intelligence is knowing how much you don't know.

“When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.”  -Mark Twain

I'm enthralled with the Danidraws blog. I could watch the demo's all day long. I had become so routine in my approach to illustration. I thought this was "my style". But after watching Dani, I'm trying new things and starting to get a real hand drawn feel to my digital art. This is my first attempt after watching one of her demos. Pears! Not the usual rigid dig. stuff- smooth and imperfect. Like me! lol. Happy Friday everyone.

Dark: Inspire Me Thursday

When I was little, I had a dream about a secret little hiding space in the wall of my room. They didn't have Dora Pop Tents back then, and I really wanted my own little place. This is a take on this weeks theme for Inspire Me Thursday- this week's theme being "dark."

Back then I was a nerdy little bookworm (definitely a Hufflepuff). The book on the floor would have either been Where The Sidewalk Ends, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, or The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (ok, ok, could've been Dear God, Its Me Margaret too.)

mini illustrations

I was asked to do a series of very specific illustrations for a girls magazine. Here is the full series. What a fun project this was!

Mademoiselle Caroline Rivière: Inspire Me Thursday

So- I was just breezing through all the illustrator blogs ( and feeling like a poser) when I stumbled across the "Inspire Me Thursday" link. I was so moved by the theme this week- I decided to take a stab at it. What a fascinating painting. I couldn't stop thinking about it all night. I loved working on this as much as I imagine Sophia Coppola loved recreating the world of Maria Antoinette. I did several sketches, but this one is my favorite.

The challenge was to do your own take on the painting. The original is shown below. Go ahead try it! I double dog dare ya.

frightfully delightful.

I recently designed an entire line of Halloween gift product for one of my favorite clients. I've been asked to work on a logo. This is just one idea I had- the real name of the line isn't "total witch". I don't want to let the cat out of the bag... har har har. get it... cat... (I'm a dork.)

a day in the life of Lisa Graves.

This is my ridiculous to-do list. I think I need bigger index cards. For some reason I like writing all my lists on small cards. I guess it seems less overwhelming.

I also think these lists need to be prettier. Ha!

sugar and spice and everything nice

two from a series of 13 mini illustrations I'm currently working on for GEMS Girls' Club. It's such a great gig- I get to draw girls of all different ethnicities doing various activities. Fun fun fun. Its projects like this that make me really love my job.

book worms.

I've had the pleasure of working with an old friend this past week. I had read some of his columns online, but was pleasantly surprised to find his collection of short stories to be absolutely brilliant- dark & funny, my favorite. This is just one of the concepts being thrown around. The title is going to change- but this is a start. Please visit his website for excerpts from this book. I promise you'll be happy you did. Michael Atwood

the most wonderful time of the year...

Taking a page out of a new friend's book (pun intented.) A fellow artist/blogger put up a post about a book she's about to read. Its a fantastic blog- please visit. Life Without Novacaine
So I thought it would be fun to put together all my favorite witch books- which is really my favorite genre. This really is the best time of the year. Now, where's my broom?

oh baby baby.

Did this quickly for my gal pal Nicole (I like to call her Francesca or Matilda). She's launched a web store specifically for twins and triplets. She has triplets herself, so its amazing she can make sure she brushes her teeth let alone work full time, raise 3 kids, and launch a business. Anyhoo- she's  interested in embroidery so this concept isn't going to work for her right now. Still like the idea though- hmmm.Twin and Triplet Gifts

Published!

Very excited to report that I currently have an illustration running in Sparkle magazine for girls. The article was written by a young girl who saves up all her spare change to help others. Impressive- I think the only thing I saved up for at age 12 was a benneton sweater.

http://www.gemsgc.org/

in the wrong place.

I did this last night while laying in bed wondering how the hell I'm ever going to make things right- I recently wrote a sarcastic, but very funny recap of my brother's wedding. The in-laws were less than welcoming and my "narrative" went into very harsh, but still comedic, detail. This story got into the wrong hands and was distributed to all those I made fun of. The illustration is a self-portrait of my heart being in the wrong place. I have one... but my desire to destroy sometimes pushes it under my foot.

"This wound is far more deep within, it bleeds from the outside- in."

Message to friends.

I recently took myself off of Facebook due to some privacy issues. I hope my good friends will come to my blog for updates and information. I have a lot of fires burning right now and hope to be launching a new business within a few weeks. Stay tuned for details.