Weekend Snapshots

 Hi! I just wanted to share some fun snapshots from this weekend. I spent some time arranging my growing collection of stones and collected shells from the beach around my favorite drip candle. Sometimes all it takes is the simplest activity to brighten my spirits.

In need of some art therapy, I spent Sunday afternoon working in my art journal. It's a very intuitive process for me, and I try not to question or judge myself as I work in the pages. This is the place I feel truly free to experiment and explore parts of myself that are usually left in the shadows of my subconscious.

What did you do for fun over the weekend?

New Birthday Cards!

Have A Magical Birthday

I just finished three new birthday cards! They were so much fun to create and they are now available for purchase in my Etsy shop!

Snappy Birthday To You

Birthday Wishes

Here is a little 'behind the scenes' snapshot of my process of creating the Birthday Wishes card. I always start out sketching and developing a good line drawing. Then I get out my watercolors and have fun painting different elements. Finally I scan it all into the computer and finish it up in Photoshop.

Going Cuckoo!

You may be quite familiar with me posting about Lilla Rogers' ecourses by now. Last year I took both her classes, Make Art That Sells (A & B). When she announced that she was going to offer another course, Make Art That Sells: Assignment Bootcamp, I quickly signed up. The format is similar to her other classes, but the difference being we get one assignment per month (instead of one per week) and none of the other instruction she provided in her other classes. Assignment Bootcamp is basically an opportunity to continue to make new art for my portfolio, practice working within a professional creative brief, and connecting with other artists around the world.

Our first assignment was to draw cuckoo clocks and then take that art to create a iPhone case design. Here are my initial sketches...

My Final Design:

I haven't had a chance to upload this to my Society6 shop yet, but I hope to soon! I'll let you know when this design will be available for purchase :)

Live By The Sun, Love By The Moon

I'm excited to finally finish this new painting! It began as a project for Mary Kate McDevitt's Skillshare class back in November. Things were too crazy over the holidays, so I was happy to finally have some time to work on it these past few weeks.

Watercolor & Ink © Rachel Beyer 2014

Prints are available in my Etsy shop!

My First Skillshare Class

Hi! I wanted to share my latest project. After Lilla Rogers' e-course ended I got to work on my first Skillshare class, The First Steps of Hand-Lettering by Mary Kate McDevitt. Our project was to choose a phrase to draw/letter. I chose, "Live By The Sun, Love By The Moon". I really enjoyed the process of the project and the class. I'm always dying to learn more about other artist's processes and how they develop and create their work. I loved watching Mary Kate draw and feel like I learned a whole lot from her class. Check out my entire project on Skillshare. Here are some snapshots of my project...

This is where I'm at with my phrase. I also signed up for Mary Kate's second class, The Final Steps of Hand Lettering, and hope to develop it further!

Summer Quilt Project

My friend Michelle had her first baby in August and I took up the opportunity to make her a baby quilt. Her husband's favorite hobby is sailing so I thought this quilt design from Cornbread & Beans Quilting Co. would be perfect for their baby boy. I couldn't find a pattern, so all I had to go off of was the photo I found on Pinterest. Luckily, both my Mom and Gramma are experienced sewers so with their help I was able to create my own pattern based on the photograph.

I am notorious for starting new craft projects and never finishing them - especially when they are larger projects that take a while to complete. When I decided to make this quilt I told myself I had to finish it and made time every week to work on it.

My Gramma is not only an amazing quilter, she also is a fabric collector and has more fabric than most fabric stores. All the materials used to make this quilt I found digging through boxes in her sewing room.

This was a really fun project and I'm really happy with how it turned out. I hope that Michelle and her little one will enjoy it for years to come.

Woodland Critters

This weekend I updated my Etsy shop with a bunch of new goodies. First I wanted to share this new 8x10 print, Woodland Critters with matching Woodland Scout Badges!

Woodland Critters 8x10 Print

Scout Badges - Woodland Collection

I also have a new iPhone Case (also available for the iPod touch and Samsung Galaxy S4) and Throw Pillow available in my Society6 shop! All Society6 pillows now come with the option of indoor or outdoor fabric! Plus get free shipping when you spend $50 or more.

Woodland Critters iPhone Case

Woodland Critters Throw Pillow

My Heart Belongs In Issaquah

I finished my very first art commission! I created this watercolor and ink illustration for So, There Clever Handmade Goods. Prints and cards will be for sale exclusively at the So, There shop on Front Street in Issaquah, Washington.

