Tweedle Dear and Tweedle Doll

Just a quick post! This piece was mailed off to Hive Gallery in LA. It's an Alice in Wonderland themed show (man those are popular with the new movie coming out). I chose to do my female interpretation of Tweedle Dee and Tweddle Dum, hence turning them into Tweedle Dear and Tweedle Doll.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Heart Day. For some, February 14th is a mess of capitalism and cheesy stuff animals, but my boyfriend and I see it as a friendly reminder that we should pick up a nice bottle of wine and forget about work for a while. This morning I painted him the little valentine above. I should explain- my nickname in the relationship is "squirrel". Although it sounds very cute, I actually got the title because I'm a total SPAZ when crossing the street (like a squirrel: right. left. hop to the right some more. freeze. RUN). He became known as "Woodchuck" (depending who you ask that came about for different reasons, although I think neither one of us knows 100% anymore). The apartment is littered with woodchuck drawings, but I don't have a scan. However, I realize that I basically draw him as a big round fuzzball that looks kind of like Totoro, so that will do for the sake of this entry.

BEHOLD:

Surface design is my new friend

Some surface design experiments from this past Fall. I have thought about making one of these into a new notebook/journal, but I'm not sure...

Enormous Tiny Art Show!!!

I don't think I've posted "Toy", right?? Well, it is one of a handful of my paintings in Nahcotta's seventh Enormous Tiny Art Show (Lovingly called ETA7 for short). Check out the event's website and the other fun artists here. Nahcotta is located in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and the show ends early March.

Mermaids make me think of warmer weather

This Mermaid was a small painting that went off to a gallery show in Florida. Mmmmm...Florida. Probably a weenzy bit warmer than Rhode Island right now. More paper umbrellas and plastic monkeys, too.

After a cozy morning of Kitchen Nightmares (Ramsey!) and a cup of tea, I'm going to work on my mailers now that I know exactly what I want to do. They are going to be a bit bigger, 5"x7" instead of your standard 4"x6". A bit pricier, but I'm not buying as many and have had fellow illustrators recommend the extra room. Another decision is to do two instead of one. Since I've edited my client list down I don't have to break the bank doing multiple mailers. The second one will be the sushi piece I posted a while ago (yum).

The longest Monday of them all....

The last few weeks I've been hiding in my studio avoiding January. Oh January, you are the Monday of the year. It's also a good time for fresh starts, and for me that means reviewing my client list, focusing my portfolio towards my most successful markets, and preparing a new mailer.

I noticed that it looks like some of my newer students have already started following my blog (which of course I promise to update more). Hello! I look forward to meeting you. Start warming up your pencils...

Feliz Navidad

I've been distracted with the holidays and everything else on my list wrapping up (ha, no pun intended!). With George Michael's "Last Christmas" filling my head and The Muppet Christmas Carol screening multiple times, I'm happy to share this sushi-inspired piece before family, friends, and fruitcake take over.

On a side note, I will be participating in a small Art Sale on December 16th at Waterplace Condos in Downtown Providence. The sale starts at 4:00.

Happy Holidays!

New Work.

New work! Always a joy to show new stuff (people like pictures better anyway). The top one is for a great Surface Design continuing education class I'm currently taking. This semester deals with hand painted work and then next semester utilizes using the computer. This means that I'm really trying to focus on designs and textures right now that can't be done on the computer with a simple "repeat" function. Luckily, I have enjoyed discovering many wonderful surface designers out there who make organic designs that don't have a particular repeat or pattern.

The second piece just took me a long time to scan (it was for the Summer RISD faculty show). I'll be showing it next week at West Side Arts Gallery in Providence.

In other news, Craftland in downtown Providence has sold two of my paintings as well as a bunch of prints and journals. It's a great feeling to get that check in the mail every month! Thanks to Craftland and the gang.

Princess Sticker Book for Galison/Mudpuppy.

