There's been an art hashtag (#MeetTheArtist) circling around social media in the past couple months so I thought I'd finally join in about a month too late. It was fun to work on this in between client projects, but hard to pick just two of my animals, Oliver and Bettie, to illustrate here. Don't worry, our kitty Penny will be in Ryan's.
Also, narrowing down my likes and dislikes into short, sweet lists was tough. This stands, at least for this week!
At the beginning of this year, I was having a bit of an existential crisis. I had quit my in-house design job to focus full time on my freelance career at the end of October. I went on a magical adventure to Paris the week right after, then came back and jumped into show season (with DesignerCon, CTNX, and Renegade Craft Fair all within four weeks), got hired onto an exciting freelance project that committed me into the new year, and then the dust settled in January.
The dust settling was welcome, and I've been fortunate that the freelance jobs have been steadily coming; but the unstructured, amorphous shape of my future was stunning. Stunning in a catatonic way – it was the first time in my entire life that I haven't been scheduled to the gills. I left my job for a myriad of reasons, but the most outstanding one being that my freelance work was growing to a point where it could sustain my life, and my schedule of doing both was growing to a point that was going to kill me.
So back to January. I was having lunch with my friend Eileen, and we were both at the beginning of starting something new. We were both kind of scared, really excited, and already exhausted at the ideas of our individual businesses. I shared a quote I had read somewhere (still can't hunt down a real origin, so let me know if you know): the grass is greenest where you water it. From that moment, it was my mantra for 2015.
It's been paying off in ways I can't wait to share, but I also lettered this piece throughout the last couple months – in the moments I found it hardest to believe in this quote. But it always turned me back around, helped me focus on the right things instead of dwelling on the negative. Hopefully it can do the same for you. You can find the print in my shop if you'd like to make it part of your life.
Hi and happy May! So much exciting stuff has been going on behind the scenes here, which I can't wait to share soon.
One of the wonderful projects I've gotten to work on lately is this printable for The Crafted Life's Crafter's Essential Guide to the Hardware Store in partnership with Orchard Supply Hardware! I met the lovely and sweet Rachel of The Crafted Life at Craftcation this past March, and we became fast friends with our shared love of color, glitter, and real biz talk. It's always such a joy to get to work with friends who have the same vision and totally get it, you know?
Hop on over to her super cute blog and you can download this print for your very own (or find it at the grand opening of the Orchard Supply Hardware in Portland)!
Lately I've been working on a lot of different types of projects – fun client projects, exciting collaborations, and then some larger, more ambitious personal work that I'm taking on to really level up my work. I'm not very patient, so sometimes the struggle feels extra hard and I'm really tough on myself.
While working on both of these challenging personal pieces tonight, I suddenly got a spark of an idea for this piece. It just came together so easily and naturally. Sometimes the universe really delivers – both a break and a message. I need to be more cautious about the vibes I let flow into my work space and my head space, and let it be good vibes only. The negativity and anxiety can just keep on rolling.
If you're needing this same reminder, you can make this print your own in my shop!
Happy April! It's hard to believe we're already halfway through the month; so really, happy tax day!
I wanted to pop in and share this lettering commission I just finished, because it was such a pleasure to work on. My client and I were both thrilled with the results, and isn't that the best kind of work synergy? Such a sweet sentiment too; it reminds me of the thrill of discovering music that made your heart glow – a feeling that seems harder and harder to recapture as I get older. I've got to change that by discovering more new music soon!
Welcome to my new blog! After 15 years at annplified.com – yes, fifteen years – I've finally consolidated my blog and my portfolio into one location, here on ann-shen.com. It feels bittersweet to say goodbye to the end of an era – Annplified was my first solo domain, where I taught myself coding and graphic design as a bright eyed and bushy tailed teenager.
However, as they say – every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end, so here's to a new beginning! Cheers to all of you who have read my blog all these years, and let's look forward to many more years ahead together. A return to the written word, beyond the apps on your phone.
Welcome to the new site – hope you like it and you stay awhile!
Mary Poppins is one of my favorite movies, so I just had to illustrate a piece dedicated to her and her lovely carousel horse in the races at the park.
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
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.
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!
