greenbeanbaby art

the confessions of an artist...

sketching is a process for me... a LONG process... maybe it's partially due to the fact that i'm not that GOOD at sketching... it doesn't come easy for me... it's something that tests my self confidence and leaves me with less of an eraser than began... while i sketch, i sit near a garbage can filled with crumpled illustrations half drawn.... i fill my pencil with lead continuously and i'm surprised the bulb in my light table isn't burnt out from all the usage... the same illustration is drawn ten times over until it is p-e-r-f-e-c-t...

now ramel is the king of sketching... he can illustrate a guy jumping over a moon in one shot, without an eraser within 2 miles... he can look at a picture of a zebra facing sideways and redraw it so that the zebra is facing the viewer playing a guitar and singing koombya.... he truly has the talent and the patience to match... it must be that patience part i'm lacking, eh?!

i've been able to criticize my work with ease, understanding what i lack artistically... i can over analyze and give myself unsolicited advice... i am frustrated by my own limited skills.... perhaps my characters are too stiff... why do they always stand the same way?! and their hands! why can't my characters do more than just hold one object in one hand and use their other hand to massage their bony hips? how come my characters only have one emotion?! and why are their necks SO skinny? why are my characters always lacking nutrition and are thinner than angel hair noodles? and yet they have a gi-normous noggin!!!

how my work turns out is NOT how i envisioned it in my head... in my head, my artwork is as detailed as the cistine chapel... my work is so good it can sit next to the mona lisa... in my head, i see my characters moving and jumping and laughing and talking non-stop... somehow, when i sketch and cut the papers, my brain doesn't register the same information to my hand... my work is not as grand... i can't find the right color... or i can't find the perfect pattern... how come the colors worked out in my head and not outside of it?!

it's not to say, i'm not pleased with my outcome... i can be satisfied with my illustration despite the fact that it's not as detailed as i first envisioned... and sometimes, it turns out better than i thought... like this picture of rosa... it's from the children's book, i'm working on... this carmen miranda impersonator sat in my brain for two years and while the colors were more red and orange in my head, i think the purple works better... i'm pleased with how rosa looks and even though she has one hand holding an object [and the other hand sitting on her bony hip], it's nice to see her alive... it's nice to know that all this sketching is leading somewhere...

so there is my confession... what is yours?

to infinity.... and beyond

hello... hello... hello! have you missed the ramblings yet? excuse my absence but there has been so much going on... although, most of it isn't interesting enough to blog to you about... i mean, would you like to hear how we cleaned out our yard? or how my mom helped me organize and clean our basement? or how our washing machine broke? or how i had a stomach ache from drinking milk? nah, none of that is quite as intriguing... of course we could always discuss the greenbean babies but as far as art goes, there is not much to REALLY show for [just yet]...

sketch peeks:
after months of sketching, procrastinating, sketching, thinking, and dreaming about the children's book, the first process of it is finally complete... all 32 sketches are hashed out with revisions on the way... choosing a font is now the new focus of the and it's not as boring as it sounds... it's actually one of my favorite things about design- typeography... not that i'm a pro, but going through hundreds of fonts on my computer and activating the coolest ones is kinda fun... still haven't found the perfect one yet but  there are several ones on the MAYBE list... so see, work is being done [slowly but surely] this weekend, i will try to put up photos in flickr of a few of the sketches.. now that they have video on flickr, who knows??!!!!

website update:
here is the money question: that website of ellia's... will it ever be complete?! yes but i have to push the date again... the children's book took precidence and now isabella's birthday party is around the corner... i want to have some special goodies available including some stuff for the shop... a few full sized illustrations, a few special packs, maybe some notecards... i don't want to have the site up and my etsy shop void of goodness, ya know?! so please bare with me and my delay on this site.... i feel foolish that it's taking THIS long already >guilty sigh<

kid smiles:
well, here is isabella's... her, with a bit of food on her cheek... can you believe she will be one next week?? boy, how time flies!! i ordered thank you cards from diane and cannot wait to see how they turn out!!! we will be eating cupcakes and celebrating my baby girl's first year on the planet... gosh, i can still remember [vividlly] the day she was born... actually, the thought of those hours of labor, knots my stomach up... but i remember how well she blended into the family and how quick diego took to his baby sister... and now, look at them!

