IF- Winter

Here is my post for IF topic "Winter". This is actually part of a spread I did for CLICK magazine this year that was published in the November issue.

I hope everyone has had a great winter so far and holiday season! Thanks for stopping by and for any comments :o)

-Joy

Sweet Breams Art Show

I'm posting this a little last minute, but this Saturday I'm in another fun art show at Sweet Breams! The opening starts at 8PM Saturday, November 20th. It's located at a great little shop in San Mateo called Sweet Breams, where they serve delicious little Japanese desserts called chibi taiyaki. The show runs through January, so come by anytime after this Saturday, too! I have 3 pieces up in the show and will post them here on my blog after the show opens.

I have a few pieces left from the last show that I'm putting up for sale. Here's an earlier post so you can take a look http://stewystuff.blogspot.com/2010/09/illos-for-show.html I'm selling the 11 x 17 prints for just $30! Email me if you're interested in buying one :o) joystewy@yahoo.com.

Thanks!
Joy

IF- "Spooky"

I'm back! Well, I've just been busy with work, didn't really go anywhere :o). This is my post for this week's  Illustration Friday's topic "Spooky". Poor monster doesn't stand a chance with this ghost, He's scared!

On my group blog The Sketchables we're all posting illustrations for this weeks topic, so be sure to check there to see what everyone did! My day to post is Friday, so that didn't work out too well for the IF schedule. I figured I'd post it here first.

Have a great week and thanks for stopping by!
-Joy

IF- Acrobat

So, this is part of an alphabet book I started a while ago. I wrote the copy myself as well, probably why I haven't done anything with it yet. I think there are just 5 more letters I need to finish, too! I'm tempted to start over in my new style, rethinking things a bit. Isn't that just how it is with us illustrators...ugh. I have a few other letters up on my website if you ever feel like checking them out. Let me know what you think :o)

Thanks!
-Joy

Illos for the show!

"Crabby Doxie"

"Sad but Cute"

Here they are! These are the 2 illustrations I submitted for the Sweet Breams gallery show. They are both printed on 11 x 17, watercolor paper which pleasantly gave them a watercolor look, even though they're created digitally. I am pretty happy with how they turned out, especially since I had no idea what I was going to do for the show! It was such a nice opening reception at the shop. Lots of people and many of my wonderful friends and family showed up for support. I look forward to doing something like this again. It was my first time and a pretty fun experience.

Thanks!
-Joy

I'm in a gallery show!- Sweet Breams

Sweet Breams is a little shop in San Mateo, CA.They sell yummy, teeny-tiny contemporary taiyaki-ya, a dessert shop focusing on chibi taiyaki: delicious, soft and spongy, Japanese snack-sized fish-shaped cakes filled with premium ingredients. They also feature art work from local artists on their walls. The show opens on Saturday September 4th and runs through October 30th. I have 2 illustration pieces on display and am selling prints! Each 11 x 17 print is $40. I'll post them here on my blog after the show gets under way. It's something really different for me and I'm really excited to see how it goes. Even if I don't sell much, it will be a fun experience!

If you're in the area, come by the shop and look at some wonderful art and treat yourself to a yummy dessert!

Thanks!
Joy

Double

This is my illustration for this week's IF topic, "Double". Originally I had a different idea, but then just had a picture of one of these frogs in my mind. I figured I'd put the little guy in an illustration and just make 2 of them to fit the topic. I really should be doing some work, but wanted to do something with this frog and get him out of my mind, plus I wanted to participate in Illustration Friday!

Thanks for any comments and have a great week!

Breakfast

Here's a real quick one for this week's IF topic "Breakfast". Weekday mornings at our house, it's early and we're all just waking up barely able to put spoon in mouth...hehe. Thanks for your comments and for stopping by!

