Painting Workshop

This weekend I had the privilege of attending a painting workshop by Cleveland's own legendary artist Mary Deutschman . The workshop was a birthday gift from my lovely boyfriend, Ron.

Good times were had by all (despite a little rain). I picked the most difficult subject I could find and... had a difficult time. But I learned a lot, which was the important part.



I want to finish my painting (I took nice reference photos), but its hard to get motivated. Maybe once I start working in oils more regularly. We shall see...

****UPDATE****

This was my 100th post!!!

Ooo La La!

I leave for my Euro-trip in only 2 days!!!!
Couldn't be more excited

exciting news!

I entered my portrait of Kayla (who is my boyfriend's sister and was our roommate for several months) into a Juried show here in northern Ohio and not only did it get in.... I won a Jury award!!!! I couldn't be more thrilled, especially considering that the painting was in very good company with work by amazing local artists.

Sketchy.... Tuesday?? Ugh, I give up

Ok, so not exactly on schedule, here is this week's drawing:




Colors done in Illustrator (and kinda unfinished... I forgot about a few details)



There is a story behind this.... but it is a little too geeky than I'm willing to admit.
yeah....

A little Eye Candy... (also, Guys and Dolls)

Oh... my... goodness.... I think I was born in the wrong Decade



I rented and watched the 1955 version of Guys and Dolls last week and found myself entirely enchanted with it - largely due to 31 year old Marlon Brando's performance as lovable gambler Sky Masterson. How come nobody told me before about Marlon Brando??? and what he used to look like????? I found myself quickly falling for a man that was born over half a century before me (never mind that he has been dead for six years). I know I have seen Streetcar in high school, but did I just not notice? How could I?



Anyway, Guys and Dolls was an absolute treat. The songs are great, the set is beautiful and Ol' Blue Eyes is in it. There is really nothing to argue about. There are also amazing performances by Jean Simmons, Vivian Blaine, and Stubby Kaye as Nicely-Nicely. Lovely Jean Simmons - who only just passed away a few days ago - was especially wonderful as conservative Mission Sargent Sarah Brown and her performance of "If I were a bell" is not to be missed.

My Favorite, however, was the show's hallmark song, "Luck be a Lady" performed by Brando (not Sinatra as I had assumed). He brings a kinda flavor to it that adds so much. The sewer set is really cool as well.





Go see it, NOW! Tell me what you think, though I know you'll love it!
Anyone have any other recommendations of movies you think I'll like from this era? Anyone?

My Name is Inigo Montoya.... you killed my Father... prepare to DIE!

Ok, So I LOVE the Princess Bride. I must have seen it dozens of times, but it never fails to make me happy. I wrote papers on it in high school, have read the book and it is just one of those movies that everyone always loves.

This, I think, justifies the fan art kick I am on.







Feel free to post with your favorite quotes... I know you want to

Ahem... "Does anybody want a peanut?"

Dropping the Ball

Ok... so maybe posting sketches on Sundays is harder than I thought.
I will try to stick to the routine from now on, but to make up for it, here are a few of my latest:


I seem to be on a bit of a fantasy kick...





This sketch above is only really explained if you go here and witness one of the best scenes ever filmed.

This is Cheery Littlebottom from Discworld with... um... what appears to be R2D2...



I will post some more later :)

Sketchy Sund... er... Friday....... whoops, where the heck did this week go?

SO.... these are some sketches... and it is definitely not Sunday... Oops.

Sorry everyone, this was a crazy whirlwind of a week! To make up for it, here are not 1, not 2, but 3 sketches for you viewing pleasure, straight out of the ole' picture book (and painted with coffee).

This time around, my pottery class is focusing on creating ceramics inspired by Asia for our annual spring show. Everyone is creating beautiful vases, dishes, rice bowls, tea sets, and so many more things. I, however, am finding myself developing a deep obsession with Sumo Wrestlers and Geisha Girls...








These pictures are really studies for future ceramic pieces. I am most excited about the sumo wrestler, just because I think that they are hilarious in the whole and will be awesome in clay. I actually started putting one together yesterday in class, so I'll let you know how that turns out!

On a side note, My new favorite place is a little hole-in-the-wall coffee shop in Strongsville called "the relaxing room". It has just opened and has delicious coffee that is inexpensive and padded booths that I loose hours in every week. It is my quiet time to draw in my sketchbook, and I cherish every minute I spend there. Owner Nate makes a mean cup of Joe too (um... by "mean cup of joe" I mean my usual gingerbread soy latte ;) What can I say?! I like sweet girly drinks! So Sue me!!).

Anyway... it is really fun to paint with the coffee and Nate asked if I would contribute some work to decorate the walls! Hmm.... I think its about time to develop a deep obsession with coffee and switch gears to make some beverage inspired work!

