Saturday, October 27, 2012

New Lady


New Lady, Colored Pencil and Ink on Bristol Board

Oswald and Egbert with a new friend. ACEO (2.5"x3.5") card - colored pencil and ink.

Monday, October 15, 2012

Saturday, July 14, 2012

FWMoA Chalk Walk 2012


The Fort Wayne Museum of Art holds a chalkwalk at the Three Rivers Festival each year.
It's a lot of fun - many artists participate - and I love being there!

It was a very hot day, and I'm a little (very) burned, but here is my square:




FLAMINGO GIVEAWAY

Every Saturday, for the next few weeks, I'm going to announce a new art piece or illustration I will be GIVING away!

This week's giveaway:
  Upcycled Art - An original colored pencil drawing on a 1930's dictionary page
  This Illustration will be cased in a clear, protective sleeve and sent by mail to the winner.


There a few very simple ways to enter this contest:


- Mention this Blog through Twitter, FB, or your Blogsite and then give me the link (you can leave it as a comment on this post or Tweet it to me). Don't forget to make me sound extra-great by telling your friends/followers something along the lines of: "Hey check out this crazy awesome illustrator...http://almiart.blogspot.com/"

- Follow me on Twitter and tell your friends to follow me, "Wow... follow @almiart - she can draw!"

- Comment on this post and tell me something interesting, like "Sweet! I never knew what a Dormer window was until I read this illustration's background!"


For each way you enter you will get a chance to win this print! (So, if you want to rack up the entries, just enter as many ways as you can - post on FB, Twitter, blogs, comment here and you will be off to the races!) All entries will be put on a list and then I will use Random.org to draw the winning name.





Check back in at the end of the week to see if you won this print and what I'm giving away next!
This giveaway ends Friday, July 20th at 11:59 PM.


The whole point of these giveaways is to get some extra hype going for a project I will be announcing in a few weeks. If you enjoy my illustration, even the tiniest bit, or if you like free stuff - PLEASE get the word out and help me get this going!


-ALMI

Friday, July 13, 2012

Mug Giveaway WINNERS!

WINNERS!

So, the time has finally come to announce the winners from the giveaway!
All entries were put on a list in the order they signed up, and then Random.org was used to generate number picks.

First up is the GRAND PRIZE winner of the hand-painted Walter mug:




Annnnddd it's HAPPYGRAPE! @happygrape2
WoooHOoo!

Next are the following 10 winners of prints:
  1. Cindy @oxcindyxo
  2. Heather Peagler @bestgirkfriend
  3. Melanie Chan @MLCillustration
  4. Plantie Bee @Plantiebee
  5. Tara Lazar @taralazar
  6. Shawna @shawnajctenney
  7. Cathy Hatterman @catinhatt
  8. happygrape @happygrape2
  9. Lydia Ondrusek @littlefluffycat
  10. beadsofcambaydotcom @beads_of_cambay
Congratulations to all the winners and a HUGE thank you to all those who participated!
I will be contacting the winners to get print choices as well as mailing addresses!
You can follow me on Twitter: @almiart for the latest updates and announcements.

Look out for more giveaways to come - for the next few weeks I will be giving away ORIGINAL drawings every Friday! I have a huge project coming down the pike and I'm hoping to get lots of people paying attention to this blog before I make the announcement! So, stay posted!

ALMI

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

What a Stretch...!


This week's Illustration Friday topic - Suspended




He thought up such a great plan.
Everything was set..but there was a slight hitch in the process.

Still undaunted, but slightly suspended from success:


Not sure how he will get out of this one, but as long as the cat stays away he will be fine.

I was going to add a background, but changed my mind...seemed like it might get a little busy and the tension would be lost. Working on this little mouse for my upcoming project... (still a secret!)

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Tweeps, Marching Bugs, and a Very Long Nose

So, my blog posts have been a long time coming. I've been really sick and haven't done much over the past few weeks except check emails, Twitter and send out orders.

I have not forgotten about the giveaway, and will be drawing (and posting) the winners tonight!