paper game purchases:
i haven't been able to play xbox too much, as our membership expired momentarily... as a "thank you for helping me out with my etsy shop" gift, i bought ramel the pirates game... and as a "congrats on your etsy sales" gift, ramel bought me thrillville....  thrillville is some fun stuff since you get to maintain and build up your own theme parks!! the pirates game is pretty fun too although i dislike finishing a board knowing i didn't get the achievement [shall i admit that the first board was done over 5 times just to get 25 achievement points?!] we thought it was two-player but it's not so we take turns... and ramel does all the hard parts :)

sorry this is such a bland blog post but soon, the greenbean baby will have much more to share.... [including some more paper artist interviews :)]

so you've been busy?

yes, this greenbean mama has been busy drawing away... as stated in another post, i am working on a book project that demands the majority of my art time... it's been a slight challenge but thanks to jack, kate, sawyer, and of course hurley [lost, anyone?], i'm having a wonderful time... of course, my sketching time falls between 11pm and 3am... i'm not a "loose" type of illustrator; my drawings have to be perfect... goodness, if there is a smudge! call me miss particular but in order for a sketch to be considered a sketch, it has to look as good as the above...

this usually means that one drawing has been redrawn about 7 times over... i kid you not... in one sense, it's ridiculous to spend so much time on a mere sketch... but on the other hand, it helps develop the character better and refine the details... it also makes illustrating the final [for me] easier because that same drawing is used as my template... still though, the process can be exhausting when you are just itching to have that final inked out, and get onto the next one...

it's hard to post about this project without getting into specifics... i mean, you know it's for a book and you can guess some of the subject matter.... but a gal has to be mysterious until some issues are hashed out... on the side of all this, there are sketches being made for the etsy shop...  a few of the older designs will show up on march 28th...in fact, i'm HOPING to get a few prints in there but well, we will see about that... as soon as the taxes come in, i can get to buying all the necessary materials to get the etsy shop rolling [yes, it takes more than paper]...

so many ideas!!! so many things to do! and there isn't ever enough time to complete it all, eh?! with isabella on the go [and no gate to block her way], there is alot of chasing after the bitty gal... she finds going after the cat food to be an adventure and is disappointed if i snake one of out her mouth... [which also happen to be the same shape as gerber finger foods]... she thinks playing the television buttons are amusing despite the many no's... diego has been under the weather [again] and is missing out on school... on the days he goes, i get to squeeze in a wee bit of computer time and/or sketching... but with both kids on separate nap schedules and both feeling the effects of a cold, there is little of that... as soon as it stops snowing, i might just head to a coffee shop and work on this project a bit more... that will be nice :)
you can see a recent photo of isabella here and of diego here... as i type, isabella has awaken from her final nap and diego is itching to boot me off the computer and get onto pbs kids...

lastly, many thanks to melissa garrett for interviewing me... you can read it here!

a big thanks!!!!

thanks to craftzine and the etsy storque, the previous post on how to run a successful etsy shop, has been quite a hit... thank you all for leaving such encouraging comments and taking the  time to read it... i had no idea that this would've turned out so well..... it feels good to know that your words don't go unnoticed and that a few ideas may help others somehow.... with all the comments left, i've been desperately trying to visit each and every etsy/ blog... however, if i don't get a chance to respond to you, please know that your comments are much appreciated!

not to be hypocritical, my own etsy shop has been barren for some time... as stated before, there are valid reasons that include more than just lack of time... currently, i am sketching out a children's book... as some of you may know, this is not a one week task... 32 pages to draw out and characters to consider as well as environment... it's a fun job  to do and i really hope it brings promising results... after midnight, this book has been my primary focus [all the while watching the office season 1 thru 3 including all the commentaries and deleted scenes]... a little less sleep but not in vain....

and there IS that one website of mine still under construction... i've been hashing away at that baby trying to divvy up my photos and think of something amazing to add [that is different from my blog]... any suggestions on how to do this? i may include a tutorial or something to this effect... my goal is to get the site up and running at the same time as the etsy shop... phew!!! a lot on the plate, eh?!

