September Art Challenge: The Result

Hello.
Here it is, October 1st and I know you are all eagerly awaiting the final reveal of my art challenge.
Well.
I didn't finish exactly what I set out to do. I wanted to do 3 series of work, with 10-15 portfolio pieces for my website. That may have been a bit ambitious.  I did not get that done sadly.
However, my project headed in a different direction and I am getting pretty excited about it. I think I told you in my last post that I got a lot of good feedback on my bullying pieces. Well, I've decided to take the plunge and make it a full length children's story. This will be my first time doing something like this, completely without words, and in a new style!
I did finish another set of sketches; however, they aren't quite ready to share. I want the story I am telling with these to be very clear, so you will see them when they tell their story, and not before!
In order to not completely disappoint, here is the character from my bullying story:

Just a whimsical little girl

I may not have finished my goals for September but I learned a lot and am really excited for the next steps. I experimented with digital production of art, I tried drawing in a new style, and I have the basis for a children's book that I am excited about. I learned what I can get done in a month beyond the work I already do, I learned how to be ok with not reaching a goal, but also how to push harder to reach the next one. Overall, it's been a good learning experience.
So what is my goal for October? To finish the book of course! You might think this is ambitious, but I feel pretty confident about it. Besides, most of the brainstorming is already done! I just need to edit, rearrange, draw some more, and then add color! And even if I don't finish it, I know I will learn more about my process and what I am capable of, and that is really what it is all about.
Since I am extending my art goal for another month,  I thought I should add something new to keep it exciting. My friend Olivia (again, see her art here) found this challenge for us! It's called Inktober, and the idea is to draw (with ink) something everyday for the month of October.  It was started by an artist named Jake Parker to develop his inking skills and good drawing habits. The best part, anyone can do it! Read more about it on the facebook page. I thought since I was already trying to challenge myself to draw everyday, this was a great way to keep myself motivated! Also, there are so many talented artists already doing it, so it's a really inspiring community to be a part of. My friend Cathie is also doing it with me so I am really excited! You can see (and follow!) her page here.

So if you don't already, follow my facebook page, and on instagram (username: anneappertillustration) to see my Inktober drawings every day!
This also gave me the excuse I needed to buy a new set of pens for the challenge, plus a nifty little case to keep them in!

Plus you get to see my drawing for today!

Now I really need to get back to work since I have a lot to do. Pick up your pens and ink and start making art!

The Art Challenge: Progress Report

Hello!
I've been working really hard on my art challenge the past couple weeks. I wasn't going to show you the progress until I had finished it a bit more, but I was informed it might help inspire any of you who are doing challenges to keep working if I post my progress. So here it is!
I had a really hard time starting this challenge. It was bizarre! I have all the ideas, I can even envision the final pieces in my head, color and all, and I just didn't want to start. I think mostly it was a fear of not being able to put what I was envisioning on to paper. Then I found this really cool artist (as in musician) that my friend introduced me to, and I was really inspired by her music. Since I was feeling creative every time I heard one of her songs, I decided to just listen to her album on repeat and start drawing. Guess what? It actually worked! (In case your curious, the artist is LP. check her out! Here is her website). Now every time I don't feel like working on my project, I start playing her album. So far it's really working for me. Maybe if you are stuck, you should find a new artist that inspires you. It worked for me, it could also work for you!
So here is my process for this challenge (and really any piece I am working on):
The first theme I picked to illustrate a series for was bullying, or being picked on. First, I write down any and all ideas that come to my head and draw the roughest thumbnails. These are so rough I think I am probably the only one who can decipher them. Also, for this series, I had it pretty clearly in my head, so I didn't need as many thumbnails.

The scribbled notes in my little sketchbook. As you can see, the thumbnails aren't much of anything

Then I start making tighter, but still loose, sketches in my sketchbook.

Then, I traced everything onto tracing paper. This enabled me to make everything clean, figure out stuff I wanted to take out, and make the picture a little more legible to me. I traced it with pencil because I wanted that kind of line in my final piece.

Then I added color and texture in photoshop. I've only "finished" one so far, but here is a look.
I wanted to work in a limited color palette to really challenge myself.

I showed these to my friend Olivia who is also doing this challenge (don't forget to check out her tumblr to see her work!). I also showed these to a group of illustrators I have been meeting with every couple of months. They were all able to give me really good feedback, so there will be some changes to these sketches the next time you see them. They also inspired me to make this into a longer story! I think for the purposes of my challenge, I will still only try to finish 6 of the pieces, but I may add the other sketches if I have time.
Now it's time to get back to work. I have a lot to do! Hopefully, this was inspirational for your Monday. How are your projects going?

To Dream the Impossible Dream

Happy September all!
I know I haven't finished telling you about my trip yet, but I wanted to let you know about this challenge I am doing this month.
Recently, I've been reading No Plot? No Problem!. This book is about how to write a novel in a month. (No I'm not writing a novel . . . yet. )
It got me thinking though, if you can write a decent length novel in a month, a seemingly impossible task, what else could you accomplish in a month?
Which led me to my art challenge for September. In the next month, I've promised to challenge myself to do something seemingly impossible that moves me forward in my art career. The only rules? I couldn't start drawing until September 1st, and everything needs to be done and posted here by September 30th. I want it to be something different then I usually do, yet something that will strengthen my portfolio. I  want to do 10-15 portfolio pieces (so scary seeing it in print!) but would be happy with any strong pieces that come out of this challenge. I don't want to give anything away yet, but I'm pretty excited about some of the ideas I've come up with.
However, I've already started procrastinating! And I'm only on day 3 of the challenge. (I mean, this was supposed to start the 1st, and here I am, only telling you about it now!) When I realized I was simply scared to start, I emailed my wonderfully talented friend Olivia (see her work here), who is doing this challenge with me! It seems that we are both struggling a bit already, but it helps to know someone else is doing this with me, and also helps hold me accountable to someone other than myself, and that looming deadline. I think just telling her, "I'm scared!" helped me make the first scribble of an idea on paper.
Now I am also posting it here, so you can all hold me accountable too. Even though it's the 3rd already, you can join too! Pick something seemingly impossible to do, and get it done! Let me know what you are planning to do in the comments and we can all help each other with this challenge. Of course, since I am telling you about this late, you can also just simply enjoy our crazy journey so keep looking for mine and Olivia's updates! I'll be sure to post everything both here and on my Facebook page so you can't miss it.
(No worries. I will take some breaks from feverishly drawing to inspire you with beautiful pictures of the California coast!)
This month is all about challenging yourself and getting outside of your comfort zone. What will you do?

A little motivation from our friend the hedgehog. Time to get to work!