Storybook Memory

I think this is my new favorite:) It turned out really well! By far my most popular etsy item->https://www.etsy.com/listing/90091385/storybook-memory-custom-illustration-5x7?ref=shop_home_active

Storybook Memory

A new storybook memory:) I love doing these!

Save the Dates

Joe and I legally got married last March before he deployed, but since it was at a courthouse in Kansas, we wanted to do the church thing and have a big party too:) So we're having a convalidation next September and a nice reception. A lot of our family and friends are pretty far from my church, so we thought it would be a good idea to send out save the dates in advance.

Our wedding colors are black and white and my dress is 1950s vintage-inspired tea length, so I wanted to carry that into our postcards. I went to the Algonac-Clay Historic Society looking for old photos of St. Catherine Church (they are so helpful there!). They actually had the original architectural rendering of the church from when it was rebuilt in 1959, so I scanned that and used it as the front of the card.


And then I wrote out all of the addresses by hand with a dip pen, which was a bad idea... but they look nice! I think I'm going to be printing address labels for our formal invitations. No more hand calligraphy... But I was overall very happy with how they turned out.

Pet Portraits

I don't do pet portraits too often, but they are pretty fun to do:) This was a commission for one of my aunt's friends who recently lost one of her furry friends. Here is the reference photo I was working from and the final result. I am pretty happy with how this turned out:)

Holiday Art Special

Are you looking for a personal, unique holiday present? I will be offering 5x7 or 8x10 custom illustrations from now through Christmas. Portraits, houses, cottages, cartoons, pink unicorns... you name it, I draw it! Submit a photo and you will have an illustration on your doorstep by Christmas!

 

How much does it cost?
5x7: $20 + shipping

8x10: $30 + shipping

What do I get?
You will receive either a 5x7 or an 8x10 custom illustration on Bristol board. Probably it will include some form of ink, watercolor, graphite or colored pencil, depending on the subject.


What will you draw?
Anything you can send me a reference photo of!

When will I get my picture?
I will be sending them out as I finish in the order that they are received. The last shipment will be made no later than December 14. If you need your print sooner than this please include a note in your email. I will do whatever possible to accommodate requests for prints to be mailed by a certain date but make no guarantees that they will be mailed earlier than December 14.

Do you ship internationally?
I certainly can!

Can I see my illustration before you ship it?
Unfortunately not. The elimination of the usual back and forth makes it possible for me to offer these at a flat rate.

Can I request certain colors?
Unfortunately not. Again, for the same reason as above, the elimination of the usual back and forth allows me to offer these illustrations at a flat rate. (You can request black and white instead of full color though)

Can you ship it to someone else for me?
Yes I can! I'll even include a note if you'd like.

Do you offer refunds?
Once you have sent me your photo your sale will be considered final.

This offer is not for my traditional custom house portraits. If you're interested in that style, you can commission me from my etsy store: https://www.etsy.com/listing/87933471/8x10-custom-pen-and-ink-house-portrait
This is for more a fun, quirky illustration, rather than a super detailed, precise illustration:) Here are some examples of what you could expect:

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Please feel free to contact me if you have any further questions!

Mr. Wu

A portrait of one of my awesome artist friends for his birthday:)

(you can find some of his awesome work here-> http://www.etsy.com/shop/WuCaperStudio)

 

I was experimenting with my dip pens. They're a nice change from the uniformity of rapidographs from time to time. And then I went back with the watercolors:)

Another Storybook Memory

Apparently Josh likes the footlongs a lot...

See the etsy listing here ->  https://www.etsy.com/listing/90091385/storybook-memory-custom-illustration-5x7

Storybook Memory Portrait

I got the opportunity to do a custom cartoon portrait off of etsy:) I think it turned out pretty cute!

Here's the original listing: https://www.etsy.com/listing/90091385/storybook-memory-custom-illustration-5x7

Geoswag

If you are here by chance because you have found one of my geoswag items please leave a comment! It's pretty cool to see where things end up.

