The Adventures of KJ & The Dreamy Giraffe

Adventure #160: KJ Likes Boys

Dear You,

I do like boys! It's true. I just don't paint them very often. I've given my reasons for this in the past, but now, I think the only thing stopping me is that most of my ideas are very girly!

But every time I paint one, I think, "OH, my goodness, I must paint more boys!"

This is Olaf and his friend, Thor, who I originally intended to be a beluga whale but I went too gray with the color and he became more and more dolphinish but not quite, so we'll just say a beluga whale and a dolphin fell in love and had a baby and that baby was Thor.

 

I originally titled this one "I Will Understand (When You Must Go)" but have decided to shorten it to "I Will Understand" 'cause it's a bit less sad that way and more like a painting about friendship than a painting about goodbyes. 

Though I have to admit I started this painting, I had this Henry Rollins quote, which I'd stumbled upon the previous day, on my mind: "It's sad when someone you know becomes someone you knew."

It is indeed sad, so that's why you should always give people big hugs, like Olaf and Thor do, whenever you go in separate directions, no matter how brief the time apart may be.

(I had to reword that last sentence about 500 times to get it to not sound dreadfully depressing!)

I want to write a cute little story about Olaf and Thor but nothing's coming to me that feels natural yet.

The original has already sold, but there are prints in the shop!

Big hugs!

P.S. I totally originally typoed "big huts!" The longer I am away from an office job, the more my poor fingers forget their way around a keyboard.

Adventure #158: KJ Does Makeovers, Part Dos

Dear You,

I'm almost done with the process of deciding what stays in the shop and what goes. And after making the tweaks to "Sometimes I Forget", I've definitely had my eyes open for other pieces that could use some sprucing!

My inner perfectionist is having a field day finding what she perceives to be flaws in some of my "best" pieces and being allowed to make improvements. I'm telling you: She is cackling with delight.

I get requests fairly often about making changes to prints and most of the time, the answer is that I just can't do it. Mostly people want eye color or hair color changed and that's just not something I'm comfortable with since, for me,  digitally altering with the hair and eye color almost always looks supremely wonky and out of place.  But I do enjoy tinkering with backgrounds and such.

This print is actually from a custom piece I did based on my previous painting, "Extraordinary". The lovely woman who commissioned me to paint it for her daughter loved the original painting but just wanted a different hairstyle and some color changes. The light lime green background worked really well on the actual painting...but somehow, it never quite translated in scans in a way I was head over heels with.

The original "Extraordinary":

The blonde version:

 

I found myself thinking, "Wouldn't a nice, light blue background make her eyes pop like crazy?" (which sounds kind of painful and not good, actually).  So the background became a sky and the floor became grass.

Before, I liked it. Now, I kind of LOVE it.

(I ordinarily do not sell prints of custom work, but in rare cases, where it is something not too personal or tied specifically to the buyer, I'll ask if they'd be okay with it and offer a discount on their painting if they are.)

I also made some minor changes to "I'm The Boss". I think she was perfectly fine as is and has been one of my strong sellers, but every time I printed it out, that bright pink around her arms just shrieked "BLOTCHY! BLOTCHY!" at me. So now, it's gone. :) Bye bye, blotch!

Before:

After:

Next time, I will have a brand new painting to show off...that is, unless my inner perfectionist wins out and I'm unveiling the new background to the original version of "Extraordinary". She's screeching to have a go at it, but I'm trying to convince her she's had enough fun for the time being!

See you soon,

Adventure #157: KJ Does Makeovers

Dear You,

I am in the process of making over the shop a bit. Okay, a lot.

For a long time, I thought the best game plan when it came to shopkeeping at Etsy was to keep the shelves as fully stocked. The more, the merrier, right? The more listings you have, the more likely you'll turn up in searches. The more you're offering, the more likely someone will find, once they find you, something they like, right?

A week or so ago, my shelves weren't just fully stocked: They were kind of overflowing.

There were some pieces that were older and just don't quite fit with my current aesthetic anymore, mostly since over time, the faces of my girls have evolved a bit.

There were some pieces that I just wasn't 100% proud of. Oh, don't get me wrong -- it's not like I felt I had junk for sale, but since I first began selling my art, I've gotten significantly more perfectionistic when it comes to each and every detail in a painting being just right. (I look at say, some of the hands, on some of my older pieces and cringe a little...um, are those SUPPOSED to be fingers, darling?!)

I decided to trim the fat and those two groups were mostly easy to let go of. (After all, it's not like I'm burning the originals...just putting them back in the storeroom, which doesn't necessarily have to be a permanent banishment or anything.)

There was another group, though -- pieces that I personally adore, but that obviously had faces only a momma could love. I mean, it's hard to admit, but when a print's been up for over a year and hasn't sold even once and has just one or two hearts...um...yeah. Maybe time to admit that that one isn't going to ever be the popular kid in school, no matter how many times you renew it.