New Ripple card

This week on The Sketchables we are featuring Kelly's wonderful cause, the ripple blog! Each of us from the group is creating a card to be given when you donate to one of the three organizations that are working so hard to save the wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico. They are The Institute for Marine Mammal Studies, The Sea Turtle Conservancy and The International Bird Rescue Research Center. Well, this one is mine. It might not be posted up there yet, but keep an eye out. Tell some friends! Go check out some fabulous art on ripple and better yet, donate and own a piece yourself! Thanks for stopping by!

-Joy

Giant

Here is my illustration for this weeks IF topic "Giant". This is the version where Jack and the giant end up being friends :o). Thanks for stopping by and for any comments!

Highlights Magazine is here!

I just got my 2 copies of the July issue of Highlights in the mail on Friday. That's my illustration there on page 43, inside back cover! The Picture Puzzler! It was great working with the Art Director, Cindy Smith. She was really nice, professional and easy to work with. A great experience that I'd like to have many more times ;o)

I've always liked Highlights Magazine for all of the illustrators they work with. It's a fun and educational publication that I remember from when I was a kid. So doing this illustration was pretty cool and nostalgic as well. Right after I got the assignment I actually had a dentist appointment and of course had to look through ALL of the copies they had there in the office.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope to post more soon! I did a Click magazine assignment recently, but can't post that until after the issue is published. I'll do that for sure in November!

The Sketchables!

Hi All!

Myself and four wonderfully talented illustrators, Kelly Light, Priscilla Burris, Heather Powers and Diandra Mae just launched our new group blog called The Sketchables. On our blog we will celebrate and explore the joy of the sketch. We have some fun and unique things planed for you there each day, so please stop by and visit us often!

Ripple-4

Here is my 4th contribution to "Ripple" and this week it's the IF topic. Be sure to visit the ripple blog at http://ripplesketches.blogspot.com/ where you can make a $10 contribution to help save animals affected by the BP, Gulf of Mexico oil spill and receive a artist's original piece of work!

"Ripple" Project

The amazing Kelly Light had the wonderful idea to start a blog called "Ripple". On this blog she is selling 2.5" x 3.5" artist cards for $10 each by artist from all around. Every penny she gets from selling these cards goes to two Non-Profits The Institute for Marine Mammal Studies and The International Bird Rescue Research Center in order to help save wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico. Please visit the site ripplesketches.blogspot.com and check out some of the wonderful designs you could have! You can make a difference just with your small donation. Thanks for stopping by and for any help you can give!

Slither

Hi! This weeks IF topic was a challenge for me, but I made myself do it. I thought the word was a bit too confining and just plain, well... icky. I thought it would be fun to show a couple of kids excited about a snake, not afraid. Just to give it a little twist.

I updated my website recently, so click over there on the right. That graphic that links to my website, and check it out if you can.

Thanks for stopping by here and I love hearing from you, so feel free to leave a comment!

bunny sketches

It's been a while since I've just picked up my sketch book and did some random drawing. It felt pretty nice. I was looking through Richard Scary's book "I am a Bunny" last night and it inspired me to draw some bunnies. Something I don't draw very often. The little rabbit has some paint, but I stopped after him because I just wanted them to be sketches. I've been drawing digitally a lot lately and realized how much I miss the feel of pencil on paper. I know a lot of us artists out there feel the same way about pencil sketching, so I know it will never be replaced!

Mother's Day!

Hi! I just finished this Mother's Day card that I'm giving Mom this Sunday. My husband and I are taking our Moms (and my Dad gets to tag along) out for a nice brunch at a local little cafe to celebrate.

We've had a really rough year. My Mom has Alzheimer's Disease. There have been a lot of ups and downs not to mention some major drama from my Momma! There are good days and bad and then really bad, but we're all doing our best. I just want to enjoy the time we get to spend together and be thankful for each day she's still with us.

The ducklings are me and my sister, I guess. Can't decide who is which duckling. I'm thinking my sister is the obnoxious one at the end...hehe.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cocoon

Here is my quick illo for this week's IF topic "cocoon". I didn't think I would get this one done! Thanks for any comments and for stopping by!

