

These are available in my MissAdventureArt Etsy web store as 5" x 7" prints. I personally sign, title, and number the back of all prints purchased from my Etsy shop. Click on the Etsy tab at the top of this very blog to visit my store!

And be sure to stay tuned, because tomorrow I'll be adding to my Etsy shop deals for making multi-piece purchases of my animal nursery art. I'll announce the deals here, so keep your eyes and ears peeled!

Mission (finally) accomplished.

I apologize for the delay. I intended on finishing the following piece a day or two ago, but sometimes other things in life request that I spend some time away from my drawing board. I'm sure everyone in their own way knows how that feels. But, regardless, I've now finally finished it!

Although I took a different approach than my previous pieces, this newest piece still falls in my animal nursery art series. Here it is:

"The Fauna and the Fairy Ring"

This piece combines two of my favorite things -- animals and the whimsical. I really enjoyed creating it, even if the grass took me more or less an eternity to complete. I really enjoy creating the illusion of texture in my drawings and illustrations. That means things like grass and animal fur can take a long time, though, as I create them slowly but surely, pen stroke by pen stroke. But that also makes it all the more rewarding once I've finished it!

I will be uploading this piece to my Redbubble and Society6 shops this evening. In my Redbubble shop you can purchase my art not only as prints but also on items such as phone cases, throw pillows, and tote bags. (NOTE: Most of my art images cannot be aligned perfectly or wholly onto the surface areas of phone cases, pillows, tote bags, etc. However, I can alter and move the images on these items, so if there is a certain portion of the image that you would like centralized on an item feel free to message me and I'll see what I can do.)

I hope you like it!

Sincerely,
MissAdventureArt

A Whimsical WIP

I'm doing some late-night drawing tonight, as I'm very eager to see my current work-in-progress completed. I thought I would share a shot of this WIP in order to give you an idea of what's to come. And to build some suspense, of course. It's still in the very early -- and I mean very early -- stages, but here it is nonetheless:

"The Fauna and the Fairy Ring" WIP

This piece, which once completed will be called "The Fauna and the Fairy Ring", is a bit different from what I've been creating lately. However, I do still consider it to be part of my animal nursery art series. What's more, I plan on making other pieces in the series with this type of animal-centric yet whimsical subject matter.

For whatever reason, my approach for this particular piece has been a bit different than my norm. I typically -- as in essentially always -- do a complete pencil outline of the entire piece before even breaking out my pens. However, with this piece I felt compelled to bring out my pens earlier than usual. In this case, I've been sketching each individual component with pencil and then immediately going over it with pen before moving on to the next section of the piece. That's certainly not a life-shattering change by any means, but it is definitely a change in pace for me personally. I guess I'm just so excited to see this particular pen drawing finished.

If I don't finish this piece tonight I will likely finish it tomorrow. I will post the completed piece for you to see then, and I will upload it to my Redbubble and Society6 web stores.

Good night!

Sincerely,
MissAdventureArt

Polar Portrait

Here it is, the latest piece in my animal nursery art series:

"Percy the Polar Bear"

I'll admit that while drawing this piece I did feel at a bit of a loss, as I had far less colorful fur to fill in than usual and I therefore wasn't quite sure what to do with myself. Nevertheless, I really did enjoy creating this piece, and I personally think that the simplicity of it works well.

This piece will soon be available in my Redbubble and Society6 shops, so check it out there!

Sincerely,
MissAdventureArt

Scanner Success

In case you hadn't noticed, I had up until yesterday been posting not-so-good photos of my finished works. That was due to my lack of a scanner, as well as lack of proper skills and lighting required for the best photography. While I still need to work on my photography skills, I remedied one of the previously mentioned issues by finally acquiring a scanner!

So now I would like to upload some better images of some of my works. I will start with my animal nursery art series, as that is my primary project at this point in time. Here are the better images of my thus far completed animal nursery art (watermarks are added for online security measures):

"Pete the Panda"

"Calico Clarice"

"Ferdinand the Fox"

"Randall the Retriever"

I will soon try to post better images of my other previous drawings as well. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy these!