so the date?? new goodies will be in the shop by march 28th... mark your calendars... it will be the usual greenbeanbaby goodness with hopefully new characters and poses and colors... perhaps a few paper scrap packs as well... now that i've officially said this, i better go finish working.... ramel is home for the day as we had a winter storm leaving us with 14" of snow.... its a great time to work on art :)

stay tuned!! and thank you all again for your support and kind words!! >HUGS<

sketches in the raw....

it's often rare to see the illustrations inside greenbeanbaby's sketchbook... maybe that is because it's been years since i used a sketchbook... most times i will scribble away on computer paper then draw it over and over until it's perfect... and all the raw sketches are tossed away, as they are too messy... defeats the idea of sketching, eh?!
 

with a big project in the works, and absolutely no computer paper left in the house, ramel was kind enough to give me a sketchbook... a green one, at that! he ripped out all his old work and the other night, the two of us drew as the kids slept... it felt good to work on art with him again without having a kid asking, "can you draw me superman? no, batman! i want spongebob!" diego is such a sweetie pie, but parents sure need their time to draw something other than comic book characters....


and so without shyness, i share with you sketches from the book... the above are all for the same project and each of her dresses are to be wild and funky and fun... i still have two more to sketch out, as well as work on her poses... her facial expressions can use a bit of variety too... i am itching to get them cut out in paper though... today, my mom watched the kiddos and ramel and i went to starbucks


oh wait!!! should i quote myself??? "parents sure need their time to draw something other than comic book characters...." and whadda know, even when diego is nowhere around, i ended up drawing wolverine of the xmen! hehehe... these sketches are for another project in the works [hmmm, i have about a good 3 major projects right now, including a few side swaps...] so this sketch is entitled "xmen playing xbox while getting x-rayed" for the letter "x"


and here we have the letter "k"... this one is entitled "don't drink the kryponite flavored koolaid, kent".... as you can see, they are in the kid-world... clark kent isn't fully sure of his identity and thus his infamous glasses, and his superman cape and pj's.... and there is little lana lang... you can never tell what that girl is feeling about clark on a certain day... so in this illustration, she is oblivious to the fact that she is serving clark kryponite flavored koolaid... in another episode, she can blame it on her evil alter ego... i might throw a little lex luthor too but we'll see...

and here we have ramel's sketch of the letter "d" still in the works... today he sketched this at starbucks and well, the guy hasn't lost his touch... for not working on art, ramel still has the skill, don't you think?? his specialty is animals, they are always friendly looking too, regardless of their carnivorous appetites....

have a wonderful weekend and hopefully there will be cut paper art to show you all within the next couple of days :)

stuck like chuck???

we all need a bit of motivation oomph to get our projects done.... or maybe we just a reason to create.... maybe we are being plain lazy and enjoying it but feeling a twinge of guilt... maybe we are playing halo 3 [xbox live] too much and thus playing games instead of working on art.... or perhaps, we have a ton of projects on the to-do list and don't feel like creating it alone....

either way, i cannot be the only one stuck in this boat, right??? are there other passengers getting seasick from all the waves of frustration? are there people on this boat who are sick of running into those glaciers of creative blocks?!

now that christmas is nearly here [under 6 weeks i heard]... and now that the new year follows shortly after, i really got to get my emailing and creative endevours underway... i'm admitting it: i've been a slacker... and at the same time, i've been coming up with stale sketches that took far too long to sketch out in the first place... and despite my lull, creative juices still flow in and out of my brain with ideas for WIP projects [and projects not yet begun]...

diego has had off school this week... isabella won't nap if diego is within ear shot... she MUST keep up with the boy... i  haven't gotten much completed... i need to... i have to.... what about you???? what are you working on??? i can't be the only one on this boat, slacking [right???!!]

note: it took me 3 hours to do this blog [between children refusing to nap in desginated areas] to browsing for current flickr groups... i was debating on starting a flickr group  myself where we can admit what projects we want need to finish and show our progress and finally, the finished... but i dont need another thing on my list to monitor, ya know?!

weekend work...