I was pleasantly surprised the other day to see that Galison/Mudpuppy has my Princess Sticker book listed online at their site. This was a project I worked on January 2009 for their Fall line- it's full of quirky princesses, royal pets (you know animals always think they rule the house), dragons, castles, plus lots of accessories including tiaras, flowers, and shooting stars. I had a great experience making it and I'm so excited to see it in person. You can see the full listing on Galison's website.

New Prints on Society6.com

The truth is that I don't carry as many prints as I use to (sorry, sorry...I know). While a few are on etsy, I am happy to say that two more are available through Society6, an online community that now allows artists to sell high quality art prints through a professional third party. It's a real steal; a nice 17"x21" art print with trim is only about $32.00. Feel free to follow the link above and take a peek. All you have to do is scroll down until the two images show up and click on the orange "buy" icon.

Oh, and on another note: I will have a piece up in Soho this month! It is for a charity event and I'll be posting more information later.

Ed2010: "Digital Age"

This was a piece for Ed2010.com about editors transitioning into the digital age and abandoning the ways of print. Ironically, the topic also effects myself along with the entire illustration field as more magazines and publications are tying to move content online (for some it is a modern choice while for others a financial move). As I was working on this, I couldn't help but chuckle because my illustration students had recently worked on a very "businessy" illustration for an editorial assignment. You know, suits and ties...people in offices....it's hard to think of something not obvious and still very much artistically "you" when working with some of these topics. It was my turn! In the end I was very happy to have my editor out of the office and still very much in my world. I will say if there is one difference doing online illustration, it's that the images are usually TINY, although this one ended up looking good (and clear) in its small format. Love the color, and those are my cowboy boots.

Updates for Fall

Hello, hello. I'm happy to say that I am plugging away on new work and opportunities. Here is what is happening...

* Three shows coming up in Rhode Island, Florida, and New Hampshire. Details on those dates as they get closer.

* Another job for Ed2010 that will be posted soon. I'm rather happy with how it's coming out- I think it has mailer potential.

* The Fall RISD sale is October 10th and I'm working on small 5"x7" originals to sell. They are very quick and fun, and I usually get to experiment with some new things. You can see one below that turned out cute.

* My website is updated!

* Star Trek waffles rock. They are egos with a flat middle where illustrations are printed in edible ink. Currently I am eating Earth and Kirk, but I'm waiting for Spock one of these mornings. C'mon, Spock waffle!

Illustrator meeting

I. Have. So. Much. To. Do.

Well, maybe I exaggerate a bit...but I am busy. My mailers are in and I'm pouring over my client list to edit and update- so far I've weeded out several people that I realize I'm just wasting mailers (and stamps) on. I actually will try to be more heavy on the publishing side this round. However, not for picture books, just more juvenile covers for young adults and novelty items. I FINALLY got Dreamweaver back, which means that my poor website can be updated with a bunch of new work that has only appeared on my blog.

Oh, and did I mention I start teaching college again on Monday?

In other exciting news, I am meeting tonight with some local illustrators to have a drink, talk shop, and share some war stories. One is Allison Cole, who is an illustrator, Art Director at Providence Monthly, and also runs the awesome online store Bang Bang You're Thread that has everything from her illustrated stationary and comics to handmade bags and wallets. Along for the ride is also Jyll Ethier-Mullen who runs the West Side Arts Gallery in Providence. We hope to join forces, combine our illustrative power, and...eh, you get the point.

Allison Cole

Jyll Ethier-Mullen

Craftland

These paintings will be available at Craftland in Providence, RI. Going to be away until next week (my mom is in town and I'm looking forward to it!).

OTAD update

Self-Portrait, originally uploaded by lauren minco.

One Thing a Day (OTAD) is working well. I'm moving on to revamping my website and creating some new paintings that will go up as portfolio pieces ( they will also be for sale in Providence at Craftland).