Yes! I'm available for commissions! View my full portfolio here.

Woodland Critters

Take a look at my latest project! I'm starting to plan some new autumn themed designs. I created this little scene of woodland critters with a few coordinated patterns. I started out working on a huge pattern that incorporated all of these elements (and more), but I wasn't too happy with the initial direction I chose so I completely changed gears and created this scene instead.

"Summer Fun" Pattern

I spent most of my weekend working on developing this fun pattern of summer icons. These started out as sketchbook doodles from a few weeks ago. I think this pattern could make a great summer journal cover or iPhone case. What other fun products do you see this being used for??

Daily Drawing Week 1

Making time to draw every day is quite the challenge. Although I did make a lot of art this past week, I wasn't able to just sit down and doodle every single day. I think that will definitely be something that will take some practice until I develop more of a routine. I've also found that I won't sit down to draw until the end of my day (before bed), a time that is more difficult to focus and be productive (especially after working 8 hours at my part time job), so I will have to experiment with drawing at different times to see what works best for me.

Here are a few sketches and doodles I did this week. Some are very simple sketches that were later developed more, and some are just random, fun doodles... I'll be posting more 'final' art projects later this week!

Daily Drawings

With only one week left of Lilla Roger's class, Make Art That Sells, the biggest thing I've learned is that in order to become a working artist, you have to be creating constantly. We've watched amazing interviews with artists like Mike Lowery, Mati Rose, and Suzy Ultman and they all keep sketchbooks and are drawing all the time, every day. My goal for July is to do just that, draw a little every day. I'll be sharing my drawings here every Sunday or you can also follow me on Instagram where I'll be posting them daily.

Here are some drawings I've worked on recently...

Lilla Rogers Studio School - Week 4

The theme for Week 4 was wall art and we all got out our paint and collage supplies to create our weekly assignment. I had a lot of fun with this one. It felt so good to work with acrylic paint and dig out my massive collection of collage materials. I used Mati Rose's book as a guide for each painting. 

Lilla Rogers Studio School - Week 3

Last week our assignment was to illustrate the fairy tale, "The Snail and the Rose Tree." It was quite a challenge for me as I've never designer/illustrated a children's book and I only had 3 days to complete it.

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I learned a lot from the process and now want to continue experimenting illustration layout, texture and watercolor techniques.

Butterfly Garden

I just finished this new pattern, "Butterfly Garden" based on the plate designs I created for Make Art That Sells. 

I'm so excited for this week's assignment. The theme is children's books!

Lilla Rogers Studio School - Week 2

For week 2 of Lilla Rogers' Make Art That Sells class we had to design our own plate collection with a botanical theme. I started out with lots of sketches and then decided to paint different pieces with watercolor and acrylic ink. Next I scanned them in and assembled them on the computer.

This assignment was definitely a challenge (I played with SO many different arrangements) and ended up submitting the top design for the class. It was fun creating the art for this and I plan to work with it more to create a pattern design too.

Lilla Rogers Studio School - Week 1

I just completed Week 1 of Lilla Rogers Studio School, Make Art That Sells. The class so far has been incredible and I feel so lucky to have this opportunity. I'm so excited to learn, stretch my creative bones and work hard to create new art. The topic for this week was bolt fabric. I'm really pleased with how my Retro Kitchen pattern turned out! 

Looking For Fun, Feeling Groovy

I finally added prints of my newest painting to my Etsy shop!

Looking For Fun, Feeling Groovy!

Available in both 8x10 and 11x14 sizes.

From the Weekend

My mom and I took a walk in the rain on Saturday. It was warm and the rain wasn't too heavy, so it was actually enjoyable. I loved seeing all the pretty spring flowers blooming in my neighborhood.

Dinah and I spent the day resting and painting on the couch.

I finished the watercoloring of this new painting. Next I will use some acrylic to finish it up.

Today is very noisy at my house. It is Day 1 of getting a new roof installed. I'm debating leaving for a while, but am worried about leaving the cats alone with all the crazy loud noise. 

Life Lately

It's a cold and rainy weekend here in Portland and so far I've spent my time making art, doing some spring cleaning, reading and thrifting...

 I just finished two Rock-A-Bye paintings based on the greeting card designs I created. I'm excited about these as art prints, would look so cute in a nursery!

 Another piece in it's beginning stages....

 Reading Lilla Roger's book is making me super excited for her studio school in June!

 Dusting and rearranging our living room... Listening to records and burning incense helps me get in the 'cleaning' mood.