My Feature Interview

Hey Everyone! I Have super exciting news....
Crazy talented Ceramic Jen has featured me on her blog!!!!!!
Please go here to check it out and send her some love.
It is a really long awesome interview!

Annnnndddd.... cause I promised pictures, here is one of Ivan the Cat:


:)

Mika Submarine

Cleveland Handmade

I am thrilled to say that I am now a member of the Cleveland Etsy Street team!


Check us out here
We have a lot of great stuff going on

Sunday Sketch Dump: Dr. House

How do you know what necklace length is right for you?

Ivy Presho posted a fantastic little article on her blog, distictlyivy, about the different lengths of necklaces and how to tell what is what.


(shown here is the princess length)

I thought it was really helpful and interesting! Please go to check it out here.

Thanks Ivy!!

New Item in the shop... Meet Sarah

Please go visit!

MY FIRST TREASURY!!!!!! YAYYYYYY!!!!

Hey everyone, I have very exciting news to announce... I was featured in a TREASURY on ETSY!!!!!!!



I was so excited I got up and danced around like a little kid

Isn't it beautiful??? I may be a bit biased, but I think its pretty front page worthy. If you think so too... please go see it in person here and click and comment to get it noticed!

Thank you to flossadornments (who makes FANTASTIC jewelry) for the feature!

Sketchy Sundays

I am proud to debut another weekly feature here at eschechtman.blogspot.com... Sketchy Sundays!

Lately I have been posting mostly about Etsy and my Jewelry, but these encompass only a part of my world... IRL, I am a professional illustrator and designer with Darice Inc, a crafting supply company based in Strongsville, Ohio. (You may know us from the "foamies" brand foam craft shapes.) We create many of our own products (especially for kids) for our Pat Catan's stores as well as for Michaels, Target, Wal Mart, Joanne Fabrics and more. Awesomely, I get to go to work every day to design these kids products (about 50% stickers, but also many many other items). I LOVE my job. I will tell you more about it later in it's own post.

Anyway, we work almost %100 digitally, and I find that I need to work on something tactile once I get home. That is the main reason why I started working with ceramics and jewelry, and how my etsy shop was created. I would also like to start working in my sketchbook more, a favorite pastime of mine that was largely abandoned once I graduated and started working.

So... In an effort to get myself away from the adobe suite and back to drawing by hand, I herby designate SUNDAY as a weekly sketch dump. Each week, I will post 1+ sketchbook or work in progress drawing here on the blog.

This is the first one!

Involution (aka... I have GOT to have these earrings)

Look at these...


I am so in love with these felted earrings by Involution on Etsy. I first came across Involution in a chat room, and am happy to say that not only does she make beautiful stuff, but she is super nice too! These particular earrings are called "All the Tea in China" (Love Love LOVE the title.. makes me think maybe I should rethink my naming style??) and they are made using sterling silver and wool.

Anyone want to get me a super early birthday present?.... Anyone?

New Item in the Shop: Naomi!

(listing can be found here)

Happy New Year Everyone!

Five and Under Feature

I am super excited to debut a new weekly item here at eschechtman.blogspot.com - Weekly posts that star new Etsy sellers that have had five or less sales.


To kick things off, I would love to introduce you to FlyCatcher Studio.

Flycatcher studio, which is based in Chicago, sells beautiful screen printed coasters. This shop opened only a few weeks ago and has yet to make a sale. I am sure that it won't be much longer though :)

Flycatcher studio may just be getting started and not have many items in the shop yet, but all of them feature well crafted and tailored designs, beautiful photography, and a great sense of color. Each 4x4 coaster is silk screened by hand with the artist's Gocco.



Isn't this calendar so beautiful?? I love the mustaches... it wouldn't be the same without them! According to the artist, "The 'bugman' series came out of a collection of doodles inspired by a distinguished moustache and how it can change the face. You may recognize some of these faces as world leaders and men that changed history, all while sporting their own style of moustache." - Neat! Like the rest of the items in the shop, this piece of artwork doubles as a coaster, though I don't think that I would ever use it as one. Regardless, I can only imagine that these would make a great host or hostess gift!



As of now, there are only coasters in the shop, but I hope that Flycatcher will expand to include cards and prints in the near future.


How can you not love them?
Please go and see this shop for your self, and give Flycatcher Studio the welcome that she deserves!

Mika with the Groceries

This is my newest painting:


This one was for Grand River Beads and Gallery in Rocky River, Ohio. (Its still for sale if anyone is interested! ;) )


I LOVE to paint my cat. But with these eyes, who wouldn't??

This is It!

It is time to get serious about blogging.