Carefully poring over all of my available items and checking out the trends of hearts, views, and sales was a little bit eye opening. I'll never be able to just paint what sells -- but it was interesting to see what absolutely, positively doesn't.  The most loved pieces have a strong concept, a specific plot of sorts (like "Cookies Are Love" or "Gnome Sweet Gnome") -- but it can't be too niche-y to provoke "I don't get it"s (like "Olivia & The Idea House").  Once upon a time, my art was featured on a blog and they described it as being full of "inside jokes that everyone gets" and I think those pieces are the ones that will be most loved -- the ones that are relatable and strike some sort of chord in the person looking at it. I think that's why every single painting I've done that was more or less just a plain, basic portrait of a little big eyed girl with nothing really special about it get overlooked consistently.

I don't intend to just remove all of that work and forget it exists -- I have plans for all of it, eventually -- but for now I'm editing all of my listings (trimming some fat there, too) and redoing my pictures and slowly but surely filling the shop back up with the paintings and prints I truly feel like are the best and the brightest.  When in doubt, I'm leaving it out (for now).

And even some of those I feel are the best and the brightest are getting l'il tweaks.

This one, "Sometimes I Forget (It Was All A Dream)", has been pretty popular and I like it a lot, but every time I look at it, I wince just a tad at my choice for that bright yellow background.

So I reworked it a bit and now: No sunglasses necessary.

And I added a bricked texture! And seriously wonder why I didn't think of that long, long ago!

The new and improved print is now in the shop...but what do you guys think?  Is it really better or should I have left it alone?  Be brutally honest, I can take it!

Talk to you soon!

P.S. I'm trying to keep the blog focused on my art, but if you are ever interested in what random thought is running through my head when I'm not painting, you can follow me on Twitter! I'm kind of addicted to it: http://twitter.com/dreamygiraffe

Adventure #156: KJ Loves Flowers

Dear You,

You know what they say: April showers bring...May flowers!

"A Floral Affair" is an acrylic painting on  9" x 12" gallery wrapped canvas.

I'd considered putting a few flowers growing in the grass underneath the words but 2 out of 2 relatives polled said not to and who can go against that kind of popular opinion? Not I.

I do kind of wish I'd have used "anywhere" instead of "wherever" but I think I can live with it.

When the idea for this one bloomed (heh!) in my head, she was a brunette. I was unsure about the orange, but I think the bright hair works really well with the rest of the painting.

And prints are in the shop. I'm not 100% sure yet where these new originals will go. I'd originally (no pun intended) planned to have them in the shop, as well, but they may wind up planted (pun intended) elsewhere. If you're interested in one, however, just let me know!

See you soon,

Adventure #155: If The Rain Won't Stop, KJ At Least Wants To Be The Girl With The Most Colorful Umbrella

Dear You,

Just a painting today.

And if today brings April's showers...bet you can guess what tomorrow will bring. ;)

Love,

P.S. She's now in the shop as a print (which are buy one get one free through Friday)!

Adventure #154: KJ Gets Carried Away

Dear You,

You might (or might not!) remember that at the beginning of the year, I mentioned that it was a goal of mine to do a painting for each month this year.

And I got the January painting done.

And I got February painting done.

And March came and went.

And April came and went.

And I had the January painting done.

And the February painting done.

The splendid news is that when I decided to take on this project, though I wanted the paintings to be based on a theme related their particular month, I did not want any of them to be specifically tied to their month in a way that result in them being boxed up for 11 months out the year with the rest of the Christmas decorations, you know?

So, March's painting is at long last here and though it's May, it's okay, because this one, like the others, is perfectly appropriate for year-round display.

I had a heck of a time deciding what to do for March. The whole in like a lion and out like a lamb thing (or is it in like a lamb and out like a lion?) could've been cute but I just wasn't feeling it.  And though I don't recall my personal March as being particularly windy, March has gotten the rep for that, so I took that and ran with it. (Actually, I have to admit, I was hesitant about the whole kite flying idea at first but my mom insisted it was a must do and Mother knows best, right?)

Err...flew with it. ;)

                            "Carried Away"

The actual painting is a biggie -- 14" x 18" -- and will be available in the shop soon (but if you're interested in the meantime, just let me know and I'll get you the price info) -- but prints are up for sale right now!

And a detail shot:

See you soon,

P.S. Pssst...Only a few days left on the Buy One Get One Free print sale!

P.S. X 2: I just have a few finishing touches to put on April & May's paintings, so look for them here within the next couple of days!

Adventure #153: KJ DID Pick Up A Paintbrush in March & April (Pinkie Swear!)

