So much knitting!

Some times when I have a lot on my mind I need to do something with my hands to either occupy my thoughts, or, to be able to do it so I can think and be productive. For Christmas gifts this year I decided to knit wash cloths for my family and some of Caleb's relatives. After the first 3 they became so easy so I was able to work on them during any free time I had. It also gave me time to think about everything that I might have been stressing about. It was definitely a way to make me relax and calmly work through some things. Any kind of project like this is very helpful. I guess you could consider it a type of therapy. So if you are ever feeling overwhelmed, make something. The feeling of completing a project definitely helps! And gives you time to think through problems you may have or things you may worry about, or just kills some time when you are waiting for it to pass.

I also have some cute ideas on how to wrap them or present them. There are some pictures showing that too. So far I finished 16!

Chalkboard ads

Christmas chalkboard

Merry Christmas everyone!

Grape vine basket

Today Jeff and I attempted to make a grape vine basket using some vines from our own grapes. During this time of year the grapes need trimmed anyway and the vines are mostly still soft enough to bend. Our basket is a little rough but it is surprisingly sturdy. Once the vines dry over time the basket will be much lighter. Maybe we'll attempt with a different style next time to see if it turns out any better.

Midnight doodle

Tonight I really felt like drawing a bear. Mostly because of a hunting story about my brother who saw and ran from a momma bear and her cubs. I used new water color pencils I had gotten. I'm still experimenting with them, so far I really like them.

Too long since I've posted...

I'm currently at work on break and started to make a list. Lately, I have not had enough time for things I'd rather be doing. I need to make time to do them. I'll be a happier person if I do.

His Promises

Feeling protected while you sleep

Getting courage when things are tough

Here are some illustrations I did based on some verses from the bible. I don't mean to persuade someone one way or another, but when you are a child you need help and guidance whether it is from family, teachers or a religious person. These illustrations are for children to relate to and understand. Sometimes no matter how old you are, taking a step back and seeing something simple enough for a child to see is a really great feeling. The world seems to make so much more sense for a moment.

Business Card

Online portfolio

Here is a link to my online portfolio I have been working on. http://be.net/Samantha_Weyant
It has been a great way to put some of my projects together and look at other artists work too. The network is called Behance. I was told about it by a former classmate from Pratt and so far it has been a cool network to work with. I can show a variety of my work and have it look professional as well.

More chalkboards

Here are the past 2 weeks sales boards. I know, it's silly but they are still fun to do and a fun break from my daily routine at work. It is also fun to see customers saying nice things about them when they have no idea I am the one who drew them.

Lambert the Dinosaur

Here is a quick 30 minute doodle of a compsognathus dinosaur named Lambert. Right now he is playing with a crayon and is lacking personality I think. Some friends and I are doing monthly sketches and this weeks topic was school supplies. I will definitely be doing more studies of Lambert.

This weeks sale

Is it wrong to draw a pig when ham is on sale? Thoughts? Here are my chalkboard ads for this week. I'm getting better at this I think.

Works for Sale

Just to keep everyone posted, you can buy prints of my work, and iPod/iPhone covers with my art work and much more on http://society6.com/SammyWeyant.  It is a pretty cool site and I have ordered from them before and love my cell phone cover that I received.

Little jobs

I keep trying to find small jobs to keep me busy and motivated. So at the local grocery store, I am now illustrating the chalk board signs every week. This was my first attempt, and hopefully as I get used to it, they will become more elaborate. The managers were pleased, especially compared to what they had before. I'm excited to see how illustrative I can get them to look and still give the message it's supposed to.

More progress.

I'm continuing to work on the painting of pappy Chet. Tonight I worked on the dog and started to get a feel for the plaid patterned shirt. I do think that some areas on the left side of the figure should be darkened so that the light on the figure itself is more dramatic. Although this picture was taken on a typical afternoon for him, it is actually kind of deep. An old man holding his young dog with a watch on his wrist. Maybe it's just late and I'm looking to deep into it, but after years of looking for meanings of paintings in my art history classes, it's kind of cool/annoying to be doing it on my own paintings. Especially one that isn't complete. I will make one comment that is true though.... I am not a fine artist. This is still just a painting of my grandfather and his dog.

