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Mentioned in the sketch... here is a link to "Jesus Diamante" - I don't know much about it other than it's a clothing brand (I think) from Japan, and I see cute pictures of it on tumblr a lot. I think the style *might* be called Gyaru - but like I said, I don't know much about it! (If anyone knows more - post in the comments!) I've also been really into Katy Perry's song, "California Gurls", which led to me looking up photos of her old concert outfits. She had a really cute style for her last cd! I love her teal outfit I've seen a few times, I decided to draw that... here is a sketch - I should have the finished version tomorrow:
And one more sketch - my friend Victor mentioned on twitter the other day that he had a dream I drew a topless redheaded girl for him, and he got it tattooed... I thought that was so goofy I decided to draw it for him in hopes to peer pressure him into getting a real tattoo ;) We shall see... haha!
Here is a cropped version, click the "read more" link below for the full version.
Alright - it's not Thursday anymore, but I still want to share this... So lets just call it "Things I love Thursday but more like Friday favorites" or something. Ha! I have so much stuff I'm excited about right now - I typed it up kinda quick and wont be able to review until after my live drawing demo... so I apologize if anything is typed wonky ;) Hope you enjoy this:
Random things I'm into at the moment
- Harry Potter - Rooibos tea - Bath Bombs! I haven't used any since last summer, and I think I'm feeling nostagic... Lush has some really great ones that have confetti and glitter in them! They are my favorite. - Birthday celebrations - Reading on the porch while it rains - This Hippo skirt! - Colorful Sweaters - I have one in purple and one in green, and they really brighten up my outfits! - Glittery resin jewelry - Titanium Rainbow Quartz - gorgeous! I want to get a tiny piece and make a ring out of it or something. - Colorful doughnuts - Researching Children's books for an upcoming idea I have - and picking up one for myself! Whee, I love looking at picture books...they make me smile. - Film cameras - Glitter eyeliner and brightly colored nail polish. I don't have any glitter eyeliner sadly, but I hope to get some soon - I was admiring some the other day and I think it would look really pretty! - Cowboy boots - The idea of a "Pink-nic" from the book children's book, "Pink me up!" - Nail Art - Here are my two attempts at it so far - yellow with pink bows and strawberries - Swarovski Crystals... I just ordered an assortment from etsy to decorate my hair flowers. I can't wait for them to arrive! I hope I don't glue my fingers together...
Bloggers I'm enjoying
- Chubby Bunny - An old friend with a super fun blog! Check her out - Michelle is the cutest! She makes amazing plush hairbows, has magical rainbow hair and loves to have fun! Her posts are aways colorful and interesting.
- Betty Felon - Super cool gal who mixes her loves for comics and fashion into amazing outfits. She also makes some pretty sweet costumes... I can't wait to see what she puts together for San Diego Comic Con!
- Jetta Vegas - Another cute hair one... ;) Jetta is a pink-haired gal who has some excellent writing and great positive vibes! I'm really digging her posts.
- Stuff no one told me - Title says it all... little life lessons paired with illustrations. Hilarious.
Music I'm really liking right now
- California Beach Boy - The Dollyrots - Bourgeois Sangri-La - Miss Li - Saw Red - Gwen Stefani with Sublime - Tightrope - Janelle Monae - Nothin' on you - B.o.B. and Bruno Mars - Love is all around - Joan Jett
Internetty things
- Sue Kreitzman and her studio on Advanced Style - yet another little old lady inspires me with her creativity. I seriously love the Advance Style blog for showing us all these fun people!
I will now be doing live drawing demos every Friday! I've been experimenting with Ustream trying to figure out a good way to do drawing demos, and I think I've finally found a set up that I like! So the first demo will start tomorrow. I'll be available to answer questions as I work if anyone has any and might even take requests on things to doodle ;) Who knows! By the way, if you have any opinions on whether you prefer sound on or off - please let me know! I'm still undecided on that.
You can watch live, this Friday - 1:00-2:30 pm ET at Sanland on Ustream!
Looking forward to seeing you there! :)
Also - I plan on offering online digital illustration classes soon! Not a whole lot of information it yet, but it's something I'm interested in providing and I think Ustream might be a great testing ground to get used to video tutorials. I'm going to try to focus on making classes that can be used either with or without a tablet. I'll post more on this later, but for now - here is a link to the new site section for Classes and Tutorials... and if you have anything you've ever wanted me to discuss or explain, let me know! I might just make a class for it. :)
Last, but not least: I'm now offering advertising placement on my site!
Ad sizes and prices:
150x150 pixels - Large static ad - $25 a month
150x75 pixels - Small static ad - $15 a month
Please check out my new section on sponsoring the site if you are interested in purchasing an ad spot! Space is limited and the first ads will be going up July 1st!
I'm so excited for all these new additions to my site, and I hope you guys are excited too! Leave me your feedback on any of this, I'd love to know! See you tomorrow at the live demo! Check back tomorrow for a "Friday Favorites" aka, belated Things I love Thursday. ;)
I've had some questions lately asking what inspires me and I decided to answer it in a new Ideas and Inspiration post... Enjoy!
