Fruit of the Day: Week 4 Roundup

Day 16: Pear

March is quickly coming to an end. I think we can all agree that March is a pretty lengthy month ( 31 days is just craziness if you ask me), but it's amazing how fast it goes by when you're a busy drawing fruit all day. Here is week 4's roundup. Enjoy!

Day 17: Cherry

Day 18: Grapefruit

I think Grapefruit is my favorite pattern from this week. The colors are intoxicating. I may be biased, but I swoon every time I look at it.

Day 19: Blackberry

Day 20: Papaya

I had a small freak out this past week when I realized that the moonlight gel pens don't take well to scanning. I'm going to try photographing these and see how that turns out. If anyone has had any luck scanning neon please let me know. 

Which is your favorite from Week 4?

p.s. There will be a survey to vote for your favorites at the end of Fruit of the Day. I'll be making proper patterns from fan (and my own) favorites, so stay tuned :)

Fruit of the Day: Week 3 Roundup

Hello lovely people, here is week three's roundup for Fruit of the Day. We are out of town at the moment, so you might notice that these are pictures form my Instagram and that there are only four fruits this week. Which means that you'll be seeing an additional fruit at some point in time next week... YAY!   

Day 11 was Blueberry (my favorite fruit of allllllllllll time). I used the metallic blue Gelly Roll pen to add a little glam and depth.   

Day 12: Pitaya a.k.a. Dragon Fruit. I've never had Dragon Fruit before, but it looks like a very interesting fruit. If you want something festive dragon fruit is the way to go haha. I've been obsessed with black and white + neon lately. It's just a stunning combination.

Day 13: Raspberries!!! They look like they're flying in outer space! 

Last but not least...Day 14: Star Fruit. I restarted this one once and ended up really liking the first crack at it after I finished this one. So if you see Star Fruit again at some point don't be surprised :) 

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!!!

Fruit of the Day Roundup: Week 2

Day 6: Peach

It's that time again! Here is the round up of #CMCFruitOfTheDay week 2. Since I've started this challenge I've been seeing fruit everywhere! I guess i'm just more aware of it:) 

This challenge is proving to be smoother than I thought it'd be. I've always wanted to do a "pattern a day" type of challenge, but never got past thinking about it. I'd start thinking about the end result before even getting started and psyche myself out. My inner critic would pop up and go on a spree of questions/negativity: "What would I draw? I can't keep up with a new pattern EVERY SINGLE DAY...that's crazy! There's no need for all that stress."  When in all actuality this has been an amazing journey for me so far and a chance to experiment. As long as I take it a day at a time and actually remember that this is a time for play then all is well. 

Day 7: Banana

I decided to play around with some collage for Day 7 and boy was that a serious arm workout! I made sure to take plenty of breaks haha. 

Day 8: Fig

Day 9: Strawberry

I think Fig and Strawberry are definitely favorites of mine out of this week's patterns. I especially love the contrast of the neon pink gel pen on top of black ink.

So far, day 10 was the only day where I almost decided to forego a fruit post. I really wasn't feeling well, but I pushed through and got the drawing done and the post up.....and then i took a very long nap haha. 

Day 10: Apple

Can't wait to see what next week entails! Don't forget you can follow along on Instagram either by following me @CallMeChartreuse or by searching the hashtag #CMCFruitOfTheDay. I've also started showing what tools I used for that day's pattern. I'll be creating proper patterns out of the fan favorites.

p.s. i finally started on the Watson Bra & Bikini Pattern by Cloth Habit...talk about exciting!

Which fruit pattern has been your favorite so far? How do you challenge your creativity? 

Fruit of the Day Roundup: Week 1

Do you guys remember Gelly Roll gel pens? You know, the ones we used back in middle school to add a little pizazz to a top secret note you were writing to your best friend. Well I pulled out those last few gel pens that I had to accent some watercolor drawings in my sketchbook. They wrote for 2 minutes and then nothing. I knew they'd be all dried and gross, but I was hopeful. This past week I stopped into the craft store and picked up a brand new set of Moonlight Gelly Roll gel pens. Fast forward to today and my love affair with them is stronger than ever. They're so luscious and opaque and bright and just WONDERFUL! The ink dries matte and is so fluid that i can move it around with a small brush (which also saves ink). They kind of remind me of gouache. 

I bought the set with the intentions of just playing around...add a little color here or there. I wasn't looking for a long term relationship or anything, but they swept me off my feet. I started out drawing some kiwi and inadvertently started a March challenge for myself called Fruit of the Day! The colors make me dream of nothing but fruit....which makes me giddy for spring.

A challenge needs a few guidelines right? Here are the guidelines I have set for myself: 

• I will draw 4-5 different fruits each week for the month of March
• there will be a weekly round up on the weekend (most likely on Sundays)
• patterns will be created from the most popular fruits (and the ones i just can't live without hahaha)
• gel pens will be used in some aspect within each pattern
• readers can suggest a fruit and I'll add it to the list (if it's not on there yet)

List as of today. Fruits with a number to the right were suggested by others. The number indicates the amount of votes for that fruit. The checked ones are the ones I have drawn already and the number to the left indicates the order they were done. I hope my handwriting is somewhat legible :)

If you just can't wait for the weekly round up you can follow me on Instagram (@CallMeChartreuse) and you can also search #CMCfruitoftheday on there as well. i hope y'all enjoy this as much as I am. 

Don't forget to suggest a fruit in the comments and i'll add it to my list!

#LindenSwap

Hi guys! Happy Tuesday. This past week has been a huge whirlwind of events/emotions. My father-in-law passed away a week and a half ago, so I took that time off to spend time with family and help get things in order for the memorial service. Dealing with the death of a loved one plus being away from the studio for so long is not the best recipe, but spending time with relatives that I haven't seen in awhile (some I met first time) was worth the time away. It also gave me a chance to get back into really working in my sketchbook. Not to figure out ideas (although i do use it for that), but to use the page to rest.

Now what you came for... the Linden Swap! To recap, Carrie of Oh She Dabbles and Ingrid of We The Sewing started a swap for all those who adore the awesomeness that is Grainline Studios' Linden Sweatshirt. This was my first time participating in a swap, so I was a tad bit nervous. It's weird to not to try on a garment throughout the process of sewing it, but it turned out to be such a great experience that i'd totally do it again!

I swapped a Linden with Jess from Wardrobe Ecology and this is the one she sent me! Isn't it lovely?! She made View B for me since my first Linden had long sleeves. The patterned fabric is an organic cotton jersey from Feral Childe called "Somthin' Else" and combined that with a mid-weight black knit fabric. I did a happy dance when I opened the package because it's so......ME! Our tastes seem very similar when it comes to wardrobe, so i'm not surprised that she read me so well. 

If you would like to see the Linden I made for her go check out her Instagram :) Carrie recently posted the first round up of swapped Lindens. You can see those HERE.

p.s. I'm back in the studio and trying to get more organized. I'm in desperate need of some sort of planner or weekly calendar that has a good amount of writing room. If you have any suggestions for a functional and beautiful planner let me know in the comments.