Star Wars Coloring Pages

The weather is getting colder and the kids will be indoors more often. Keep them busy with these fun Star Wars coloring pages! There are 12 pages, all of them illustrated by me. Just click and print! You'll need Adobe Reader to download the PDf. You can get that here.

Send me a picture of your little Padawan's masterpiece and I'll post it here on my blog!

DOWNLOAD THE COLORING PAGES HERE.

Make ACEO's with Me on Nov. 18th!

Illustration Friday - BLUR

Jack the Dragon ran past Beatrice in a blur.

The prompt for this week is "Blur". Speaking of which, it seems as though this month is also flying by in a blur. I'm leaving with my husband in only three weeks for India. It's going to be incredible! We are so excited to be going! I'm not sure if I'll have time to finish this piece in color before then. I definitely will finish it when we return!

Words of Wisdom For Young Artists Via Twitter!

On the path of their careers, young artists need the guidance and wisdom of those of us that have gone before them. I recently asked my Twitter followers the following question: What advice would you give young artists? Below is the wisdom they provided, in 140 characters or less. I highly suggest you do two things: Go follow each and every artist in this list if you don’t already. And also, forward this blog article to any young artist you know who you think may need a little guidance. I’m always available to talk to young artists about getting started in their career. And I’ll bet many of these fine folks would be too, if you ask nicely☺ And now, some wonderful advice from those in the know!

@ecdesignz Don't give up! The art world can be humbling and daunting. Believe in yourself and your talent! LOVE what you do & do what you LOVE.

@TenengoDesign Draw, draw, draw!!! And take some business classes.

@radillustrator Never give up and keep pushing forward. The best way to get better at art is to do it everyday, even if it's only a napkin sketch.

@Gilliland_Art Draw draw draw. Even if you are working digital take time to draw with a pencil and paper. Don't give in to lazy. Ever.

@manji675 Draw from life as much as you can is the best advice I can give any artist.

@CelKrantzArtist Anatomy is very important, hands & feet especially b/c they seem to be lacking detail in intermediate illustrations.

@CelKrantzArtist It is the artist's 100% responsibility to know themselves enough in order to live strong and unique.

@kellylight 

Confidence and persistence are as important as talent.


@kellylight 

DRAW! Draw life; draw until you can draw w/out looking. Then keep looking and draw more.

@fishdirt I used to buy books because I thought they were a secret to drawing things...FYI There are no secrets, persistence, practice and knowing.

@sksambo Create what means something to you. Don't just concern yourself with will it sell. It's not the end all.

@sksambo More :o) Don't starve! Keep a day job, just don't loose track of where your headed. It's your Job not your definition.

@sksambo One more, DRAW CONSTANTLY! The ability to draw is 5% dexterity, 20%commitment, and 75% observation. looking, train the eye!

@STEELCITYARTIST If you sketch it, they will come" With anything in life if have passion, dream, desire just keep at it!

@wscribbles Join the SCBWI & an on-line crit group w/ illustrators who's work you admire. Listen to them & learn all you can. Doodle daily!

@hipphop Drawing is important, but maybe even more important is learning how the industry really works, not just assuming how it works


Don't forget to follow these amazing artists! And if you want to follow me, I'm on Twitter too: @Cyndraws. Also, please add your own words of wisdom and advice in the comment box. You just never know who may see it and how you may affect someone's life for the better!

Meditating On Creativity

If you're doubtful of the effects meditating can have on your creativity, you're missing out on an incredible tool to add to your artistic arsenal. I began meditating earlier this year (after many failed attempts for years prior) when I began to realize that one of my biggest obstacles to my art was that I was constantly in a state of worry about my art. Worrying about what to do, how to get better, where I'll find work, how I'm going to get it all done, etc... actually made me feel as though I was being proactive. Worry validated my life as an artist. If I didn't worry about being an artist, then that must mean that I didn't care about it. The problem is that worry is the main ingredient for procrastination. It's a wonderful distraction. You wouldn't think just by looking at the volumes of work I put out over the years, or the fact that I never miss a deadline, that I ever procrastinated or worried, but I did. And I got to a point where I realized I don't want live my life this way any more. I knew that for me, meditation was the answer.

