2017 Reflection

First and foremost, thank you all who have been following me on this journey. Thank you for your time, generosity, and emotional support. Thank you for making an impact in my life as well as my business. Thank you!!!

It has been an intense year of growth. I bid farewell to 2017 with a smile. I busted my butt to say the least and I am finally starting to see my efforts achieve goals. My true new year starts in March of 2018-an anniversary of when I really threw myself into my passions.

New Year's Eve 2016 I made a plan to change my circumstances.

Tim and I have been together a decade, most of it he was a night shift worker. Even when we were in college we both worked odd shifts. To us it was normal. We became parents in 2015. We had to adjust to Jacqueline's schedule and needs. The struggles and lows of that year made it clear to me what I wanted to be as her mother and what I wanted for a career. Little did I know that I needed to become a mother to be brave enough to push my dreams into reality. She motivates me because I want my little girl to know that she can achieve whatever she puts her heart and mind to. So can her mother.

I had recently finished pet portraits as gifts in the holiday season of 2016. I wanted to do more. I was making my stamp pieces from a vintage dog postal stamp collection I own, these were small profits. I loved making the pet portraits and decided that would by my niche for 2017. I had a goal to make one art piece a month. A friend commissioned me for a portrait and then a referral for another was sent my way. Word of mouth and a stronger Instagram presence helped move my name around.

I taught an oil pastel class at ART247 in Lockport in Spring. I loved it! Teaching is definitely something I would like to do again in 2018. I am still in touch with my students and call them friends.

I also made a goal to travel for a chalk festival and did in June of 2017 to Denver. Read about that trip here.  I once again chalked in Lockport, NY in July of 2017. Read about that event here. I look forward to chalking every year as soon as the weather changes. I hope to do another trip out of state for a festival in 2018 but we will see how I'm doing this Spring to travel in the fall.

At the end of August, my day job shared my talents on our corporate home page. See the article write up here. I got have a waiting list for the first time ever thanks to that exposure. I am still receiving inquiries from that article.

During this past year I also took up another adventure. I have always wanted to own my own boutique. I remember browsing cute little shops in sea side towns when I was 11 thinking I wanted one of my own when I grew up. The retail market is certainly different now. I found a way to get my feet wet without paying for shop rent. I became an independent LuLaRoe consultant. I now sell cute and comfy clothes as well as pet themed art!
You can join my Facebook VIP Group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/LularoeJessTomaino/

This past year also took a toll. Working 3 jobs and being a mother and wife was a lot to handle. I lived a life that not many would to reach a goal still in my sights for 2018. I had to grow personally as well as professionally. I learned my limits after I fell into depression in October. I lost my fire for everything. The pieces that made me who I am, my creativity, my empathy, my determination, my optimism were gone. Anxiety is not a stranger to me but depression was sneaky and unlike anything I have ever dealt with. I managed my way out of it with counseling and taking some time off work to slow down.

I knew I was recovering when after weeks of inspiration block I had ideas to create nature art pieces using sealing wax and inks. (I plan on doing that soon after a shopping trip to Hobby Lobby.) I knew I was recovering when I sketched 3 portraits in 5 hours. Sometimes just sketching one may take me up to 3 hours. I knew when I was recovering because my faith in God became stronger even in my struggles.

From upper left to bottom right: 

Riley, Love Byrds, Henna, June, Denver Chalk Festival 2017, and Gatti 

From upper left to bottom right:

Sweet Chalk Festival 2017, Joe's Riley, Otto Bear, Astrid, Jasper, and Doxies 

To see my 12 pieces all together is surreal and wonderful. I have worked very hard this past year to push Wild at Heart Illustration from hobby to business. I aim to create 20 pieces in 2018. 

I had spent a lot of time this year wondering if I was worthy of my artistic gift. I learned that it is not something I am to be worthy of, but something I am just supposed to be. I am an artist. Using my talents glorifies God. I am to use it to help provide for my family and give to others healing and joy. I would like to teach art again-maybe with a vacation bible school or summer program in Newfane. 

I have lots to do still. I have ideas and plans but like every year I look back and marvel at how it all comes together. There will be highs and lows with surprises thrown but I'm ready for 2018. 

Stay tuned. 

Doxies

I have been blessed with a gift. Word of mouth is the greatest referral anyone could ever ask for. I received another commission with help of the GEICO article.

This 16x20 Oil Pastel piece is of 2 Dachshunds. I have been calling them my "Doxies." Their Fur Mom has asked me not to name specifics and I respect that.

I had a couple photos to use for reference. One in particular we loved because the pup's tails are touching. The shape of the photo and the size of the paper proved a little challenging for subject placement.

The reference photo has been cropped. I simplify the backgrounds to bring the dogs themselves to the focus of each piece. So the carpet and siding of the porch room would be broken down into one color or a variation of hue. 

Sketching took about 4 tries. The layout was tricky. I liked the diagonal dynamic of the siding in the background and the opposite movement in the touching tails. The bodies would have to be lowered to get the full composition movement. The composition has a teal "S" in between the dog bodies and the negative space of the background. That subtle anchor pulls the eye around the piece. 

 

Kneaded erasers can double as stress balls!

Base color being applied here. This stage always look so rough and cartoonish.

 

 

Small changes make big impacts. Each side by side difference between the images is hours of work.

"Doxies" 16x20 Oil Pastel and Color Pencil

My customer loved her portrait. She gave me praise and promise of referrals. The portrait will be hanging in her living room. The background color was a surprise-teal looks lovely with shades of browns and it is my favorite color, so that was an easy one to please her with. She said she will try to get a picture with the real life wiggly boys. I will edit if she manages it. 

That wraps up 2017. Thank you for reading about each piece this past year. 

I can't wait to share more in 2018 with you! 

