Everything is awesome! and hello!

Lauren M.

Greetings new friends! I just subscribed to SVS and am enjoying all the learning.

I'm Lauren, a silly, nerdy and happy petite artist! I'm living the drought life in Anaheim, California with my husband and dos gatos. I gradated in 2008 with a BA in studio arts from UCLA.

I've always been a "I-learn-it-now-I-teach-you" sort of person. So while making art at UCLA, I also participated in arts education programs. Since then, teaching art has been the focus for my career.

Being a teacher has forced me to learn quickly and allowed me to participate in amazing workshops/courses. Over the last 3 years, I've been refining my technical skills with the Oatley Academy Magic Box course, learning from Matt Kohr at Ctrl+Paint, and attended the Illustration Masters Class in 2013 & 2014.

It's now time to make a great children's illustration portfolio and get out there! I'm really looking forward to all the feedback and community here cause "Everything is cool when you're part of a team!"

My site is LittleLobo.com but I'm an Instagram junkie.
Also, I'd love to meet up with any other SoCal artists!

See you guys around!

Lynn Larson

Welcome aboard!! And now I have that song in my head lol

Steve Young

Come along and welcome to the fun!

ChrisRichDraws

@Lauren-M. Some lovely work on your site, I've never seen Link been so kind to chickens!

Lauren M.

@ChrisRichDraws I felt bad for the chickens since I'm always terrorizing them in game. Glad you like!

@lynn-larson MUAHAHAHAHAHA

Jiří Kůs

Wha... what have you done to the chicken!

AWWW MY GOD, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO THE CHICKEN?!

Oh well... HI

Lauren M.

@Jiří-Kůs lol! The chickens are mine!! I must pick them all up and put them on my head! Then I am the king of the chickens!

Naroth Kean

welcome to the forum!

Thrace

Hello, welcome and I love your work on your website!!

Lauren M.

@Thrace-Shirley-Mears Howdy Thrace! Thank you for your sweet comment

Carey Bowden

@Lauren-M. Welcome! I love your art - what did you use for the washes for your Inktober challenge? I can't get my ink + water to look like that!

Lauren M.

@Carey-Bowden Hi Carey, here are my main "tricks of the trade" supplies:

Micron Pens - Various sizes
Dr. Ph. Martin's Black Star Matte India Ink
Pentel Water brushes - Various sizes. I dilute the ink with water and designate a light, medium, and dark brush. My darkest brush is my smallest size. Light and medium are about the same size.

I got this idea from James Gurney. He combines his ink brushes with watercolors: http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2014/08/watercolor-in-wild-materials.html Scroll towards the bottom of the page to see his ink choices. He likes to have a sepia pen and a blue-black one. I haven't tried color ink yet.

Tip when using the ink brushes: Keep an eye on your wet edges, cause once it dries it will leave a line. If i want a gradient wash, I use the lightest one first and do a couple passes to make sure the paper stays wet then switch to a darker pen and dab/paint in color. Very similar to working with watercolor

I personally love working with the inks and since they are in pens it's a very convenient way to add tones in a sketchbook. Just have a pack of tissues or a small cloth handy cause sometimes extra ink goes into the cap. Usually after a plane flight, being left in a warm car, or accidentally stored upside down.

Lemme know if you have follow-up questions!

Carey Bowden

@Lauren-M. Wow, thank you so much! I love the links you provided - great resources, I'm adding some to my bookmarks right now!