On October 10th I attended a 12 hour meditation retreat. There was a group of about 200 people. Over the course of the day, we were taught some simple but useful and applicable meditations and I've been doing them every day since. In all my past efforts to learn to meditate through books, audio, web site guru's, etc...nothing really ever worked for me. Maybe I wasn't ready. But I sure was ready on October 10th. I was fully committed to the idea that I would change this ridiculous, silly habit of worry. The meditations I learned clicked for me and I've been doing them every day since. So here's what I've noticed about how meditating for 1/2 an hour every day has affected my art:

• I have more time now to do my art! I always thought I needed 7 or 8 hours of sleep each night and wouldn't be able to function if I didn't get exactly that. After almost a month of meditation, I have begun to wake up after only 6 hours, feeling more awake and refreshed than ever before. Getting up earlier means a more time for making art!

• The creative floodgates have opened! It's like a pinata has burst open and all the candies and treats and delights are just busting out! Thankfully no one had to knock me on the noggin with a stick to make that happen. I have so many idea's that I can hardly keep up. And to take it a step further, I now act on as many as I can in a given day. No procrastinations, no excuses, no worry. My studio is a total mess, but even that doesn't bother me anymore.

• Meditation keeps me centered, focused. I don't find myself worrying about the bills, or when I have to get to this appointment or that appointment, or what needs to fixed in the house, etc... This makes me available to make more art!

• I've stopped judging my art. I spent just about every day of my life finding something to not like about what I've just drawn or painted or whatever and beating myself up over it. In this one month of meditation, I noticed that if I don't like the way a composition looks, or if something isn't working, the color isn't just right, that's ok. What a relief to just to be able to say "That's ok" and begin again. Or, "that's ok" and leave it the way it is. "Move along," the storm trooper said to Obi Wan. Move along, indeed.

I will continue to blog about my observations about how meditation is affecting my art in the coming weeks and months. Is meditation a part of your life? If so, how did it improve your creativity? Even if you've never meditated but have an interest in it, please leave a comment. I'd love to hear what your thoughts about it.

Thank you:)
-Cyn

8.5 Kids and Counting

These cutie pies emerged in my sketchbook quite unexpectedly these night. I'm rather fond of them. I wonder what stories they may ask me to tell. They're counted as 8 1/2 because the bottom right kid isn't finished yet.

2009 Holiday Cards Now in My Shop!

I designed this adorable message of Peace for my 2009 holiday card! They are available in my Artfire.com shop.

A set of 5 cards is $8.00 plus shipping.

To purchase, click here.

My Husband Rocks!

I met my husband Ian back in '93 (a long time ago in a garage far, far away;) My friend Eric had invited me over to finally hear his band. For weeks I'd been hearing him talk about his drummer, Ian, and how great he was. It was all very enticing! His name (Ian had been my favorite name for the longest time), and the fact that he was a drummer knocked my socks off. So I was curious to meet Ian the drummer. Well, the rest is history! It's 2009 and we are happily married. And yes, he still plays drums. He plays his heart out every night! And not just drums but piano too! He writes his songs, which are brilliant if you ask me (bias? nahh;) on the piano and hires some kick ass local talent to fill on on guitar and bass and whatever else he dreams into his music. His music sounds a little like Pink Floyd, a little Cold Play. I think that sums it up nicely.

I told him I'd offer a free download of one of his songs on my blog this morning. He was quite thrilled:) So I hope you enjoy this song. It's called "Little Bit" and it's about how man has to get over his ego and get on with helping the planet thrive and survive. Ian writes a lot of thoughtful songs. I like that:)

You can download Little Bit right here.

His site is www.ianmusic.com. You can hear samples from his various cd's (he's got quite a few), and he offers free downloads every now and again. He also has a music blog here. I hope you you check him out. Thanks everyone! -Cyn

My First Sketch of November 2009

I drew Teddy this afternoon - what a nice way to spend a Sunday, wouldn't you agree? And his message is Love. Quite simple, but sometimes, the simple messages are the best ones.

Teddy is for sale in my Artfire.come store which is here.

Illustration Friday - SKINNY

Miki didn't like her legs. They were long and skinny and because of that, everyone called her Spider.

The Illustration Friday.com prompt for today is "Skinny". I drew this in about 10 minutes with Copic Marker and colored pencil. Sorry, no non-dominant hand sketch today. Maybe next week!