Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Everyone! I hope the holidays treated everyone marvelously. I don't know about you all, but I need a vacation from my vacation! This break was long, and thoroughly enjoyable, but it was difficult to relax with so much going on-whew!

New Year's Selfie. Classy.

I don't have any resolutions because, frankly, I don't believe in them. Sure, it's great to give yourself goals-nice, manageable goals-but there is no point in lying to myself every time the ball drops because, no, I will not go to the gym every day of the week just to fit in a pant size I've never fit in before in my life! My train of thought: Do I work out? Yep. Am I a nice person? Generally speaking. Should I eat better? Absolutely. Am I happy? Always. So, I've got my resolution bases covered. 

The new year has brought with it some commissions for me though! This is personally exciting because I've never really opened myself up to commissions before. I'm starting small, just one or two pieces here and there, because I want to continue to enjoy art. My biggest worry is that if I teach art, then work on commissions all the time, I'll no long find personal meaning or enjoyment in my work. So we'll see. A challenge for me though is pricing. I've never had to consider it! Do I charge hourly? By size? By details? Materials? There are so many things to consider that I've not really...had to consider before. So that is a work in progress.

My first commission is for someone I know so he's got the honor of being my guinea pig (shh). His request? A piece of art about Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Outside of that requirement I had the freedom to design it how I want. The piece is 11x14" and so far I'm really pleased with it!

I'd say I'm at about the half-way point. The vast majority of blank space will be filled with watercolor illustrations that wont be so tight and controlled as the figures are and therefore not take as much time. So far, I've used Prismacolor colored pencils, Prismacolor illustration markers, and COPIC MARKERS! Santa was good to me this year and gifted me with about 36 Copic markers and boy howdy am I in love. Copics don't bleed out like Prismacolor tends to. It's refreshing not to have to worry about that bleed out. I've also incorporated acrylic paint for highlights and such.

Philadelphia Skyline

Equally exciting, my husband and I went to Philadelphia just before New Year's Eve. We live two hours away and I had never been before/ Shame on me! So we did some typical touristy things; Constitution Hall, South Street, and Philly cheese steaks. Those activities aside we also toured the macabre Mutter Museum and the AMAZING Barnes Collection.

http://www.collegeofphysicians.org/mutter-museum/

http://www.barnesfoundation.org/

The Barnes Collection is a staggering personal collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, and early modern artwork including, but not limited to, Renoir, Cezanne, Matisse, and Picasso. The collection was breathtaking. I highly, highly recommend it.

Anyway, look forward to some more student artwork in the new few days and weeks - it's back to the grindstone! Happy New Year, Everyone!

<3 Kate