I'm thrilled to find that my illustration titled "The Commute" has won and been selected in the pro illustration category for the winter 2014/15 edition of Creative Quarterly. It is a real honor to be included in this prestigious art and design publication and I cannot wait to see CQ#37 when it hits the news stands!
The Commute . Selected winner for CQ 37, winter 2014/2015.
Even with your hands full of work it is always important to be creating new promos. There’s nothing worse than a stagnant portfolio. When I send out an email campaign to Art directors, the last thing I want is them thinking that I’m not generating any new work. I also believe that the more that you create, the better you become at your craft and, in turn, the more creative you become. The Unselfie Project has actually become a huge tool for me as a self promotion outlet. I’m always talking about what I’m working on and posting new stuff in addition to my blog and website. It’s nice to be have pretty much “live” updates on what I’m working on.
Social media has been a tremendous help and I gotta say, I LOVE YOU INTERNETS! You make my job easier. I don’t have to live in a crowded, smelly city to be an illustrator. I can work from home, wearing clothes covered in cat hair with no makeup on and nobody will know! Aside from the wonder of the internet making my profession easier than it was just a few short years ago it also gives me the chance to get my work in front of many more people than ever before. AND HOW!
You never know who may be watching. It’s important to generate interest in your work and anyone can be a potential client so I try and get my work out in front of as many people as possible. I’ve even had a few celebrities, including Danielle Colby of the TV show “American Pickers", Questlove of the Roots and Adam “Nergal” Darski, of extreme metal band, Behemoth, admire and re-post my work, on their Twitter, Instagram and Facebook feeds which is totally awesome because thousands of people see it. Plus, HOW COOL IS THAT? PRETTY COOL! Check out some of my brushes with "greatness" below. :)
Questlove of The Roots. He saw this on Twitter and was kind enough to give me a retweet and a shout out. It was super nice of him.
Sketch studies of Adam "Nergal" Darski, controversial polish celebrity and front man of extreme metal band, Behemoth. He saw this on Instagram and contacted me to ask if he could re post on his Facebook page.
Finished illustration of Nergal for the US Behemoth tour. I used this in an email campaign geared toward art directors in the music, arts and entertainment industry. I emailed it to him and he wrote me back, telling me how much that he loved it and also posted it on his Facebook and Instagram pages and hundreds of people saw it. Thanks Nergal!
Hello and welcome to the very first edition of my newsletter! I want to give everyone a review of the good stuff that's been going on around the studio the past couple of months. If you would like to subscribe to the newsletter, you can do so on my contact page at the very bottom. So without further Adieu:
During the planning of my Kickstarter campaign, The Unselfie Project, it soon came to light that I was going to need a website that had a built in e-commerce section as well as galleries. I decided on a Squarespace template and enlisted the help of branding and identity connoisseur, PRIMER, to customize it for me. I’m super happy with the result - simple clean and easy to navigate. PRIMER also created my sweet new double Wacom stylus logo which I am totally in love with. You may or may not know, I do all of my illustration on a Wacom tablet and the stylus has pretty much become an extension of my hand.
May 1st The Unselfie Project launched. What a blast! 5 months had gone into the planning of the campaign, and it was a huge success. Not only did it gain local and national exposure via press outlets like the Philadelphia City Paper, Geekadelphia, The Huffington Post and NBC 10, it gained international attention and was even featured on an Italian art blog, L'identità aumentata. By the time the campaign was over on May 31st, it was almost 2 and a half times funded which is AMAZING!
I am super grateful for everyone who has supported me through this. Family, friends, clients, peers, social media contacts, everyone who spread the word as well as my backers and clients who continue to spread the word for me. Your interest, tweets, re posts, support of my project, have all made it possible for me to open The Unselfie Project webstore and make it a side business in addition to my freelance illustration career. I also want to add a very special thanks to my husband Brian, the creative mastermind behind PRIMER, for all of your help with everything. I could not have done it without you!
The original goal for The Unselfie Project online gallery was at least 150 portraits. I’m thrilled to say that it has already passed 125 portraits! This is without every backer or client opting in. I have easily finished 200+ portraits (Heck, I’ve stopped counting) in the past 3 months. That’s a TON of work and I am so proud of it. I’m planning on keeping it going as new customers opt in. So keep watching how huge it gets. I'm determined to get rid of as many lame selfies as possible!
Gift Cards coming soon to The Unselfie Project web shop!
Are you looking for a one of a kind gift for that someone special? I’m excited to announce that Unselfie gift cards are in the works! So please, keep me in mind for the holidays, birthdays, and any other reason why you might want to give an Unselfie as a gift. I will have details about when they are available soon, on my Social Media feeds and blog.
As you know, some of the great people who backed The Unselfie Project on Kickstarter are businesses. I just finished up a 30 piece, color Unselfie order for Blue Hair Studio that I am super excited to share with you.
Blue is not just an award winning, full service salon but an oasis made up of an inspiring group of creative artists from all walks of life. These people are not just stylists and makeup artists but musicians, philanthropists, lovers of life, my creative brethren - involved in community outreach, teaching seminars, live music, etc.
I have known owner, Will Bostock for many years and have had the opportunity in the past to create poster illustrations for both Blue's Starving Artist Campaign and the Song For Style Campaign . Will wanted to support The Unselfie Project and get avatars of the 30 people that make up the tight knit Blue Crew family. Everyone now has their own avatar illustration that they can personally use for whatever they would like as well as for future use on the Blue website. The avatars are all up now in The Unselfie Project online gallery, but I'm posting them all here, starting with Will. (Hi Will! ;). Scroll all the way down to see this fantastic collection of faces that I am incredibly proud of!
Will Bostock, owner of Blue Hair Studio
My earliest memory of Robin Williams was the crazy guy with the rainbow suspenders on the "Mork and Mindy" TV show when I was a little kid. I remember the sitcom was always on during dinner time, and many an episode was watched on a small television set that my mother used to keep on the kitchen counter top. The whole world was saddened to hear of his sudden and tragic passing yesterday. RIP, Robin - you brought joy and laughter to millions.
Shazbot!
