Illustrator
Did anyone else watch the Lunar Eclipse last night? I stood on my driveway to watch it for a bit and then bugs were around so I watched it from my window. Once the moon was covered and looked like a penny, I fell asleep. It was really cool though!
The next eclipse is will be November 8, 2022!
Due to a minor injury to my drawing hand/wrist, I will not be accepting new commissions at this time. I hope to be open for business again in April 2022. Thank you for your patience and understanding. I’ll be okay, I just need some time to heal.
This was a work in progress that I abandoned when the pandemic started because it was problematic to begin with, but I loved that grouchy lion. But finally, I came back to it. So I put some masks on all the animals and said to myself “ finish this some day” so its still not done. I still like the idea though and will probably redraw the whole thing and keep the grouchy lion unmasked.
That day isn’t today, but I thought I’d state my intentions publicly because I feel like I need more stress and pressure in my life 😂😂
How is everyone doing?
I have no idea what the new year will bring, but I hope it is a safe and healthy one for each of you and your loved ones.
Well, this is a long overdue post. I’ve been distracted lately. I traveled in October, and had a birthday in November and had a lot of yard work to do this fall. Overall, I’ve been very fortunate.
I don’t know what 2022 will bring but I hope it is filled with good health, good company, and good food for you all.
In the last month or so, I hit a wall when it came to the picture book I’m writing/illustrating. Sometimes the best thing to do in that case is to walk away. I read some books, I took out some embroidery patterns I wanted to finish and found an old knitting pattern I forgot about. It’s a pumpkin! I’ll have to share it when it’s all done.
My mother bought this book by Jessica Long called Animal Embroidery Workbook. There are loads of great patterns in there. I find embroidery to be incredibly relaxing. Here are a couple of the patterns from her book that I had a chance to take on.
The otters are in her book, but she also had them available as a kit from her etsy shop. It was really lovely to have all the materials together and not have to hunt them down myself.
I have a couple ideas for embroidery patterns to make for myself now, which I’m having fun working on, but I know that I’m also ready to get back to drawing and writing again.
Next month, I’ll be traveling. I’m very excited and nervous about it. My focus is all over the place and I find unless you’re talking to me about the joys of travel-sized things, I am probably lost in thought, thinking about if I really need to pack those cookies.
(Yes, yes I do)
It’s back to school time! I hope everyone’s kiddos have a great transition back to school!
I recommend Ryan Higgin’s book We Don’t Eat Our Classmates! You can check it out here.
Since the last update, I’ve had the pleasure of working on a few portraits and drawings. Then my hands ached and I took a week off. Now I am doing hand exercises and they really help! Also, I don’t use my phone a lot anymore, and I take more care in how I hold my tablet, making sure my palm is flat against the back of it, instead of holding it like a book. I also hold my books with my palm on the back instead of holding the sides too. Basically, I avoid holding anything like a lobster claw 😁
My hands are getting tired right now typing this so….Here are some grouchy birds! 😁 see you next month! I hope everyone stays healthy and safe.
I was really excited to work with Mike Phirman and illustrate the cover for his latest album, ACTIVITY BOOKS. Mike is an ideal client, he’s funny, nice, communicative and a joy to work with. This was such a fun project, and Mike’s songs are really great! He has some really great videos by different artists and you can listen to his songs on all the main streaming services. Here’s a link to his instagram that has all the information you’ll need!
Visual Description of the Album Cover:
In the top middle of a square image, the words, “Mike Phirman’s Activity Books” appears in bright colors. Bottom right from the title is a circle with song titles listed: “Connect the Dots”, “What’s Wrong With this Picture?”, “Maze”, “Color by Number”, and “Word Search”. Musical notes and school supplies are scattered throughout the image. On the bottom left of the cover is a color by number boxer figure, being scribbled in with a red crayon. Directly above him is a rocket and some crayons. Middle left is a connect the dots image of a dog in a carry on bag. In the top left corner is a snake in a pan of bacon cooking. From the snake in the pan towards the right is a pencil drawing waves, pointing to the top right image, which is a vacuum cleaner filled with colorful objects.
I drew a lot of stick figures this week. I like drawing little stick people, and sometimes I feel like I capture more of how I feel in a stick person than I do when I draw myself. There’s something really freeing in just breaking it down to the simplest parts of drawing a person. I focus less on getting the details right and more on poses and expression. It’s not necessarily faster as a process, but it’s really enjoyable for me as an artist.
I tired a lot. And I read other people’s posts on different social media sites and realized we’re all really tired. Some people were kind enough to share their specific tiredness so I could draw it out with my stick people. Oddly enough, drawing what is exhausting was very energizing for me. But I sensed people were tired of talking about what made them tired, so next week I’ll focus on something else. 😀
Autumn Seybert 