In$piration

Sometimes you just have to fork over some moolah for some kick-in-the-pants inspiration. Looking at other illustrators' work is totally inspiring. It makes me want to be a better artist and it makes me feel good that I'm not seeing other artists drawing/painting things exactly like how I draw/paint things.

So my most recent purchases have been:
-a subscription to 3x3 magazine
-3 back issues of Wrap magazine (still deciding if I want a subscription to this one...it's beautiful but a bit pricey)
-Little Big Books- Book of contemporary picture book illustrators

Don't get me wrong- I love me some pinterest/interwebs for home and fashion inspiration, and I enjoy following different illustration blogs- but nothing tops being able to hold a book or magazine in your hands, flip through it leisurely while sipping on an iced coffee. And then flip through it several more times over the course of the next few days/weeks/months.

Is there anything inspiring that you'll fork over some cash for?

ghosts in the grass

One night while deliriously nursing at 3 or 4am I thought of the phrase "ghosts in the grass." I kinda fell in love with the visuals it was conjuring up so here are some little sketches. 

waiting no more!

I think one of the things that holds me back as an artist is that I tend to change my style up and look back on older works with the "ugh- i made that?!" stink eye. It makes it very hard to have a cohesive portfolio when I only have a few works from each phase I've gone through. A few months ago I decided to take down my old site and wait until I had enough new work that made everything feel like they played nice together. Well I could've been waiting for years- and eventually I just had to say- it's never all going to be perfect- but you need a functioning website. I was encouraged by listening to Design Matters' interview with Jennifer Sterling who said-

"looking back theres only a handful of things that I really still like. I'll look at a piece and I only see the things that are wrong with it."

It's not just me!! So it was time to re-launch katievernon.com - even if i didn't feel ready. 

I'm actually very pleased with how it has turned out. I switched from indexhibit to Cargo- the template I chose is actually very similar to my old site- but it feels a bit more refined and I have found Cargo easier to work with and customize. And I feel like there's a nice visual link between my site and blog. I'm still tweaking things- but for now- I can live with it. 

(i just edited this post and deleted the phrase "a bit" 4 times!!! and left it in once- but geesh- that was a bit ridiculous!)

can't decide

Just can't decide if I like these collections of plants better as black/white or pink/blue. I mean...pink AND blue!

even more botanicals

more botanicals

A few more botanicals from the show- but don't worry...there's even more to come! I love the graphic quality of these- also I didn't use specific references...sometimes it's fun to make up/reinterpret plants. Guess which one I call the "chicken paw."

healing wreaths

so these are the 4 large wreaths from the show...

top to bottom: stress, fertility, rheumatoid arthritis, depression

Just a few...

Just a few images for a show I have opening in April- more pics soon!