Ahead

Hi! Illustration Friday's topic for this week is "ahead". More kids at the lake, this time having a three legged race. Look who's ahead! Feel free to leave me a comment and thanks for stopping by!

detective

Here is my submission for IF topic "detective". What better tool for detecting than a hound dog's nose?! Thanks for any comments and for stopping by.

Linked

Hi! This is my illustration for IF topic "linked". I linked a couple of different things in this image and had to stop myself from going overboard with adding to many "linked" items, heh. I feel like I could add to the background to populate this park a bit more, but figured I wanted to get it posted.

I love comments, so please leave some if you have time. Thanks!

my work space

I just wanted to share really quick what my husband and I did with our studio space this weekend! Unfortunately, I neglected to take "before" pictures, but the important thing is what the space looks like now, right?

After our friend Nathiya told me I had a big feng shui no no on my hands in my work space, the husband and I got to work. The no no? I had my back to the door... So, here is our solution. I only took shots of my side of the room, his side of course is not organized yet. I like it a lot better so far and boy did that place need dusting! I guess you just don't know how many dust bunnies you have living under your desk and entangled in your computer cords...oye.

Some notes of interest...
*chalk board paint on the closet door, where I write my "to-do" list.
*the new arrangement made my old monitor look too small, so had to invest in a new 24 inch! Not too sure how well it's working. Even after color calibration, still not looking right.
*that cat bed is actually used more often by the wiener dog and is not in it's usual place, by my feet.
*door hanger from the Disney Hotel taken 16 years ago during stay there. Every door in the house has something hanging from its knob.

Thanks for stopping by!

Joy

Bow Wowzer Dog Boutique

I thought I'd write/post something a little different than usual. My talented friend Nathiya (of http://www.pineappleseed.com/ and *emera http://www.emerabags.com/ fame) took this iPhone photo while I was talking to some of the lovely ladies at Bow Wowzer dog boutique in Los Gatos CA, yesterday. We stopped in so I could make a "quick" delivery. I always end up chatting longer than planned :o). In the photo, it shows some of the cards I sell (back, top shelf on the wall) and on the counter, some cute little puppy magnets.

Most of you probably don't know, but Bow Wowzer has been a wonderful, supportive client of mine for over a year now. They buy all kinds of things from me to sell in their store. It started with 10 different dog breed birthday cards (you can see those on my website: http://www.joystewy.com/greetingcards.shtml ) that soon increased to 32 different breeds! Then I created packs of blank note cards with the 32 different breeds. After that, I put together 8x10 matted prints and recently, we added tiny glass bead, puppy magnets to the mix! They also have a display to help promote my pet portrait paintings with my marketing postcards.

When I went into the store a year or so ago, I figured I'd just go for it and see what they'd say about carrying some of my art. Well, I'm so glad I did! They are wonderful people with a terrific business. If you're ever in Los Gatos you should stop by. They even carry merchandise for you cat lovers out there, in the other side of the shop called "Purrsnickety". They're located at 100 N. Santa Cruz Avenue, Los Gatos, CA 95030

Thanks!
Joy

Dip

Here is my entry for this weeks IF topic "dip". I'm thinking of selling it in my Etsy shop. Let me know what you think and thanks so much for any comments!

Sunshine Award

The talented, wonderful Kelly Medina just presented this so sweet Sunshine Award to me today! Thank you Kelly! Your art definitely brings a smile to my face, as do these other fabulous artist's work:

Tracy

Michael

Val

Nina

Barry

Brad

Kelly L

dzn q

Tina

Vanessa

Pascal

Sheree

There are so Many more talented folks out there, too! Please be sure to visit these blogs!

The award rules:

1. Thank the person who gave it to you.

2. Copy the logo and place in on your blog.

3. Link to the person who nominated you.

4. Pass it along to 12 other people.

Flight

This is an illustration I did really quick for Monday Artday's topic "Flight". I thought of birds and wanted to add another element. Why not a flying pig? Thanks for any comments!