Dear You,

First, thanks for all the sweet comments on the last post. I really appreciate each and every one (and have now set up Typepad Connect so in the future I'll be able to respond to them directly, yay!)

When you run your own l'il business that is truly a one woman show and in normal circumstances there aren't nearly enough hours in the day-- AND then there's a major disruption in your personal life, everything non-essential goes. At least, that's how it operated for me. I had to be there for my family, but I also couldn't just close up shop for two months, since my art is my sole income. So if it wasn't absolutely necessary, it went on hiatus. Blogging stopped. Twittering cut waaaaaaaay back.  The promotion and marketing departments ground to a screeching halt. And, as I mentioned in the last post, just sitting down and painting whatever I fancied also stopped.

When that happens, you have to find ways to compensate...because as almost any small business owner will tell you: You get out of it what you put into it.

The first thing I did was have a brief BOGO sale on prints. It worked well, so I brought it the sale back with no particular end date in mind (and it's still going on though I'm now planning on ending it on the 15th). That helped keep sales coming in, and somewhat made up for the fact that I wasn't really doing much anything to get traffic to my shop or website.

I was also fabulously fortunate to have a ton of custom work come in during that period -- and even more fortunate that every single person I worked with was so fantastically understanding when there were stops and starts, delaying projects and causing them to take longer to complete than I would've liked.  It was really tough to keep a deadline (and I HATE that), and I am so grateful for everyone's patience.  These all had a much lengthier turn around time than I'm used to or comfortable with, but it was important for me not to rush any of them, and even if a painting took a month instead of a week, to give each project 100% of my care and attention.

There were a quintuplet of siblings from a wonderfully blended family:

A couple of couples:

 

A rockstar pony:

 

And a sweet & sassy l'il blonde girl in a sock monkey hat:

Olivia's mom was kind enough to want to share this one and suggested that I offer prints of it in the shop, so it has been reworked a bit, and you will find it there, just a l'il different, but just as charming!: 

Love,

Adventure #152: Where KJ Goes When She's Gone

Dear You,

Once upon a time, there was a sweet hearted and sensitive little girl named Samara. Her hair was a tumbling mane of fuchsia waves she liked to keep pinned up away from her face and the kindest of smiles. Deep down, she was very strong and brave, but sometimes it's easy to forget what's not right there on the surface for you to see every single day.

One day, Samara found herself in a very dark and scary forest .  She wasn't sure how she got there, because one minute, her world had been safe and secure and happy, and the next, all of that seemed to be gone-- the good replaced by bad, the comforts of love and home replaced by sinister shadows, unfamiliar paths and a monster lurking behind every tree.

Even more disconcerting than not knowing how she got to this place was the fact that she had no idea how to get away from it.

That unfamiliar path stretched before her and behind her, but there was no light in either direction, as far as she could see.  She knew she needed to make a plan or at least make a run for it, but she was paralyzed with fear. She could not do this on her own.

Suddenly, just as she was more panicked and frightened than she'd ever been in her whole entire life, she wasn't alone, because a gorgeously majestic butterfly, one glittering spot of bright in the darkness, flitted by.

Oh! thought Samara, happily. This is so great. I can just follow the butterfly out of here! She'll surely show me the way!

But then Samara blinked and the butterfly was gone.

Samara knew if she didn't keep going, the monsters would certainly get her, but she just couldn't make her feet go. She was too inadequate, too weak, too scared!

Discouraged and afraid, she sank down onto the damp, cold ground, and cried some very bitter tears, so hot with anger about her situation, they burned her skin as they rolled down her cheeks. This was not fair! She did not deserve this!

She couldn't turn back, but she couldn't go on.

It then occurred to her that maybe, just maybe, it was so dark because it was nighttime and maybe if she could just make it until morning, the sun would shine and she would be able to see her way out of the forest.  She had to believe that. She forced herself to have that hope and hang on to it with all her might!

She was very tired, physically and emotionally, and knew she would feel better if she could just get some rest and maybe if she could sleep 'til then, dawn would arrive so fast!  So she started gathering leaves and curled up against the base of trunk of the lone tree that did not have a monster hiding behind it.  She covered her body with the leaves, shielding and protecting herself from the elements, much like a caterpillar in a cocoon.

And she closed her eyes.

When she opened them, it was, indeed, dawn.  It was light, not dark, and she could see so clearly. She could see so clearly and she could see the most peculiar thing: She had wings! Majestic and gorgeous like the butterfly.

I can fly home! she thought, excitedly, then: Wait a second! I don't know how to fly!

But she decided to give it a try, anyway, and she COULD fly! So she flew, above and beyond the forest, far away from the monsters, all the way home.

--------------------------------

Adventure #150: Well, KJ, That's Just A L'Il Bit Dark & Creepy

Dear You,

Brace yourself.