Cookies:)

Have to love baking cookies with Caleb at 12:30am and being able to blog about it from my phone! Definitely having a great start to my weekend. Being able to spend time with Caleb, and having my sister and her family visit from their new home in Boston. Their son, Leif, is getting so big!

Back to my painting...

I was working on a painting a few months ago and finally got myself into working on it again. Here is some progress I made yesterday. I'm still working on the basic tones of the painting. Clearly I have no facial detail in the man or dog. The last thing I paint is usually the first thing you see in a painting. So I try to make that look the best.

First post from my Phone!

I finally down loaded the blogger ap and trying it out for the first time from my phone. This could make me post more, but most likely they will be shorter posts since typing on the phone is a little harder then a regular key board. We'll see how this goes!

Caleb's Quilt

Last Christmas I posted about a quilt I made for Caleb. Since I made it in the process of 2 weeks.... I don't thing I ever posted pictures of it done. Here are some pictures I took a few days ago. You can see the border design we used, and some of the quilting patterns too. It's fun to look back on it and say "Yea, I made that." Like any piece of art, it's refreshing to look at a completed project instead of many unfinished ones. :)

Finished Green Door Shirt Design

I finished my tshirt design for The Green Door! Hopefully they like my illustrative approach. If it is not used for the tshirt, I think if I line up all the words it would make an awesome bumper sticker!

Start of t-shirt design

Here is the start of a t-shirt design I am working on for a swing dance club called "The Green Door". It is a competition so we will see how it goes :) I like it so far... The letters really stand out when you stand far away but it is cool to see the dancers when you get up close.

Happy 23rd Birthday to Me

 First are the 2 birthday cakes I got this year.... The top one is from my oldest brother, Jens. He actually got it without knowing it was a baseball. And actually argued with me that it wasn't a baseball, just a cake with lots of icing. The second cake is one that I bought myself. Clearly, people should not be allowed to write on their own birthday cakes.... or at least I shouldn't be allowed to write on them. (My birthday was also father's day this year, and since I call my father by his first name, I called it "Jeff" day instead).

The rest of the photos are of the beautiful flowers Caleb got me:) I will eventually dry them and put them in a jar, That seems to be what I do with all the flowers he has ever given me. Some of them aren't very agreeable when it comes to drying them so I at least have pictures of those.

I love that he calls me "Sweetie" :)

I thought they looked good in a mason jar vase. Only slightly "redneck" :)

Signing the certificate

The bride signing

The groom signing

I finally have nice pictures of the certificate all done and you can see what it was used for! The photographer did a really nice job capturing that moment in the ceremony, and I love how my birds came out.

Iphone 4 cover

I recently had a new cover for my phone made from society6.com. I think it turned out great! It's of my own painting too. I'm really pleased with the color and quality of it too. Now I will have to resist making more. The other cool things is that other people have been ordering my illustrations for iphone covers too.

The Magnets are here!

The pizza shop had ordered magnets as a type of advertisement and they finally arrived! They turned out really good, although my picture if it isn't the best. Naturally, it is hanging on my refrigerator.

Sign's Up!

My sign is up and the number is on!

Pizza Shop Sign

The pizza shop is opening this week and they were still without a sign for outside. So they asked me to put one together. They wanted their logo incorporated some how so I decided just to paint it. They are not sure if this is the sign they will always have hanging or if someday they will have one printed with the logo instead. I'm not a fan of hand written letters unless they are precisely gridded out and perfect but this is not something they wanted me to kill myself over. I do like how both sides of the sign turned out. I think I did a fairly good job of making the logo look the same. The only thing not showing is the phone number on these pictures. I actually went to a home improvement store for that and got the plastic numbers you can put on the side of your house. They came large enough. Sadly, they did not make letters big enough, so I just hand painted the name.  Overall, I am pleased with this project. And the owner's were too :)

Otter Pizza Menu

Front and back pages

Inside spread

Here is the menu I put together for the pizza shop. It was fun to be able to design a menu and play with type and layout. We did lots of proofreading so hopefully out of everyone checking, we didn't miss something. It is not a sit down and eat kind of shop, just a place to order food and part of the shop is a convenient store. The town doesn't have any other near by places to get the things you might need. That is why we made the menu simple and black and white. It is cost effective, and we can get them printed anywhere and hand them out to every customer.