Also, I have a HUGE project coming down the pike soon that I'm super excited about!
I'm not ready to show it off yet, but in the meantime I came up with a fun mini project:

I reached out on Twitter, asking my followers for illustration topics (@almiart) and promised the first three responses would be combined into an illustration for fun. The three topics Tweeted back were:

And here's the result!

Colored Pencil and Ink on Bristol Board.
A Lemur eating cooked rice, thinking about the strange hummingbird (notice the nose, mouth and eyelashes if you are wondering if the hummingbird's head is human enough), and not thinking about the ants making off with his lunch.

A fun project! Thanks to those who participated.

Tuesday, May 08, 2012

Illustration Friday and Tuesday Mugs

Tippy thought they should just hitch a ride on Georgia - they didn't really think he'd notice since his head was all the way up in the clouds. Maybe they should've asked first...




Illustration Friday's Topic this week: Hitched
Colored Pencil on Bristol Board


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I also thought you might want to see some of the mugs I've been working on:



      

Check them out in my Etsy Store!





    



Monday, April 23, 2012

He Would Go to Any Length... Or Height...

This is Fraz:
He is a sneaky little cat..
And he will go do any length... or height... to find new treasures for the ones he loves.
This is not a treasure (even if Fraz thinks it is):


This is the nervous little sparrow that is trying to blend in to his birdhouse.
I don't think it's working.


Although... that branch doesn't look so stable...

Colored Pencil on a 1928 dictionary page
3.5x2.5" ACEO
Created for the IF challenge: Height

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DON'T FORGET TO ENTER MY GIVEAWAY!
WIN PRINTS AND A COFFEE MUG!
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Friday, April 20, 2012

GIVEAWAY!

So, here was yesterday's small hint:

And now it's time to start the giveaway!!! There are 3 ways to win prizes. The grand prize:


An upcycled, hand painted mug featuring Walter (the owl)


This mug has been hand painted with ceramic paint and coated with a satin clear coat.
It is dishwasher safe (though I would recommend hand washing) and oven safe (up to 350).
It has been signed "ALMI" on the bottom.



Enter by May 4 and get a chance to win one of 11 prizes!

FIRST
Enter one of two ways:
FACEBOOK:
Create a status announcing this giveaway, include the link to this blog post, and link it to my Facebook Page.
TWITTER:
follow me @almiart
Tweet announcing this giveaway, include the link to this blog post, tag me (@almiart), and use the hashtags #giveaway and #illustration

MAKE SURE YOU COMMENT BELOW WITH HOW YOU ENTERED (see below***)
Entering one of these ways will get your name into the drawing for the Grand Prize (Walter Coffee Mug)!
Entering with both Facebook and Twitter will get you into the drawing for the Bonus Prize!


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***SECOND
Post a comment on my blog with the following information: 

1. How you chose to enter (Facebook,Twitter, or both)
2. What Twitter/Facebook user name you entered with (not everyone uses the same name for their Twitter, Facebook and blog - I just want to be sure I know who's correctly entered)
3. Why you want the Walter Mug
4. Which bonus print you would choose if you won the bonus prize (click here to see choices) - you will be able to change your mind if you win, I'm just curious and others might be too!
5. Who (if anyone) you heard about this giveaway from (they will get an extra entry)


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10 BONUS PRIZES
Ten ACEO prints will be given away to the winners drawn in the Bonus Prize category!
Enter with both Facebook and Twitter, and your name will be entered in the giveaway.
The 10 winners drawn will get to chose from these ACEOs: click here!


GRAND PRIZE

One winner will be chosen to receive the walter mug! Winning the grand prize does not make you ineligible for winning a bonus prize (though you still must enter by both Facebook and Twitter to be eligible to for the bonus prize). Entering by Facebook, Twitter or both will get you the same chance to win the grand prize.
The only way to get extra chances to win this mug is by promoting this giveaway and having others mention they heard about it from you!


This giveaway ends in two weeks (11:59 PM on May 4, 2012), all entries must be in by this time.
I will post the winner's names on this blog, as well as through Twitter and Facebook. Prizes will be shipped out after the end of the giveaway, once the winner has been contacted and I have been given the correct addresses and any choice changes for the bonus prize.


