March, 2017 - Occasionally Thoughtful

February Design Challenge Winner — Michelle Lanoue

Pattiann on March 21, 2017

GCU February Challenge Winner Michelle Lanoue

Please list any awards or contests you’ve won outside of GCU.

I was thrilled to have my children’s books published a few years ago after going the self-publishing route. But sadly, the publisher, Crafty Canuck, closed shop. I am back to self-publishing although I have been putting more energy into my GCU greeting cards as of lately. I am always on the lookout for another publisher. You just never know! This is a page from my book, The Dinosaur and Ladybug in Heels Christmas Nativity Story. I have a few more in the series and a few different books other than the series. I have also illustrated a few children’s books for other authors.

Please list the URLs of your 3 favorite cards in your storefront and why they are your favorites.

I think Christmas cards have always been my favorite card to illustrate. I have such wonderful memories of my children and Christmas, plus my own childhood memories of Christmas. So, this card, Peace to all with Santa at the mailbox, is a bit of whimsy, along with realistic. It shows a lot of the style I love to paint with. A lot of color and texture.

Another card which I would pick would be Father’s Day card, boy fishing on beach. This card was inspired by my grandson:) I actually get a lot of inspiration from my two grandchildren. They are the ones who inspired me to write the children’s books I have written and illustrated.

This card was all about color. This card was sketched in color pencil and then finished on the computer. Again, whimsy with color and a bit of realistic style.

Please list any of your professional social media sites.

The Amazon Author Central site shows all the children’s books I have written and illustrated. I also have a web site.

What were your inspirations for both of your winning cards? Please walk us through the process of how these cards went from ideas to greeting cards.

The Christmas Season’s Greetings card was inspired by the Christmas song Walking in a Winter Wonderland. I was humming the lyrics to myself and a lot of it came out onto paper. Like I said, Christmas cards are my favorite:)

The second card was more about whimsical and cute! I was aiming for an Easter card without the traditional Easter symbols such as eggs, bunnies, etc. I added tulips and a white picket fence for a spring like Easter feel along with the mainly green and pink colors.

What sparked your interest in art? Did you start as a young child?

Oh yes. I was drawing from an early age. I loved doodling and portraits with pencils and charcoal mostly in the beginning stages of my artwork. I progressed to painting with mostly acrylic paints during my teen years. I didn’t paint too much while raising a family but now that my children are all adults I am back to illustrating. I went on to buy a computer art program within the last 4 years and now 99 percent of my work is painted digitally.

Do you have formal training or are you self-taught?

I did take a few college courses but did not major in art. A lot of my training was self-taught.

Is your work done by hand and then scanned or do you work entirely on the computer?

As I mentioned before, most of my work is now done digitally. I find for the artist without a lot of time, digital is the way to go. I will be painting along and discover I don’t like what I have done and it isn’t much of a problem because I can delete it and start fresh.

Have you ever/do you currently have a job other than as an artist?

I do. I actually work two jobs. I work at a local furniture shop as a sales aid coordinator and then as a waitress at a local restaurant. I always look forward to coming home as to get creative and paint!

What GCU artist(s) do you admire?

Oh gosh, there are so many. I must admit I first fell in love with Carol Kearns and Christie Black. When I first started on GCU I thought to myself that I wanted my cards to look as professional as theirs did.

I was in the midst of learning my digital art program and although I am still learning, I have become more comfortable and am able to create cards much more proficiently.

Looking at your storefront, all of your designs incorporate such lovely colors. Can you share how you choose your color palettes?

Well thank you for that. I guess when I look at a color, I don’t see a flat color. To me there are many blended colors in that one color. I think that is where learning to paint with acrylics paid off. To make a desired color, I would incorporate many colors to bring life to the painting. I am still looking at different textures and digital paintbrushes to get desired effects with my computer program to simulate the lovely colors one can get on paper like with acrylic.

What would we be surprised to learn about you?

I am actually quite shy! Once I warm up I am fine:)

Save

National Grammar Day – March 4

Pattiann on March 4, 2017

National Grammar Day, established by Martha Brockenbrough, has been celebrated in the United States since 2008. Ms Brockenbrough is the author of Things That Make Us [Sic] and the founder of the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar.