Above is an image from...ooooh, 2004? It was my sophomore year final for my first oil painting class. A little different from my current work, isn't t?

New Mailers

Here they are! I'm switching up things a bit this time around, but nothing crazy. The text in front does not have the huge LAUREN MINCO like before- just going with the email and website (both have my name, do I really need the large one? Probably not). I also have them not centered, and so far I think it looks a little more streamlined than before. The back is full color this time, and I really like my suitcase guy as a spot illustration (he was part of larger painting). I think these images are a nice balance, and whether I'm sending something to a teen publication or a more adult market, I should have something for everyone.

Look Ma, No Paint!

I finished my new mailers last night and sent them off to be printed. 

Meanwhile, I forgot to post this final I had to do for a Continuing Education Adobe Illustrator class I took. No Live Trace here! Mostly the pen tool and basic shapes. We had to recreate a vintage crate label.

One thing a day (aka Operation OTAD!!)

Now that I'm back from a whirlwind trip to both Philadelphia and New York City, I am looking forward to a week at home in my studio and at the computer. RISD pre-college has wrapped up (fun as always), and in August I have time to shift my attention towards freelance and galleries before Fall teaching springs back into action.

This August I'm trying something new. Obviously, I'm always working on teaching, freelance illustration, or gallery work, but the truth is that I do alternate between the three, sometimes days (or weeks) separating the "shifts". This Fall, I hope to do one thing each workday (Monday-Friday) focusing on my freelance work in order to really push that area of my life. This includes working on my new website, creating a portfolio piece, sending mailers, or just buying stamps. I'm calling it Operation One Thing A Day, or Operation OTAD for short. I don't have a particular goal, just to stick with this philosophy and hope that I see big pay off once Christmas rolls around (for the sake of the "experiment", let's say Mid December is when I'll look back and reflect on my progress).

I invite you, dear reader, to join me no matter what your objective is. You could even try one thing a week (OTAW??) if that fits your lifestyle better. Today my goal is to work on my new mailers. Stay tuned, because I hope to be posting regularly.

Goodbye July

Portrait of the Artist, originally uploaded by lauren minco.

Well, it's my day off and I've watched my episode of Hell's Kitchen on Hulu and managed to roll over my toe with my office chair. Hard to believe that August is right around the corner, especially since it felt like summer in a way passed us by. It's been so cool and rainy that you wonder if next month will fade willingly into Fall or if August will try to cram all the heat and sun it can.

I'm getting ready for two shows- one in August in Santa Monica based off of the theme "Toy", and one at 1301 Gallery in Omaha for September. Since teaching in the Summer takes a lot of time away from marketing, I look forward to getting new mailers out around this time of year. I've already decided on the images- one will be the Sonic Youth piece created for Plan B (which is for sale in my etsy store) while the other will be a masked guitarist for the tween/teen market. Hope to get those images up in the next couple of weeks as well as some new paintings.

Goodbye Plan B

Can we talk about where I've been? It's been so hectic around here that I'm ashamed I've ignored my bloggity blog. Here's a quick update along with some notes.

* Goodbye to Plan B Magazine in the UK. Because of the economy, they made the hard (but noble) decision to end on a high note instead of sacrificing their quality and vision. I worked with Andrew, their Art Director, over the last year and admired all the artists who provided their art for free to help support the magazine when times got tough. I wish all the Plan B employees luck in starting a new chapter in their lives.

* I will have another piece in a group show in LA for August. You can see my work in Providence at West Side Arts this month.

* Working on another illo for Providence Monthly, this one about Providence Pin-up, a local studio that recreates custom photos for you with that pin-up feel.

* I am teaching Pre-College again this summer and that has taken up most of my time, but I love it!

* Goodbye to the King of Pop, a talented artist and entertainer. The first item of music I ever owned was when my mom bought me Dangerous as a cassette tape, and that was on anytime we were in the car. ANYTIME. I'm pretty sure I demanded it.