Fun Ideas to help keep you inspired, happy and motivated:
Make a desktop of favorite photos with mosaic maker - think of it as a digital mood board. I have one on my desktop made with my flickr favorites and I *love* looking at it - the colors, textures and photos make me feel so happy and excited. (please be mindful if you do this, not to redistribute your desktops for other's use - it could upset the original photographers to have their photos shared in that manner!) Below is mine - if you are interested in locating the photos, they are in my flickr favorites.
And speaking of Mood Boards...
Make a Mood Board - What is a Mood Board? As mentioned above, its a collective of images, pieces of things, textures, patterns, objects, etc. that create the kind of mood you wish to visualize. I keep one in my office to look at daily that projects the kind of person I want to be/become/continue to be and the things I value, love and admire. It is a little personal so you'll have to excuse me for not sharing images - but! I really think it inspires me daily, and recommend to everyone to try to make one. My friend Anna Denise wrote a blog post recently on making Mood Boards and linked to a great article that explains Mood Boards further. Check it out!
Put inspirational notes to yourself all over your home - I like to hang these by my desk, or next to the mirror that I pick out my outfits at... My current notes are "Not without a fight!" to inspire me not to give up on my dreams, and "You are amazing", to remind me to believe in myself. Feel free to print out the above image I drew for this purpose or this older one, "What you believe = What is possible to manifest" :)
Try a new exercise to have fun outdoors - such as bike riding, roller skating or
hula hooping! You can take classes in your area if you don't already know how
to do something, or look up youtube videos tutorials so you can learn on your own!
Finally check out something you've been wanting to try - such as a
new book, a kind of tea, type of food, etc. I just recently have started
drinking Rooibos tea, finally read a Harry Potter book, and tried out Tofu
Steaks! Guess what - I loved it all - and now have new things I'm interested in! Trying
new things = awesome.
For those on a budget: Sign up for the Republic of Tea's catalog. It doesn't come often, but when it does it talks about interesting tea AND comes with a free tea sample! (The link to request a catalog is at the bottom right under the recently viewed items section) I love trying out the tea sample while reading about other kinds of teas, and marking the catalog for teas I want to try someday.
Make something - Sometimes working with your hands can be very relaxing and rewarding... I know a lot of people have told me they aren't "crafty", but I think the knack for making things can be learned with time and patience. Here are some fun things to try: Make clothing out of old T-Shirts, Upcycle your own tote, and Fold a paper fortune cookie.
Watch inspiring and cute youtube videos - Here are some of my favorites at the moment:
Hope these suggestions help inspire you and get your mind going on new ideas!
As for myself... I get my inspiration from a lot of things - music, people watching, tumblr, blog reading, comics, local happenings, friends... I always try to keep my eyes open and camera ready to document anything that seems interesting. I also try to keep a journal (outside of my blog) to document my interests and feelings... I find doing all these things keeps my mind active and helps me continue to learn about myself.
One of my early memories of being truly inspired was the first time I saw Björk's "Oh so quiet" video. I was captivated by it as teenager - I had never seen or heard anything like Björk before... she was so imaginative and unique compared to most of the music I had been exposed to at that age. To this day it still motivates me to do a little dance and be creative. Here is the "Oh so quiet" video to watch:
Always keep your eyes, ears and hearts open. You never know what will inspire you and change your life for the better! Happy Wednesday <3
So there have been a few changes over here as of late... I'm have a new site design - and have added pages for shopping, hiring me for commissions, and much more. A lot of the text is still being developed - but I'll let you guys know when I complete pages! Something else that is exciting: I updated my etsy shop which you can now browse on my site!
I added some new original art pieces to the store and lowered prices on already existing items! I'm getting ready for
new inventory in a few weeks - there will be new Stickers, Jewelry,
Notebooks, Stamps, Postcards, Art Prints, and more! :D http://www.san-smith.com/shop.html Check it out! I'm really excited about it.
Also, after being asked about it I decided to open back up my Formspring for a little while. If you have any questions you'd like to ask, or want to see answers to already asked questions, click here: http://www.formspring.me/sansmith
Like my silly picture for it? I have a telephone chair in our house, and this old fashioned telephone sits on it where a real one would go... I'm always picking it up and admiring it, but I don't think I've ever actually taken photos with it! Its one of my favorite things - if I could I would love to collect a ton of rainbow colored phones and display them on one of those square Ikea Expedit shelves. I think it would look super neat!
Also, I found TONS of sketchbooks and journals at my mother's house this weekend...23 of them to be exact that date from 1994 to 2004. I couldn't believe how much of my life I had documented over the years! So many drawings, confessions, dreams, stories, photographs... it really blew my mind. I've been flipping through them slowly and reminiscing about a lot of stuff, and took some photos of my 1997 journals... except I blurred out a lot of the text because some of it was pretty darn embarrassing ;)
Random things I'm into at the moment 