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Failing to correctly enter may cost you a chance in the drawing, so be sure to double-check! :)
Also, make sure you continue to promote this giveaway, as each person who lists you as their source of hearing about this giveaway will give you an additional chance to win!

Don't miss this special opportunity!

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Thursday, April 19, 2012

What's Yours Is Mine, What's Mine Is... Mine.

Yay! Just finished a new set of hand-painted coffee mugs, and I'm really proud of them! I meant to take pictures of the process, but sort of got swept into working on them before I remembered. I did manage this:

And now you can check out the mug set:





You can see them for sale in my Etsy shop by clicking here.



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Exciting piece of news! I'm going to be having a blog giveaway starting Friday. Here's a tiny sneak peek! (so get excited!)

Be sure to check back in to see more and find out how you can win the secret giveaway! And come follow me on Twitter @almiart !

Monday, April 16, 2012

IF - Puzzled

Here is the story of Bronton the bird.

All his friends call him "Watt," but until you know him better you can call him Bronton.
Is this the face of a Puzzled character?
Certainly not.
He's called Watt for a reason - he has an answer for everything and lights up like a lightbulb at a challenge.
He's read the dictionary front to back 7 times and has it memorized pretty much word-for-word.
In fact talking to him is like reading a dictionary. Or Thesaurus. Or Encyclopidia. 

Even when he hasn't read about it, he can make an educated guess to answer any question.
Who needs the World Wide Web when you have Bronton around?
Puzzled?
Just ask Bronton.
But you might get more than you bargained for.

For sale in my Etsy Shop: http://www.etsy.com/listing/97733434/almi-art-bronton-aceo-vintage-book-page

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Bronton on a Mug

A new illustration - a new product! Check it out at my Etsy Store.


Bronton is a brilliant little fellow. This sunny, summer day he is contemplating the garden, the flowers, and the effects of photosynthesis on the plants.



Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Etsy Mug

A new handpainted mug to add to my Etsy store! I had a lot of fun making this and I'm very proud of the result! I've been working on a lot of new things, and I need to start posting them!

This week's IF topic is "vocal." I had a hard time thinking of a scene for this, but finally chose to do these fish on this mug. I thought of it being a great conversation starter, and this is why it's a "vocal" piece. So far, everyone who's stopped by my house has certainly said something as soon as they saw it! :)

More Fish in the Sea
  Hand-Painted Ceramic Mug
  4.5" Tall









Here's the Etsy listing: http://www.etsy.com/listing/97317530/almi-art-more-fish-in-the-sea-hand

Monday, March 12, 2012

Life Is Like a Bowl of Fish

It took me a while to come up with an idea for this week's Illustration Friday topic "yield." Eventually, I thought about circumstances that might yield one outcome or another, and this was what resulted:


It made me smile - I hope it does the same for you.

Friday, March 02, 2012

Oh, the Places I'd Like to Go!

This week's theme for IF was "Intentional" and today happens to be Dr. Seuss's birthday.

I absolutely love his work (he is very much an inspiration to mine) and have drawn him in the past. I see him as a very "intentional artist" with his bright colors and bold lines. He created a whole new genre of children's books that were nothing like the traditional "Dick and Jane" stories his generation was used to. Once, when at a book signing, he disappeared into a back room, where they later found him striking out the prices on boxes of new "Dr. Seuss" shoes and repricing them because they were too expensive. He never read his books in public, got very angry if reproductions of his work looked "cheap," and created all kinds of personal work that never was published.

Here is my "intentional" entry in colored pencil:


The time had come,
But Marvin said "NO!"
So Walter climbed on the Crunk-Car
And set it to "slow."
But slow was no fun,
Slow would not do.
So he cranked it to "fast"
and, boy, that thing flew!

I'm a little disappointed in how the colors came out when I photographed that one - in the original the blue is bluer, the owl is teal and the tree is orange. Also, I wanted to include the portrait of Seuss that I did two years ago for a Museum show. I realized I never put this into a blog, so I wanted to make sure I did! :) It's all colored pencil (no ink or any other mediums) and it's 18"x24" (poster size). I was illustrating his less-know characters with a little of my own style and coloring - little did I know they'd be making a movie out of the Lorax!

It's framed for my Office:







Wish I could have met him!