Jasper

I have been very busy since mid November. I had several pieces to complete before the holidays. One of which was on a day job referral. Jasper is a dashing Blood Hound.

I had one reference picture. When I first saw it I started giggling out loud. I love a great expression photo! This Blood Hound had attitude in spades. Look at that eyebrow! I didn't have a ton of information about him but could imagine him impatiently waiting for his supper or scratches as soon as you come through the door.

He might have been wiggly and definitely had head movement. You can see the blur of ear on his left side. His tail already a blur. I got to take creative liberty with this piece.

This portrait was 11x14 which is one of my favorite sizes to work with. We chose oil pastel to capture Jasper's rich coloring (much like the gemstone.) I managed to sketch this one quickly and started to lay color down. 

The smaller the portrait size the harder it is to get detail with oil pastel. 11x14 is the smallest I like to go unless the feeling of the portrait is to be whimsical and more illustrative like on a greeting card or children's book. At some point after the first layer or color is applied there is a point of doubt. I had it this portrait when the color stained past my initial lines. However, like they always do, it developed to a more realistic...

When I don't do the eyeballs first it always look super creepy. 

There are two parts to pencil work. The shadow/highlight and the details. I often will use white color pencil as a "blender" it can't smooth out oil pastel and add a sheer layer of white which can make the original oil color look softer. I often shade darker areas with brown, blue and purple. Adding more brown make it even harder to bring the shadows out so I had to be liberal about the blue and purple use of color pencil. Any white area had several colors to help create definition. Colors such as 2 different hues of light blues, pastel yellow, cream, 3 shades of grey, light purple, and then white.

I used the mark up feature on my phone to go back to areas that need more definition. 

The final piece! "Jasper" 11x14 Oil Pastel and Color Pencil

Detail Shots:

I eagerly await the verdict if my client's loved one found Jasper's portrait as charming as I have. He was given as a Christmas gift. I may be adding more to this post in the future if I get my favorite real life Jasper posing next to his portrait picture. 

Otto Bear

Otto also referred to lovingly as "Bear" was an additional Fall project brought to completion in time for Christmas. My fellow Underwriter work buddy, Sarah, commissioned me for a portrait of her Pit Bull, Otto. Otto is special. He is a three legged wonder dog with boundless energy and has this understanding and loving spirit. His gaze got to me immediately. Such a comfort he brings. His Mama tells me he is loyal and a people person-all house guests are there to see him and only him. He is an "old man puppy." He will be 8 years old on New Year's Eve but you would never know it.

Sarah sent me some reference photos. I ended up combining elements for a more dynamic composition. I took the bandanna's details from one photo to use as a "frame" for the other pose. 

 

I had the vision and sketched him out fairly quickly. 

The key to ink is to start light. The lines must be defined either by follow the sketched lines literally or to define them using shadows and highlight placement. 

 When there are geometric elements you can afford to go dark right away. The space around the paisleys on the bandanna was the first place I went to.

The background is a single layer curtain of dots. It does not compete with the subject. The brindle of his coat was challenging on this piece. There was a risk to go too dark. 

I spent many  of my "second shift" nights, 15 minute stints, lunch breaks, and middle of the night restless energy on this piece. Being that it is ink my supplies are easy to transport. I have taken pictures of the piece periodically to share the progress of time and effort. 

The longest part of the piece is between the full base and finishing layer. The finising hours are targeting areas to go darker. The shadows in ears, the definition of reflection in the eyes, and the addition of whiskers. 

The finished work:

Detail Shots:

One of my favorite things is to see finished portraits next to the subjects in real life. Otto approved! 

Astrid

I was commissioned to do an 8x10 ink stippling portrait of a fun feline, Astrid.

A lot of my clients have been through referrals, word of mouth, and the most recent push from an article shared through my day job's associate site. See my blog post about it here.

Stippling is the layering of ink dots. It is time consuming, unforgiving, and believe it or not extremely therapeutic. Out of the two mediums I use ink is the medium that gives the more realistic look to my illustrations.

Astrid is a grey kitty who has a bob tail and playful spirit. She is a dear and shows affection to her human Mom often. Her expression is described as "lovey." Did you know that when cats show certain emotions it affects the size of their pupils? Have you seen Dreamwork's "Puss in Boots" show series or the character from the Shrek movies? His eyes go all big and he look super cute when he is trying to get something he wants. Disarming his foes with cuteness. My task was to take photos provided and give her the lovey look.

 

My client wanted to see both of the cat's ears and a loving expression. I played around with referral images provided altering them and cropping them to get a feel for a composition.

My first round of notes and composition plans were of the cat in a C shape.

However, I ended up going back to the picture of her stretched on the patio table. The picture had the best clarity out of the bunch, the gaze was dynamic, and I could play with the surrounding textures.

I sketched out the piece and then started the first layers of the shadows. I usually define edges and outline facial features so I don't lose my place. 

(Comparison of two hours of work)

(Work in progress)

My "Action Shot" Hahahaha!

I often take pieces with me to work that are small enough to carry or easy enough to clean up in a hurry. I will work on pieces on breaks at the day job. My coworkers are quite used to it by now and maybe look forward to seeing my progress over a span of an order. My coworker, Jax (not to be confused with baby Jax) snapped a pic of me working and sent me a cute quote message. I am quite lucky to have such fantastic people cheering me on as I push towards my dreams and use my talent in this way. 

I would set the picture and the portrait next to each other, propped up on my keyboard when I entered into the stare and tweak stage of my artistic process. I make a fuss to get it right but at least it is entertaining to those around me sometimes. 

The finished portrait:

Detail shots:

My client's review on Etsy:

"The stippling ink that Jess did of my cat was beautiful. She really captured the way my cat looks and the expression in her eyes. I'm very happy with the portrait!"