March Fictional Friends Project

For March, my daily illustration project is a first grade school portrait a day. Some of these kids may be old and familiar to you and some are brand new from my imagination. I'm calling the series "Ann's Fictional Friends" and you can follow along on instagram!

The gal above is Matilda, from one of my most childhood favorite books by Roald Dahl.

Here are a couple more kids from this week:

This is Ryan. Ryan loves animals and drawing, and wants to be a paleontologist when he grows up. He is inspired by the best Ryan I know, my husband.
 

This is Wednesday. Her favorite hobby is raising spiders and her favorite doll is Marie Antoinette, whom her brother guillotines upon her request

February Patterns

So for 2015, instead of committing to one daily illustration project, I decided to take on a monthly project so that I can expand my work in the directions I love. For January, it was brush lettering. In February, I took on learning how to make repeat patterns.

Here are some of my favorites from the month; I really liked these so much that I'm planning on rolling out wrapping paper later this month with these designs.

California Love

There are a lot of things to love about California; and I should know since I was born and raised here. I had to illustrate a tribute to this beautiful Golden State. From 300 days of summer weather to avocados to giant redwoods and joshua trees, this piece has a few of my favorite things covered. 

You can make this print your own in my shop!

Pink Pearl Mermaid

Happy March! It's really hard to believe we're already this far into the year; it's time to dig in and get up to your elbows in the good work you're going to be toasting around December. At least that's what I'm reminding myself right now.

So I'm deep into working on a bunch of new prints, cards, buttons, etc. products to introduce in my shop this year. Today, I'm sharing my newest mermaid – Pink Pearl. Pink Pearl has a penchant for pearls, obviously, and a feisty personality to boot. She loves dancing to 1920s aqua jazz and has yet to meet an oyster she hasn't liked.

You can find Pink Pearl in my shop or in person at Wondercon in April!

A Step Toward Falling Book Cover

I'm so excited to share the reveal for the latest book cover I illustrated for HarperCollins! Cammie McGovern's beautiful new book A Step Toward Falling comes out October 15, and if you love YA, you should definitely put it on your reading list. 

It's such an honor and pleasure to work on these covers with the team at HarperCollins; many thanks to ADs Alison Donalty and Sarah Creech.

Happy Chinese New Year 2015!

Happy Chinese New Year! I squeezed in this illustration of a baby goat just in time for the new lunar year, since it's the beginning of the year and baby goats are just adorable. On a side note, I had no idea that the goat, sheep, and ram were all symbols of the same sign. 

Check out your Chinese year horoscope here on Refinery29.

Shine Bright Like A Diamond

Feels so good to start tackling my pile of personal illustration projects to prep for shows and shop releases this year. First up this week is my favorite look from the Grammy's – Katy Perry in Zuhair Murad. She's just dripping in gems, and I love it. I always love her style, and it's great to witness her evolution.

I'm still working out my daily workflow, and I'm prioritizing time to work on personal projects every day. Haven't quite perfected my schedule, but I'm learning a lot about what works best for me – and of course, I'm asking every one of my freelance/entrepreneurial friends what their daily routines are. Daily rituals are so fascinating to me, and I'm reading a great book about it right now. There are so many articles about how the most successful people are early birds, or that night owls are the most creative; what do you think? What works for you? If you work for yourself, what's your daily routine? My nosy self would love to know!
 

She Wore Starlight

So many ball gowns to illustrate, so little time...

A Very Special Valentine Shop

Hi friends! I get a lot of emails asking for commission work, which I often can't do because of timing or have to charge at a premium rate because of my workload, so I wanted to set up something special for all of you who are so kind to want my artwork to be a part of your lives!

Today, I'm launching a special flash sale Valentine Shop that will be offering a limited number of commissions for a special rate! A 5x7" original painting OR ink drawing of your sweetheart (or yourself, or your favorite fictional character!) would be the perfect gift for Valentine's Day, am I right?

And because I'm feeling the love, you'll also get free priority shipping & a hi-res digital file for your personal use (new social media icon, yay!).

Here are a couple examples of an ink sketch and a gouache painting (along with the one above!):
 

Golden Globes 2015

I love the beginning of award season! It's the best part of the winter – to get us through these sweater slogged days, some glamour every couple weekends. My favorite gown from last night's Golden Globes awards was on Miss Golden Globe herself - a Lorena Sarbu design, worn by Greer Grammer.
 

My favorite speech last night was by Jane The Virgin star Gina Rodriguez. It's so great to see a wider range of diversity being represented in Hollywood. Once people start seeing it on their screens, maybe they can start seeing it in their own lives.

“My father used to tell me to say every morning, ‘Today’s going to be a great day. I can and I will.’ Well, Dad, today’s going to be a great day. I can and I did.””

— Gina Rodriguez