September 29, 2008 at 3:57 pm
· Filed under General, Imagination & Inspiration
Island in the Sun by Barbara Burns
This year for day job hunting, I put together a black portfolio book [9" x 12"] to carry around in a black bag which has one side clear photo size pockets. I put some of my ATC’s in them for decoration.
You can find the correct size folder or book locally or online for original artworks or reproductions. I chose the size that would be easiest for me to make digitally, carry easily and easy to layout on a table for illustrating my skills.
The sample artworks are mostly from various graphic design projects from different day jobs and self-employed projects … the combination book and bag make it much easier to carry the portfolio around than the zippered business portfolio I was using.
I had an interview last Wednesday and I was showing various graphics to the recruiter as I talked about my skills … on the inside of the very first page though, I have a watercolor painting - yes, this painting shown above - I carry the original in the book.
This is one of my favorite watercolor paintings … it is so pretty with lots of emotion and energy … most people do not think of “pretty” as a goal for serious artwork … but think about it … the world is full of lots of ugly things and it is the pretty things that capture our attention, make us smile and lift up our spirits.
This watercolor painting caught her eye immediately as I was paging past it to get to another selection … I stopped and showed it to her … it made her smile … and it set the tone for our entire meeting … relaxed, informative and art focused.
Graphic design, whether it is advertising for a product or precise measurements for equipment overlay painting is art just as much as fine art watercolor or oil paintings.
I bought the portfolio at a local Hobby Lobby store and the bag came from the sewing section of a local Michael’s store … the book project came together because I needed to show my artwork at interviews … the bag happened after I went to an interview and nearly dropped the book trying to juggle a purse and portfolio book. Appearing clumsy and off-balance is not how I want to present myself at interviews so I found a solution to keep myself prepared and relaxed for interviewing.
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September 5, 2008 at 8:46 pm
· Filed under General
This summer has been packed full of changes for me … I bought a house and I lost my job … I had to pack everything and get it moved … and I am still in the process of finding things … I found my postage stamps last nite about 11 PM so this morning … I found one of my sketch pads to use to write my son in Iowa a letter to let him know what is happening in my life at the moment.
This morning, I created a mixed media sketch using my watercolor pencils [no water] and gel ink pens on the sketch pad. The sketch paper is labeled heavyweight, multipurpose textured art paper, ideal for sketching and for pencil, ink, pastel or color markers. Sketch paper doesn’t usually seem to have weight on them … but I love using watercolor pencils for sketching without using water … it gives a pastel look to me instead of a colored pencil look.
Maybe it is just me … but whenever I use colored pencils, it gives sharp well defined marks and the watercolor pencils do not … they give me either a well defined or a soft out of focus cloud like appearance … all depending on what I do and how I do it.
I was just sketching a decorative letter with a tiny bit of family news to my son … I did the writing in the gel pen inks … I used a few complementary colors to the watercolor palm tree and grassy area - easy to read - the purpose of the letter was to inform as well as share my fun artwork idea. I liked how it turned out. I hope he enjoys it - the paper size is 18 inches by 12 inches so I had to fold it a lot [almost similar to origami] and I put the finished letter in a legal size business envelope … hope it does not ruin the painting. I got ti out to the mailbox before the mail went too so it will go out and he should get it … by next … Wednesday? I hope.
I did not take any pictures of my letter for out here … it just seemed too personal for blogging it here … but it was a fun way to write old fashioned letters … yes email is a wonderful immediate thing … but some people LOVE to get old fashioned mail from the post office and have something to hold in their hand … to re-read over and over … to see what stamp was chosen for the envelope - I currently have Frank Sinatra stamps right now .. before that, I had Star Wars stamps … and before that I had lighthouses, the forever liberty bell, flags, etc.
Now that I am moved and starting to know where my painting equipment is again … I have some paintings waiting for me to put them on paper … and I have some ACEO images in my mind to create too 
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