there should have been more artwork made... however i felt compelled to clean and clean and clean... oh, and go to the farmer's market... and relax... and play a few games... and clean some more... maybe i just didn't want to sit in the studio when October was giving us 85º F weather.... after all, most other years, Wisconsin has a thin blanket of snow on the ground already!

either way, i made it to the studio eventually... in 2004, i made an illustration called "Sarita's red boots" for a gallery show.... you can see a printout of it in the lower left hand corner of the illustration... it was one of my favorite pieces and decided to do a revamp of her... so far, Sarita can finally see, she got a new hat, and cut her hair... she got a new shirt too and a scarf to match.... i'm not diggin' the background so it may change... this is for someone but won't say who just yet... it took about 50 sketches to give Sarita more character (ok, slight exaggeration)...

i also began working on an illustration for margaret... it's a portrait of her and her husband... most of my characters are under the age of 12 so illustrating adults can be a bit tricky... however, there is joy in making illustrations for other... and there is a sense of satisfaction in cutting out the itty bitty details that defines a person's interest [like the chicago cubs logo- yes, the letters are hand cut and logo itself is about the size of a dime!]... the background has me stumped, though.... any suggestions?

another reason tons of artwork wasn't completed: i was learning how to use my bread machine... my mom and dad found me a nearly new breadman® but it came without a manual... i found a manual online and managed to half bake a pumpkin bread loaf (the top was raw and since my oven doesn't work, the job couldn't be finished)... i couldn't figure out how to stick it back into the bread machine either... so the next day,  i tried to make a garlic basil loaf but kept peeking in to see if it was cooking.... must it be said that the loaf was a mess?! the third attempt was at garlic basil again... it worked and tasted yummy with its crunchy crust!!!!!! now, to try another flavor haha...

i took a ton of photos of isabella today, outside... and tonight should bring about more artwork [or another loaf of bread?!]... we shall see...

paperhood and motherhood...

with a giant cup of coffee, a sharp x-acto blade, and the second season of the british office, i was able to cut these bad boys out... okay, so they aren't bad to the bone... too cute for that... but these will hopefully end up on notebooks for my etsy shop... the worry of messing them up during the gluing process is stopping me from proceeding to the next step...

here are the girl versions [completed while watching the british office 2hr special post season 2]... they are about 3 inches tall... the detail work HAD to be precise or else they'd look too tacky... i'm pretty meticulous about the cutting job, especially since this kind of work is so simple and delicate... i have a total of 11 paper kids cut out and strewn about... they seem more fun when they are just pieces of delicacy being held in your hand... a VERY fragile version of paper dolls... they are so free right now and its such a shame that eventually they will end up confined to a notebook with glue... still, how else could i sell them?

this photo is of a keychain made for a friend... it took a long time to complete ONLY because of the glue issue... i am using a different kind from my normal and well, it's not easy to handle... it wasn't until the next day [today] that i bought the glue sticks i'm most fond of... thankfully!!! i was even able to complete a birthday card too!

there's a few more orders on the table... a few more ideas tossed about... and a few more requests in need of fulfilling... there are days when i wished i had time to create for hours on end without worry of kids having to eat or rooms in need of cleaning [or coffee cups in need of refilling]... seriously, when i get in the groove of working, i don't even want to take a bathroom break- and by the time i do, i am sprinting down the stairs... do you ever get that way??? either way, the reality of motherhood includes forcing a 3yr old to use the bathroom (yeah, i guess none of us like going- i wonder why, when i am forever cleaning the bathroom to a sparklin' shine?!), changing diapers, mopping sticky floors, and the trillion other things done in between...

so while there is still so much to do and this new week is full of doctor appointments, appointments fighting to get more insurance, babysitting, preschool orientation, and MUCH emailing... can someone lend me more hours for the day?! this week i feel like the ultimate "mommy mom" with tuesday heading to the doctor for isabella to get her shots and diego to get his 3yr checkup... and on thursday we visit the school he will attend to find out what he needs, who his teacher will be, and the other kids in his class... i cannot even believe this day is nearly here!!! i just remembered this kid taking 23hrs to come into this world!!!

now that autumn will be approaching, i need to take advantage of the season... its my favorite time of the year with the cool weather and the leaves blowing about... the sun isn't shining much and you just want to walk around with a big cup of steaming coffee while enjoying the brisk weather... you don't need a heavy coat, only a light jacket with a scarf dangling from your neck... despite the fact that my allergies get super bad during this season, it's the best season with so much energy to create and prepare for the holidays... ah, i get in the mood just typing about it!

well, its nearly 10pm, i have a sketch to complete and pictures to take... and emails to write... so, what will you be doing this week????

