The Life Pursuit: San Smith

Live drawing demo + sketches to buy!

Well today was another Friday live drawing demo on Ustream! This time I took 2 word requests from twitter, facebook and tumblr to draw during my demo! I got some really fun ones: 

• tapdancing accordian! - thisisstar (twitter)
• Polarbear driving - MrMikeG (twitter)
• Flying Gorilla - Neomental (twitter)
• Sleepwalking barber, Armless ventriloquist, Marshmallow ninja, razorblade donut, monochrome peacock, fail whale - ZombieJP (twitter)
• drinking bikers! in honor of brunks on Saturday. Doesn't have to be beers - a lil teacup, martini, soup, from a hose, etc. - Abbyloving (twitter)
• Rainbow Sandwich - seekatiedraw (tumblr)
• PUNK CHIHUAHUA - Linnya (twitter)
• French Pelican, giraffe peeper or kitty sailor - Julie Malone (facebook)
• Eagle Haberdasher - Ben Hill (facebook)
• Meat Cat - JimHodgson (twitter)
• intoxicated dinosaur - GinnyMcQueen (twitter)
• NINJA ROBOT - Kidcruz (tumblr)
• drunk san - victorhatesyou (twitter)
• passionflower, mihoshi - Kelly Loija (facebook)
• puppet scientist - Brooke Napier (facebook)

Due to the fact that I only had an hour and half to work I wasn't able to draw them all... 

These are the ones I went with: 

This was so much fun! Unfortunately I forgot to hit the record button when streaming today, so there isn't any video for those who missed it... but I'll try to remember to record next time! 

Also, if I drew your words and you want a copy of the illustration for printing
 I'm taking $5 paypal donations in exchange for a high res file!  
 

All sketches fit on a 8.5x11" nicely. Be sure to let me know which illustration was yours in the check out! If I didn't draw your words but you still want one of the drawings, thats fine too ;) 
 

I'm still taking requests for next week, and I'll try to fit in a few that I wasn't able to draw this time too. Feel free to comment below with your two words for drawings!

To close this post out - here is a goofy quick doodle I did for my friend Katie. She is researching tween interests for pattern design, and when she told me about it I kept picturing her hiding out at the mall in safari clothes observing teeny boppers like National Geographic! hahahah... I can't wait to see the cool stuff she illustrates for her designs. I told her to draw Justin Beiber! ;)

Hope you guys enjoyed the live drawing demo today - and if you have any suggestions or comments on it please let me know! I'm trying to decide if the 1-2:30 pm ET time is good or not - feedback would be awesome!

Mini tour of my office!

Earlier today I was trying to snap a photo of my current nail polish for twitter... and I ended up doing a tiny video of my office in the process! It occurred to me that it has been ages since the last time I took photos of my working area (Last time was in 2008!) so it might be fun to share the video plus show photos explaining whats in my office.

For those who don't know, I work from home as a freelance illustrator - so I try to keep my office somewhat neat and filled with lots of inspirational things... however my office is kinda small which can make it a challenge! I have so many things in storage that I'd love to hang up or display on shelves, but until we have a larger house someday that stuff has to stay boxed so I can use my space for working, equipment storage and resources. (Someday I hope to have enough space to have a huge shelf for all my collectibles!! ;D A gal can dream.)

See below for an explanation of all the things in the video:

And a little explanation on my desk

My work area has to meet a lot of needs - I not only sketch on paper at it, but I also draw digitally on my Cintiq 21ux and use my iMac for design. On top of all of that, I have a pretty small space to work with! It took me about a year to figure out a setup I liked - but at the moment it is this: I use my Cintiq as the main monitor and the iMac as a secondary display to check colors against the Cintiq or hold other windows. The keyboard is on a usb extension cord and wraps around the back of the Cintiq with the mouse connected to it's side. When I'm typing I push the Cintiq to the back of the desk and pull the keyboard in front like pictured above. When I'm drawing, I move the Cintiq to the edge of the desk and the keyboard to the left so I can reach it if I need to... 

I'm sure I'll move things again before the year is over - but for now I really like this set up! You can see a picture below of what it looks like when I have the Cintiq moved forward to draw on. It's not the most glamorous photo - no make up and working on a hot summer evening - but you get the idea!

Do you have an office or work area in your home? Do you like to keep it neat and decorated, or is it a place for creative messes and bursts of inspiration? (I try to find a balance between the two!)

More wallpapers, July's sponsors and more!

So here is the other desktop I promised, for those of you who aren't digging Katy Perry or live where its not summery... a cute little gal in rain boots... I've really been wishing for rain lately (I get so tired of the heat!) so that is what inspired this doodle. I'm looking forward to fall so I can wear comfy sweaters and stompy rain boots.

This is for personal desktop/iPhone use only and not to be edited for any other purposes! 

1900x1200 | 1600x1200 | 1280x1024 | iPhone

 

I also should point out that there are three lovely new ads on my blog now... I'm really excited to have these fun shops sponsoring my blog this month! Check them out:

      

A little about July's sponsors:

Zambicandy has adorable apparel, rings, necklaces and more
Monkeeboo is filled with cute cozy scarves and is offering free shipping to anywhere in the US if you mention "San" when you check out... 
and Julie Peach has awesome journals, art and home items with a handmade touch. 

Annnnd - If you missed it last week, you can check out almost all of the live drawing demo recorded on my Ustream page here. I worked almost 2 hours longer than I originally planned because I was trying to finish up a drawing for my boyfriend's birthday. Above is a peek at it - little Totoro on a bicycle with Catbus in the background! I'll be sharing the final illustration later this week. :)

Other news: I'm working really hard right now to bring some great items to my etsy and I'm looking forward to sharing about that hopefully around Friday. It looks like I'm going to have prints, stickers, journals, stamps and jewelry this go around! Maybe even some apparel - I'll have to see how the pricing pans out... Also, I should finally be announcing my contest this week! I just need to finish figuring out the details on that... Until then - Hope you guys had a great weekend and see you next post!

Live drawing demos, classes and ads!

I have three announcements to make!

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. ;)

Video update! San Francisco trip

San Francisco trip - April 2010 from San Smith on Vimeo.
I was a little iffy for a bit on this video because it's kinda long, and not the most exciting video in the world... but for those of you who love San Francisco (or have never been) it might be interesting! I think my favorite parts are when Chris, Seth and I are at the coin operated museum, Musée Mécanique. I loved all the fortune telling machines - I'm such a nerd for that stuff! The part in the video where I have my hand placed on a machine and its typing is actually one of those... supposedly by placing your hand on the machine and selecting your zodiac sign it can tell you a fortune about yourself. Silly but a lot of fun - the fortune printed out of the side and said:

"You are among the few who can see both sides of every subject, but do not be swerved too easily by the opinions of others. You have an excellent memory and an insatiable curiosity. Cultivate will power, and concentrate on the problem now on hand. Be careful of your nerves."

Like I said - kinda silly... but I like taking little snippits like that to inspire myself to work hard and be positive. Fortunes are what you make of them! :)

In other news, still working away on drawings that are due and personal stuff - I really hope it all gets wrapped up soon because I'm looking forward to sharing it. Oh! And my Princess Bubblegum crown tutorial was shared on the blogs "Super Punch" and "Frederator" - both are awesome sites and you should check them out!

Last but not least, I bought a ridiculous floppy sun hat yesterday. I'm going to see my family in Florida at the end of the month, and I thought this might be a fun way to protect myself from the sun. Isn't it huge!? I feel like I'm wearing a disguise! I can't help but make cheesy faces while I wear it - Haha... Anyhow - hope you guys have a great weekend <3