In this age of quick, short, electronic communication, grammar seems to have morphed into a new language. And that’s fine, even useful, if you’re speaking with peers. But when speaking with workmates, your boss, or a client, you need to be seen as someone who has command of standard language usage. It makes for effective and professional communication. Proper language usage serves the same purpose as dressing correctly for your business environment: It conveys a professional persona.

Some Common Grammar Mistakes

You’re vs Your

These two statements illustrate the differences between these two words:

Eat your dinner.

Eat. You’re dinner.

I vs Me

Can you bring Billy and I to the store? — Incorrect

Can you bring Billy and me to the store — Correct

The easiest way to determine the proper usage of “I” or “me” is to, in this case, take “Billy” out of the sentence. You wouldn’t say “Can you bring I to the store”, right?

Who vs That

When you’re describing a person, use “who”.

Tammy is a woman who likes to hike.

When your describing an object, use “that”.

Her car is the one that was involved in the accident.

Then vs Than

Use “then” is used in relationship to time.

I washed my hair, then dried it.

Use “than” to make comparisons.

She thought her car was better than her brother’s car.

Less vs Fewer

Use “less” for things that aren’t quantifiable.

She has less money than he does.

Use “fewer” for things that are quantifiable.

She has fewer pennies than he does.

So, yes, the signs in groceries stores that says “10 items or less” is incorrect.

These are only a few of the most common grammar mistakes. It is to your benefit to study these, and to research on the Internet other common grammar errors.

National Grammar Day Greeting Cards

Save

Julia Bryant – January Design Challenge Winner

Pattiann on March 1, 2017

BallettElephant with Music Notes and Tutu for Dance Teacher Birthday by Greeting Card Universe artist Julia Bryant

Please list the URLs of your 3 favorite cards in your storefront and why they are your favorites.

Being ex-military, I wanted a card that would be encouraging to someone about to begin the most exciting and scary part of their life.

I just love this card. I love the retro look and colors.

My first card to win something and I love the message.

What were your inspirations for both of your winning cards? Please walk us through the process of how these cards went from ideas to greeting cards.

I wanted the dance teacher birthday card to be whimsical. I imagined a little girl or boy wanting to give a special birthday card to their dance teacher. Elephants are my favorite animal and ballet is my favorite dance, so I think the natural progression would be a dancing elephant that was simple and cute.

For the Dream Big Little One card, I had the same idea of keeping it whimsical and cute. I imagined being young again and getting a card that I would be able to relate to. I wanted it to be positive and reinforce her creativity and imagination. Show her that her dreams are very possible and she can do or be anything she imagined.

What sparked your interest in art? Did you start as a young child?

I did study art in middle school and high school, but I actually didn’t participate in art for the longest time. Right out of high school, I joined the military and then after I ended up in an IT career, which is furthest from an artistic life. I started doing greeting cards using public domain and shared images from around the internet. But after reading an entry by Corrie on GGU Community Blog about Adobe Illustrator, I took the initiative and learned the product and started refocusing on what I learned in school so many years ago.

Do you have formal training or are you self-taught?

I don’t know if middle school and high school art classes are considered formal training, but it definitely gave me the basics I needed to create designs.

Is your work done by hand and then scanned or do you work entirely on the computer?

I create all my designs using Adobe products, Illustrator and Photoshop.

Have you ever/do you currently have a job other than as an artist?

I work in IT and have been doing that for over 20 years.

What GCU artist(s) do you admire?

Sue Nollmeyer/ SueShine Studios. Sue is so motivational and a cheerleader for me since I first started in GCU. She never fails to send a note or leave positive feedback in my store or Facebook for any of my achievements. She also is one of the most talented artists I’ve seen and her designs are inspirational. I appreciate all that she’s done for me.

Looking at your storefront, your font choices are wonderfully fitting for each design. Can you share how you choose a font?

Choosing a font is one of the most difficult processes in designing a card. You can have a lovely card and if you choose the wrong font, you can really setback the design. Usually, I will open the image in Photoshop and get an idea of the type of font will fit the design. I open my font viewer program that previews fonts by category and then choose several that fit. I will then try each one in the design until I find one that gives the ‘wow’ factor. Placing the font should also provide balance and be pleasing to the eye.

What would we be surprised to learn about you?

I’m a very technical person and engineer. But, I think being literal sometimes helps with the creative process.

Save