Sincerely,
MissAdventureArt

Puppy Dog Eyes

Another favorite animal of mine is the dog. I have one of my own, and she is a mixed breed likely containing some Labrador Retriever genes. That being said, here is my latest animal nursery art:

"Randall the Retriever"

As the caption says, that is "Randall the Retriever". My intention was for him to be a Yellow Lab, but as I created him I realized he could also pass for a Golden Retriever if so desired by the viewer. Now, I'll be honest and admit that I was not all that pleased with this piece when I first finished it. Something about it just didn't seem right to me. However, it is starting to grow on me, and I hope it can brighten some child's -- or dog-loving adult's -- day.

Now I have a couple of more or less "announcements". First, I will go back and edit the actual post on my calico cat drawing, but I'll first let you know here that I have decided to change my calico cat drawing's name. I first named her "Calico Carla" but was not sure I liked that name. It turns out I really don't like it, and I am renaming her "Calico Clarice".

As for a second announcement, in addition to my animal nursery art I will in the near future be starting another nursery art series that does not star animals. I won't give away just yet what the subjects of this new series will be, but I will show you soon enough. Why all the nursery art, you might ask? It seems a lot of people I know lately are bringing a plethora of little ones into this world. That being said, babies and children -- and of course us adults too -- need bright and happy things to look at, and I enjoy creating such things. So there you have it.

Sincerely,
MissAdventureArt

Ferdinand

I've completed the third piece in my animal nursery art series. Meet Ferdinand:

"Ferdinand the Fox"

I believe I already said this in my previous post, but I can't help but reiterate that, having been an adorer of both animals and art as a child myself, I am immensely enjoying creating these pieces with a young audience in mind. There is not much that I enjoy more than putting pen and ink to paper. What's more, one of my favorite drawing techniques is creating the appearance of texture, and I get to do plenty of that with these animals' fur.

My next animal piece is in the planning stages and will be started soon. I will also soon be creating some pieces for the upcoming holidays. For me, one of the hardest parts of drawing is having countless images visualized in my mind but then having to wait until I have the time to create each individual piece. But I guess that just makes my drawing time and its final results all the more satisfying.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!

Sincerely,
MissAdventureArt

Little Ball of Fur

I've completed the second piece in my children's nursery art series of animals. This new piece is inspired by one of my absolute favorite animals.

I am currently calling her "Calico Carla". This name may or may not stick.

As I indicated above, one of my favorite animals is the cat. I've had cats almost all my life. In fact, one of the cats I currently have has been with me since I was a child. She is 21 years old, and she is a calico. I guess that would explain "Calico Carla".

EDIT: "Calico Carla" has been renamed "Calico Clarice".

I'm really enjoying creating this animal art, especially with a young audience in mind. As an animal-adoring child I was constantly drawing animals. Now, so many years later, it's a treat to go back to this in such a fun and refreshing manner.

I've already started the next piece in this series. I won't yet come out and tell you which animal is the subject of this next piece, but to give you an indication I will inform you that, as it stands, his name is Ferdinand.

I hope you like my little animal kingdom thus far!

Sincerely,
MissAdventureArt

The Animal Kingdom

I love animals. I've loved animals ever since I was a very small child. Back in those olden days, animals were, unsurprisingly, the primary subjects of my juvenile artwork. In light of these facts, I have decided to start creating nursery art, the target audience being young children. The subjects of these pieces will be animals, of course.

I've already completed one piece in this series of nursery animal art. The subject of this first piece is one of my absolute favorite animals:

I call him "Pete the Panda".

I will be making many more pieces for this nursery art series of mine, and I already have numerous of them planned out. I'm currently working on a piece portraying another favorite animal of mine, and I'll post a picture of it as soon as it's completed.

I hope you like my nursery animal art so far!

Sincerely,
MissAdventureArt