IF- Rescue

When I read the IF topic for this week, this little girl popped into my head. A scene of pure joy for both dog and child at finding one another... Thanks for stopping by and for any comments!

postcard front

This is the front of my postcard I am sending to children's book and magazine publishers. I'm hoping to send it in early this week to the printers (http://www.psprint.com/postcards) I'd appreciate any comments/tips/feedback if you have the time!

postcard back

Here is the back of my postcard. I'm wondering if I need to add my address? On seeing other's examples, I figured I'd leave off my address and just have contact information. Any thoughts on this? I appreciate any comments and sharing of experience :o) Thanks!

They Draw and Cook-Mango Lassi

My friend Val ( http://griffmobile.blogspot.com/) "tweeted" this morning about a website that you can enter an illustrated recipe! The site is http://www.theydrawandcook.com/ I was so excited I decided to spend the day doing this illustration for it. I just got done submitting it to the site. I hope they pick me to join in the fun!

home "tweet" home...

Here's a card I just finished to give my friends for their house warming. Their party should be some good fun!

Subterranean

I had lots of fun with this one. I also included a willow tree in memory of all the willow trees that where cut down around our local lake, to extend the BART train tracks. So sad, but I guess that's "progress" for ya... Thanks for any comments and for stopping by!!

brave

In the closet or under the bed? I started one with a monster under the bed but this image came more to the forefront of my mind. Little girl= brave, Mini Dachshund= not. I guess her monster isn't too scary looking though... Thanks for any comments!

"Circus"

Here is my post for Monday Artday's topic "Circus". Still wanting to work in this style and enjoying it. Maybe a direction that's gonna stick?! Thanks for any comments and have a great weekend!

Perspective

This is my post for Illustration Friday's topic "perspective". It was late in the evening and I was in bed when I got this idea. I had to get out of bed and do a thumbnail sketch. The little pig with the bricks dreaming about everyone getting along. I'm trying a new technique, combining the 2 styles I've been working in. Let me know what you think. Comments and following always appreciated! Thanks!

snow games

This is an illustration I just finished for Monday Artday's topic "snow games". Comments are always welcome and appreciated!

Propagate

To propagate her garden, her little Doxie helped dig the holes. This one had a lot of layers in Photoshop, oh boy... Thanks for any comments and have a great week!!

"Train" for Monday Artday

This is an illustration I submitted for the Monday Artday topic "train". Still trying this style. I might do the next IF topic in this style and then work back in my other technique again. We'll see :o). Thanks for any comments!

Adrift

So, I pushed myself a bit this time. Believe it or not, as far as backgrounds go, this was one I spent time on. Usually I like to just focus on the characters. I'm going to try and do more backgrounds in my illustrations from now on. Thanks for any comments!

muddy

I'm having so much fun with this style I'm working in right now! Comments are always appreciated. Thanks for stopping by!

Highlights assignment!!

Hopefully you can see this ok. This is my first illustration for Highlights Magazine for kids! I was so excited when I got the email from the art director. Highlight has been such a great publication for so many years, known and loved by most moms and kids. Thrilling opportunity and I hope to get to do much more with them! This is to appear in the July publication. Can you find at least 17 differences?

focused- 2!

I did this illustration earlier and thought I'd post it here. This little Dachshund pup sure looks focused on that ball to me! He is one of the prints I am selling at my Etsy shop. Please stop by to take a look at my other prints and tell your friends, too! Thanks!!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/joystewy

focused

I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone and create my Valentine's Day card as well. I suppose it's still a couple of weeks away, but ...eh. I love the art of Mary Blair and decided to do this weeks topic in a similar style. I hope you like it!

"Oh! How clumsy of me."

I wanted to show something with contrast here, large and small or a sense of heavy and awkward. My original idea was to have a stork instead of the lion. Might have worked out better that way. Thanks for any comments!

Wilderness

Ok, sorry for the potty humor, hehehe...