*btw, thank you ester and tete for the nice matters award! you both are kind and lovely :)

running out of glue...

lately, i've really been struggling to work on art... i'm looking at blogs for inspiration, emailing people, sleeping, drinking coffee- and it's still been hard... i've been unable to blog about anything exciting because there really isn't much exciting going on... you guys don't want to hear about my sleep patterns, do ya?!

over the course of the week, i've been trying hard to get this project underway... i spent two days cutting out parts from thick illustration board for mimi's book (right now, i am keeping her idea secret)... i have a callous on my finger from all the intense cutting..however, today i finally got out of my inartistic funk and was able to create away with paper while isabella slept [for a whopping one hour].... diego was napping away after going to the zoo that morning with his daycare class... i was cutting the paper pieces and gluing a bit here and there... but in the middle of it all, guess what happens?? i run out of glue!!!!

i'm afraid that if i go to michael's to buy glue tonight, i will come home too worn out to work on art... but if i work on art after diego goes to bed, all i can do is cut out the pieces... and you know, that isn't much fun if you can't glue!!!! i'd think a sewing fanatic would feel the same... what's the point of cutting out all the pieces to make a doll if you have no thread to sew it together?!

so now i'm stuck like chuck... there are invitations to work on (with the paper shown above), illustrations to complete, and a paperbag book in dire need of completing...

in the meantime, i would love to know what YOU do when you get in an unartistic funk... aside from the blogs, how do you obtain inspiration and motivation [and a newfound surge of creativity] to create???

8 weeks left...

yep, time keeps flying by so i best get into that "nesting" stage... it's where the mom goes through a cleaning frenzy before the baby arrives.... and although i clean alot already, i have decided to take it easy in the past month... however, yesterday i managed to put up the rest of the baby pictures in isabella's corner... and i cleaned the hallway- from down the stairs to the top- and then i added a sign "take off your shoes before going up the stairs"... i don't want wet snow or salt being tracked up the stairs because it's hard enough to clean without being pregnant... and yes, i was very very careful with the sweeping and mopping...

and while i am in the process of cleaning, we have ramel and diego being silly... here is a picture taken with ramel's phone of diego after a bath... in the baby bassinet... it is full of baby girl clothes that had to be folded and put away but here is diego happily laying on top of them... such a big boy who likes to be pampered still- who can resist such a handsome fellow?!

and of course, an artist who goes through a nesting stage must also clean their studio thuroughly as well as work on all the art they can before the big moment arrives... good thing my studio is always in tip top shape (i can't work in an otherwise environment... even when i was in college and did some art in the student union, i would clean all the tables and throw out the garbage on the floor before i began)... but i do have a few more orders of illustrations left to do and that is where the energy is going at night and when diego naps (unless i accidentally fall asleep)... this illustration is for joyce of her two kiddos...

while i kept busy yesterday with art and cleaning, the mailman brought another surprise!!!! carolyn sent me some wonderful handmade goodies for both diego and isabella... she knit a green hat for diego- it's so cute!!! and she made a bitty veggie  hat for isabella... and to top it off?! here is a quilt she made too! it has brownish stripes on one side with this wonderful fabric on the opposite... it has lil garden boots all over it- hehe sooo cute!!! i am just so happy and honored to get so many lovely things from everyone! thank you carolyn for taking your time and talent to make my family adorable goodness!!!

and lastly, i wanted to show you what a toddler does in his spare time.... he tries to squeeze into a teeny box and will get frustrated at the fact that he is too big.... but with the help of mami, he was able to fit in it for a short moment and smile at his success... kids can make a person smile, eh?!