You're going to see the illustration that goes with this post and think, oh, my gosh, the recent stress has really gotten to KJ!  She's abandoned sweet big eyed girls and bright colors and hearts and rainbows and happy endings! Next thing we know, she'll be giving up art altogether to write screenplays for horror flicks.

Or else you might think, a bit more cynically: That sneaky KJ. She lured us in with sweet big eyed girls and bright colors and hearts and rainbows and happy endings and is now pulling a fast one and changing from The Dreamy Giraffe to The Screamy Giraffe or something!

But I promise, I haven't.

No sweetbigeyedgirl-brightcolors-hearts-rainbows-and-happy-endings abandonment here. No horror flick screenplays in my future. No bait and switch.

But over at James Gurney's blog, Gurney Journey, he hosts the neat once-weekly-now-monthly "Art By Committee", where he posts a brief excerpt (usually a few words or a line or two) from an actual science fiction manuscript and then invites any other artsy folk who happen to stumble by to illustrate their interpretation of the snippet.

The last prompt was:

And what I came up with is a l'il bit dark and creepy...but never fear...tomorrow, I'll be back to sunshine and roses!

Anyway:

I used my Derwent Inktense pencils for part of this (like the skirt) and I have to say, I love them. I've had them forever but hadn't actually pulled them out and put them to work until recently. I deeply regret only having a handful of colors when there are 71!

You can see all of the other Art By Committee illustrations, as well as the current prompt, here.

See you soon,

Adventure #147: Happy (Belated) Valentine's Day, From KJ

Dear You,

 

This is the Queen of Hearts, here to wish you Happy Valentine's Day (a day late). She's a mixed media piece I did long, long ago. (If 2004 or 2005 counts as "long, long ago".)

It was so much fun finding the quotes for the dragon-slaying adventure, I had to go on another treasure hunt for quotes about love.

I'm going to divide them in two groups -- one set of quotes for those of you who can't get enough ooey gooey romantic mushiness and another for those of you who think one day of hearts and flowers is enough (or in some cases, more than enough!)

So...

For the romantics:

"I think I'd miss you even if we'd never met." - The Wedding Date

"Anything short of mad, passionate, extreme love is a waste of your time. There are too many mediocre things in life to deal with. Love should not be one of them." - A Dream For An Insomniac

"My great hope is to laugh as much as I cry; to get my work done and try to love somebody and have the courage to accept love in return." - Maya Angelou

"Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossoms had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two."
- Captain Corelli's Mandolin.

"There is no disguise that can for long conceal love where it exists or simulate it where it does not." - Francois De La Rochefoucauld

"An act of love that fails is just as much a part of the divine life as an act of love that succeeds, for love is measured by fullness, not by reception." - Harold Lokes

"Do you ever put your arms out and just spin and spin and spin? Well that's what love is like. Everything inside of you tells you to stop before you fall, but you just keep on going." - Practical Magic

"There must be something between us, even if it's only an ocean." - An Affair to Remember

"Whoever it is, he starts off as a stranger, so it could be anyone." - Felicity

"You can't always sit in your corner of the forest and wait for people to come to you... you have to go to them sometimes." –Winnie the Pooh

& those a bit more cynical:

"Whenever I date a guy, I think, is this the man that I want my children to spend their weekends with?" - Rita Rudner

"If love is the answer, could you rephrase the question." - Lily Tomlin

"No matter how love-sick a woman is, she shouldn't take the first pill that comes along." - Joyce Brothers

"You have to walk carefully in the beginning of love; the running across fields into your lover's arms can only come later when you're sure they won't laugh if you trip." - Jonathan Carroll

"Marrying a man is like buying something you've been admiring for a long time in a shop window. You may love it when you get it home, but it doesn't always go with everything else in the house." - Jean Kerr

"Love is a fire. But whether it is going to warm your heart or burn down your house, you can never tell." - Joan Crawford

"Forget love - I'd rather fall in chocolate!" - Sandra J. Dykes

"Love is an electric blanket with somebody else in control of the switch." -  Cathy Carlyle

"Men make the highs higher and the lows more frequent." -  Anonymous

"Question: Why did the man cross the road?

Answer: To confuse the heck outta some poor woman." - Unknown

"Love is a perky elf dancing a merry little jig and then suddenly he turns on you with a miniature machine gun." -Matt Groening

"Remember, beneath every cynic there lies a romantic, and probably an injured one." - Glenn Beck

Love,

   

P.S. The Queen of Hearts had three sisters:

 

P.S. #2: This adventure has made me want to play a couple of rounds of Free Cell. Of course, it is humanly not possible to just play a couple. You must play a dozen or so. Free Cell is quite an addictive game!

P.S. #3: The KJbot 2009 is coming!