My awesome new geo-treasures to trade and leave in caches:D (for anyone who is not familiar with geocaching, go to geocaching.com. Do it now. It is an amazingly fun hobby!) Joe and I are planning on taking a trip to Louisville in October while he's on leave from his deployment to go see Powerman 5000 and I wanted to get these rolling before then so I have something to leave in the Kentucky caches we might find (and any along the way)







The branches were cut by my loving father from our back yard and the background pictures are mostly photos I took with my cell phone while I was (supposed to be) working at the Algonac State Park:













Who can mow a lawn when there is a beautiful rainbow in the sky just beckoning you to stop and whip out your cell phone to capture it...



And likewise who can possibly empty trashcans when there is a gorgeous sunset! I miss some parts more than others at that job...haha

 

And for good measure here is my geocaching profile -> CLICK HERE My username is Doublejinxed (it's a screen name I have been using since my days of magical chatroom RPG battles (I was a little bit of a nerd in highschool...)) And thus my logo is 13X2. "13" symbolizing the "jinx" and X2 symbolizing the "double" part:)
 

Here are a couple of caches I've found before and a treasure I found in one (lol)









Beautiful, no?

Saint Art Prayer Cards

I decided my prayer card photos on Etsy were a little subpar and since it is very sunny out (and also above 90 degrees:( I took advantage of the nice lighting to get some nicer photos:

So far I've made St. Jude, Michael, Archangel, and St. Francis cards, but I'd like to make more.

These cards are all completely made by hand; they feature my original saint portrait illustrations layered on top of gold glittery paper with hand drawn gold details. The prayers are either traditional or edited slightly by me (just personal taste, I suppose:)

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and here is my Etsy listing for the St. Jude card- he seems to be the most popular:)

https://www.etsy.com/listing/97889586/st-jude-prayer-card

An old drawing

I was going through some old drawings and came across this- obviously unfinished.



Judging from the subject matter, I'm pretty sure I started it around 2008ish. I don't quite remember what my intentions were, but I think I'm going to add some nice soft pencil trees in the background and ink the houses in some fun colors and put in a nice pond in the front:) Definitely has some potential...

St. Gabriel Completed

St. Gabriel is all finished. Click below to see more of my process:)

 

New Saint Portrait

I just started working on another saint portrait. Michael seemed a little lonely being the only angel, so here is Gabriel, in progress, to keep him company.

I'm really liking the direction the text for the title is going!

On a side-note, I keep singing Blow Gabriel, Blow from Anything Goes while working on this:D Great song!

Slacking...

Here are all a whole bunch of images from the summer that I forgot to upload... This one was drawn in my sketch journal originally, but I redrew it, inked it and then touched it up in photoshop a little:)

Thankfully I only had to weedwhip one day at work this past summer since I detest it so very much. It was 90 degrees out and all of the campers either concernedly asked me if I needed water/a break, or gave me dirty looks for daring to make noise by their campsites...

Claire and I dressed up for the harry potter finale:) And also I had to scrub dried human poop off the outside of a toilet... people are disgusting.

These are some sketches I did while visiting the DIA (again)

This is from the same day as the DIA- Misty and I hung out in downtown Detroit for a bit.

Half from the car show at the Algonac state park and half from the Fort Gratiot beach (I think I have more beach portraits somewhere from a different trip... I'll have to check)

The Algonac State Park car show over the 4th of july weekend

Slacking...

Here are all a whole bunch of images from the summer that I forgot to upload... This one was drawn in my sketch journal originally, but I redrew it, inked it and then touched it up in photoshop a little:)

Thankfully I only had to weedwhip one day at work this past summer since I detest it so very much. It was 90 degrees out and all of the campers either concernedly asked me if I needed water/a break, or gave me dirty looks for daring to make noise by their campsites...

Claire and I dressed up for the harry potter finale:) And also I had to scrub dried human poop off the outside of a toilet... people are disgusting.

These are some sketches I did while visiting the DIA (again)

This is from the same day as the DIA- Misty and I hung out in downtown Detroit for a bit.

Half from the car show at the Algonac state park and half from the Fort Gratiot beach (I think I have more beach portraits somewhere from a different trip... I'll have to check)

The Algonac State Park car show over the 4th of july weekend