Sunday, February 13, 2011

Next: Elephants, Foxes and Kittens

Now that I've had a couple days to enjoy my Venice drawing, it's time to focus on the next project.  Sundays are great for project transitions.  Most of my weekend chores are finished by Saturday, so I have most of the day to start something new that I can get excited about during the week to come.

During the past week, I started working on a simple ink drawing of a baby elephant with its mother.  I'm hoping to draw two others, as well, one with a fox and one with a kitten.  These drawings are each about 5"x6".  I'm hoping to scan them to make some note cards, and I'm looking into a good animal rights organization that I can support with the proceeds.  If you have any suggestions, post them in a comment!

I really wanted to do these drawings to honor some of the animals that are shown in the documentary Earthlings, a graphic film about global treatment of animals.  This documentary really moved me, despite its being really upsetting, and it left me with the knowledge that I had to do something, even if it doesn't feel like it's making much of a difference.  These drawings are one of the actions I'm taking, and with them I hope I can raise a little awareness.  Today I'm starting the kitten one!

Did you know?
Elephants:
- are the largest living land animals and the adults have no known natural predators
- represent wisdom in many cultures and are known for their memories and intelligence
- can communicate over very long distances with a low frequency rumbling that other elephants can perceive through their trunks and feet
- exhibit behaviors that we associate with grief, art, compassion, and self-awareness, among other things
(thanks Wikipedia!)

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Finished: Venice Rediscovered

This morning I went hunting for a mat and frame because yesterday I finally finished a drawing that I've been working on for months.  Today was a rare sunny day in the middle of Seattle's winter, so I wanted to take advantage of the light and take some photos of my drawing for an Etsy post.  Here's a sneak preview:


I'm hoping to post it in The Purple Room tomorrow once I'm finished gathering photos of it framed.  The drawing is of buildings along a canal in Venice, and it was inspired by and drawn from a creative commons photo posted by gnuckx on Flickr.  I am so grateful to him and all the other wonderful photographers who open up their work.  Flickr's creative commons search is a great place to get inspired.

This is my fourth Italy drawing like this, and they were all done in various gray colored pencils with a splash of color.  I finished the first two in high school and the third as a wedding gift for my wonderful friend, Sarah.  The technicality of the drawings always made it a very relaxing process, and when I came across gnuckx's photo this past October, I knew I wanted to work on another one.  So much time goes into each one, but finally finishing them is an amazing feeling.

One thing I never did with my past Venice drawings was make digital copies, and I'm not making that mistake this time.  Ideally I would like to have prints made and I think this drawing would make great note cards.  For now, though, I'm ready to enjoy the fact that I've finished another Italy drawing and move on to the next project.

Up next, my motivation for elephant and fox prints.

Elephants and Venice

Coming soon to a Room In Purple near you....

Welcome!

Hello, and welcome.  You've probably found your way here through my Etsy store, The Purple Room, and I'm glad you did!  So you have an idea of what you'll find, here's my manifesto of sorts.

I want Room In Purple to serve as The Purple Room's twin, or maybe the reflection it would see if it could look into a mirror.  As my Etsy store is the new home of all of my creations, this blog is going to be the home of my thoughts along the way.  Also like my Etsy store, you'll probably find a lot of variety here.  One of my greatest assets, as well as faults, is that I can never seem to specialize in one or two areas.

Most of the sources I've read about being successful on Etsy discuss how it's important to find your niche and stick with it.  I have thought about doing this.  I could pick one artistic outlet that I am more prolific with and dedicate The Purple Room to that alone.  But I really think that decision would be cutting myself short.  I would love to be successful at sharing my passion with other Etsy lovers, but I want to make sure that I am sharing my whole passion, not just one facet of it.  I want my niche to be an artistic point of view, not a specific manifestation of it.

Now I am going to apply that same principle to my store's twin, Room In Purple.  Here you will read about my various projects, what I am finishing, what I am starting, and which ideas have plans in the works.  You may also read about my thoughts for the day, or a new recipe that I came up with for dinner.  Sometimes you might come across a lovely helping of internet soup.  Only time will tell!  So please stop by again and enjoy your time here!