This has been a task that I have been putting off for quite a while. Yes, there have been weeks that I have posted more than once, and I have said to my self - "This is going to be it..." but things have just fizzled. The thing is - as anyone who runs a weekly blog knows - the relationship that I am about to start with eschechtman.blogspot.com and with my potential readers is a serious commitment that should not be taken lightly.

I feel like I need to enter into a formal contract to start this off...
Something like, "I, the undersigned, hereby commit myself to upload a high quality written "blog" post accompanied by 2+ images at least twice a week. The post must meet the high standards set out by other successful blogs in a similar genre..." etc. etc.

Blogging is a lot of pressure. I am putting myself out there on the internet for the whole world to see. As a perfectionist, this is no easy task. This is scary! The words that I put here will be here forever. I can not underestimate that fact.

However, I do have a lot that I want to say. I want to promote myself, of course, and I have to admit that one of the main reasons that I am doing this is to drive more traffic to my Etsy site (Found here, hahaha). But I also want to share my art with the world, and show everyone what I can do. I want to promote other artists as too, and get people excited about all the amazing things that are happening in the Handmade world. I want to get people talking about Illustration, and talk about my heroes, maybe even get to interview them! This blog can go many places.

So, Here is what is coming to you. THIS is my commitment that I am making Right Now. This is my promise for what you are going to see:

1. At least 1 new post each week (maybe more, but never less)
2. More pictures of my illustrations and my jewelry
3. Posts where I explain my processes
4. Posts where I promote or feature other artists
5. A monthy etsy finds post (maybe more frequent, but that is what I am promising right now)
6. Posts about my heroes / inspiration
7. Posts about me
8. Pictures of my cats (cause they are the bestest ever!)
9. In-dept analysis of my favorite tools / art supply reviews


Mika the Cat!

Here are things that I would like to post about, but am not committing to at this time:
1. Posts about my wonderful adopted home / home town (its complicated) of Cleveland, OH
2. A weekly art-related post by my Boyfriend Ron
3. Posts about my cooking / baking adventures
4. Perhaps some vlog posts? (I do have a webcam on my imac)


Now I did just get my dream camera, so there are no excuses:



Ok internet, are you ready?? Because this is it.

Holly

Holly leaves for the holiday


Deck your Neck!

Newest Etsy Item - Ruthie!

Ruthie is a wonderful woman that I work with who always brightens up the room. This necklace was inspired by her!

Do you treasure this necklace as much as I do? You can purchase it here.

I need a camera

So...I need a camera.

No no, that's not right.
Let me rephrase:

...I need a good camera.

I need to be able to photograph my illustration work and jewelry without taking 100 shots of each to maybe have a few non-blurry shots. I need a camera that I don't need to hold for 4 seconds stock still while I wait for the lens to click open and close. I need a camera that is sharp and true to life that will let me take fabulous photos of Laura's wedding when I go to England this March.

I need a shiny, new, beautiful, semi-professional camera.



My problem is that most good cameras (like the one pictured above) are over my $250 budget.

What I would like is a digital SLR that is somewhere around 7 megapixels. However, I don't really know anything about photography. To be honest... I don't even know what SLR means. I know that it has to do with what you see through the viewfinder and that this makes it better - and significantly more expensive - that the non-slr models, but what I know pretty much stops there.

Its also tough to wade through all of the camera reviews that tend to get very technical and end up going right over my head.

However, the camera that I have at the moment has a broken screen, and makes all of my images look like this:



Not to mention that it was a hand-me-down from my little brother Matt:



Anyway, when photographing artwork, no matter how good a point-and-click is, it is nearly impossible for me to take a non-blurry picture.

It is incredibly frustrating.

Oh well.... better start saving up.
Thanks for letting me wine awhile anyway.

Here's what I am working on now:



Stay tuned to see where this little guy will end up!

A few better pictures from my Local Girl Show (alternate title: LOVE)

Hello internet! Here are a few better images of my collage work:







We (ie: Ron and I) had such a hard time taking these photos! We ended up opening up the frames (groan) and putting the work back in without the glass (ugh). The process then involved struggling to take a non-blurry photo (blech) and then painstakingly putting everything back together without (and this is the kicker here).... without getting a single strand of cat hair stuck btwn the illustration and the glass. Pretty darn frustrating.

All in all, I managed to get a few good shots with Kalya's pink camera. I really REALLY need to get my own though. Can anyone recommenced a Digital SLR that is around $200?? It would be a huge help.

Anyway, I love my paintings.... that's what it all comes down to..pure LOVE.

ToBeTreasured

I am SO proud to announce that my Etsy Store - selling lovely handmade ceramic necklaces - is officially up and running!!








Please go and pay a visit! http://www.etsy.com/shop/ToBeTreasured