The Time Has Come

Hello friends!

I'm writing to let you know that I won't be blogging here anymore, but never fear! I am just moving. I'll leave this blog open so that you can still view all the old entries, but if you'd like to keep up to date on my new work, you can visit me here:

Tumblr: nancymuller.tumblr.com
Instagram: instagram.com/kissabug717
Twitter: twitter.com/kissabug
Flickr: flickr.com/photos/kissabug
Etsy: etsy.com/shop/kissabug
Behance: behance.net/kissabug

Thanks for sticking with me.
I'll see you around!

The Book That Almost Was

For me, 2012 was an important year, full of excitement and heartache. From winter 2011 to winter 2012, I poured my heart into a wonderful children’s book project that was ultimately canceled. After all that hard work, the book would never be published. I was devastated and completely disheartened. Shortly after that, my nephew was born and I went to live with my brother for over half a year to lend a hand. I threw myself into distraction, hid away everything related to the book, and just tried to move on.

Looking back, there are things I wish I’d done differently, but I learned a great deal from the experience and I’ve finally come to a point where I feel comfortable with sharing a piece of it. I did not write the story, and because of that I can’t share the entirety of the work that I did on the project, but I would like to share with you a few highlights.

Here are some pieces that were not quite (but very nearly) completed—






Just about everything else was in the final stages of sketches and color studies—










Here are a some of the very earliest character sketches from the project—







And some photos of my workspace while painting—






This is only a small fraction of the work, which consisted of numerous thumbnails, notes, changes, sketches, color studies, and mock-ups. I worked with an amazing editor who believed and trusted in my abilities, and I sincerely hope that I will get another chance to work with someone like her again. Despite the fact that the book was never completed, I still feel a great sense of pride and satisfaction now when I look back at everything that I accomplished in that year.

All this is to say that I’m not giving up on children’s books.

I’ve had a taste of it, and I know it’s something that I want to do. Whether it's someone else's story or my own, I am ready to try again. Right now I’m working on a few things of my own, and though writing is difficult, I’m trying. I’m giving it all I have.

Clownfish

Inspired by some of my favorite movies, including Finding Nemo, Ponyo, and The Life Aquatic, and by my childhood and family, which has always been full of love for the ocean.

Detail:











Inspired by some of my favorite movies, including Finding Nemo, Ponyo, and The Life Aquatic, and by my childhood and family, which has always been full of love for the ocean.

Detail:

Dragon Hatchling

Another dragon, a sweet little baby this time. This is round two of my digital experiments with texture and brushes, and I think I am getting the hang of things! There's so much more that I could possibly do with this, but I am happy with it as is and I think it is time to move on to something new.

Thumbelina

Click to see it larger!
Here's something I've been playing with for a while-- a scene from Thumbelina, shortly after her escape from the toads. I wanted to try a different approach from my usual and test out some new Kyle T Webster Photoshop brushes, which are all quite lovely. My favorite brush so far has been Gouache A-Go-Go, no surprise there! This was a lot of fun but it also took much longer than I would have liked. Working digitally has always been challenging for me, there are just so many options and it's easy to get stuck endlessly messing about with minor details. Maybe working like this just takes some practice?

Mermaids, Eels, Dragons, Robbers, Gifs

Bonus stuff-- seamless pages + work in progress gifs:









My friends, I was gone for a long time but I am back now.

She Sails

This is part of an image I made some time ago for an amazing sailor and adventurer, Stephanie Katz, to be used on her new blog about her travels. I was so happy to be asked to create the header and background for this place where she would document her experiences, and the process was such a fun one that I was sad when it was done. Go on and visit Stephanie on her blog to follow her travels at SheSails.net !

The image is something of a collage, with foreground and background images painted separately in gouache and then assembled together digitally, that way I could have more control over composition and placement even after the painting part was done. 

I ought to have posted this sooner, but immediately after, I got tied up in a long term project that I can't talk about just yet. Let it suffice to say that I am bursting with excitement about it.

Circus Folk Paper Dolls

Hello all, this is my first paper doll post!

I designed these dolls some months ago, based on drawings of circus characters from my neatbook, and I cannot begin to tell you how much I love them.
Click to enlarge!













In preparation for the Craft Carnival on November 5th, I've ordered some lovely glossy 5x7 postcard prints of these paper dolls that can be cut out and assembled with provided brads. Each doll takes 30 to 45 minutes to carefully cut out and put together. I'll be selling them both as DIY paper doll postcards and pre-assembled dolls.

Also note the Etsy shop address on the front of the doll sheets: kissabug.etsy.com!

I'm planning to begin stocking up my Etsy shop this Friday, so run over there and bookmark it, heart it, add me to your circle, and keep your eyes peeled, because this Etsy shop is happening!





I've also got new postcards and business cards, a nice fat stack of postcard prints of other illustrations, and my stickers should be arriving any day now. I'd like to make some fine art prints available too at some point, but that will have to wait for the time being. Right now, I'm sewing plush!

Little by little, everything is coming together.

**EDIT**
I've decided I need a bit more time to launch the Etsy shop. Wednesday or Friday, I think.
Some time between November 2nd & 4th, kissabug.etsy.com! I'll keep you posted.

Handmade Miami Craft Carnival

Fun news friends! 

This year I will be participating in the Handmade Miami Craft Carnival! I'll be selling prints, paper dolls, stickers, and plush goodies, so if you are in or around Miami, FL when November 5th rolls around, please stop on by! I'll be posting often in the coming weeks with updates. AND since this event has lit a fire under me, I'll be setting up an Etsy shop soon as well. Stay tuned!

Lorenzo and Lynda

(Photo by Elizabeth Stemporzewski, used with permission. Thanks Elizabeth!)

Here is a portrait that I painted for Lynda and Lorenzo, friends of mine that I have known since elementary school. They just got married! I was so happy to be asked to do a portrait for their wedding, which was used for the cover of their guestbook. Congratulations Lorenzo and Lynda! All my love! ♥

Old Forgotten Things

Here are some things that I forgot to post! They are all precisely one million years old.

First up is the forgotten monster that I painted years ago along with the other characters of this flickr set.
I somehow I managed to overlook him, poor thing.
Next are two color studies for the Telephone Series. I love them, they are as loose as it gets.
Then is an old but not too old page of colors from the messbook for the Tarot Journal notebook cover.
And last is the painting of a trio of goldfish, which is probably one of the first paintings that I made upon rediscovering gouache, ever so many years ago.
So many old things. My, how time flies.
And there are newer things to come.

So Many Swatches

I uploaded 12 pages of swatches to flickr today! Yikes, 12! I think 12 is a pretty pretty overwhelming number for a blog post though, so please visit the flickr set if you want to see more. I mix a lot of paint y'all. I have so many of these pages now that I feel like I need to do something with them... but what? Ideas?

Drawing Lines in my Sleep

Click for big.

I keep a journal by my bed to jot down my thoughts, and sometimes to record my dreams when I wake. In the back of the journal, I draw patterns and lines, mostly to calm my mind or to occupy my hands and eyes while I listen to an audiobook, podcast, or some music before bed. I find making this kind of freehand drawing very rhythmic and soothing.

The first page above is a collection of a few snippets from my late night drawing sessions by lamp light, cut and arranged to fit my neatbook. I thought it was a lovely coincidence that the sheet music matched the color and feel of the drawings.

The bottom image is of a neatbook page that I'd begun ages ago, just wavy lines and wobbly diamonds in orangey red, and I never knew what to do with it. It recently occurred to me that it might make a nice abstract nature backdrop, and that is how the goldfish came to live there.