It’s a few months to the end of the year of the dog, but that has not stopped us from rolling out the pup illustrations like mad for Inktober. On my Instagram feed I did mention that I wasn’t born knowing how to draw a dog (or anything for that matter) I took a boatload of how to draw a dog classes and I promised to link them here. We are also including some faves for the week!

I. Some favorite dog drawing classes from Skillshare I took:  Drawing dogs | How to Draw Majestic Animals -Dogs | Draw a dog | The Art and Science of Drawing

II. If you are like us and love a beautiful + simple packaged product then you are going to get hot and bothered over this new cleaning product line. Just thinking about it I am fanning myself.

III. Like all my daily challenges wherein I subject myself to an impossible task on top of my actually living my life, being a full-time mother and business owner (with multiple businesses and an Air b’nb thrown in for good measure). I could not add in any impossibility without the right tools and our Lettering Rx (soon to include Illustration Rx as well) is my saving grace for quickly + easily getting my drawings cleaned and digitized ready to share with the world. To celebrate Inktober we are offering $10 off of Lettering Rx for the entire month of October! Just use the code TAKE10 at checkout.

IV. Are you already feeling the dulling of your skin from the drop in the weather? Michelle and I have stumbled upon a little jar of fountain of youth, it’s spendy but you only need a teeny tiny little bit to see results.

V. Have you picked up the Minimalist Kitchen cookbook?  No?  Well, you should have. It is filled with EASY and delicious recipes. I have already started my list to revamp the pantry and just know that a few of these recipes are going to make it into regular rotation.

It feels like fall is in the air, crisp breezes, falling leaves, cozy sweaters and Inktober!  For those that aren’t familiar with Inktober it is 31 days of inky illustration goodness!  We are going to give you 5 Inktober inspired favorites that should get you motivated to participate.

I. Inktober was started by Jake Parker a working illustrator, to improve his inking skills. It has since blossomed into a worldwide community of artists that share their work in ink everyday for the month of October. Here are the rules + 2018 prompts. We decided to go rogue and take it one day at a time with our theme, we have the loose theme of ‘things that I saw today’. (Thus the pigeon;)

II. We are doing our first sale EVER on Lettering Rx. It’s what I use to quickly clean + digitize my line drawings. I honestly don’t think I could participate in any of these challenges if I didn’t have it. Use the code TAKE10 (good for the entire month of October).

III. I recently took a class by the famed art agent Lilla Rogers and she promotes using tools that feel good to you. I would put sumi ink high on my list of feel goods. I love the way it moves, the smell, the richness of it. I have actually broken out my calligraphy nibs to draw, these are hands down my favorite for drawing with.

IV. For those that need an extra dose of inspiration, artist Lisa Congdon is doing a daily Inktober challenge on Creative Bug. I’ve already learned some cool techniques, she’s truly inspiring and a great teacher.

V. We compiled a list of alternate prompts if you feel like you would like a prompt list but aren’t inspired by the ‘official’ one. Prompt list Black cat inspired. | Mossery Co. list | Bookish prompts. And for good measure this artist who doesn’t work in ink is doing ‘Goauche-tober’.

Have fun! We can’t wait to see what you create!

 

They say there is no time moratorium on saying thank you. I am going to apply the same concept to blogging, we come, we go, we blog (sometimes). I jest, we have been busy, per usual. Me, I’m nursing a broken heart as my beloved pup passed on. The hurt is unreal right now, but I am trying to focus on all the happy with her and keep my mind occupied, so here we are with are current favorites…

I. We are thrilled to congratulate our friend, and calligrapher extraordinaire, Maybelle Imasa-Stukuls on her new book, ‘The Gift of Calligraphy’. It’s a beautiful 215 page, hardcover project based book. There are so many great projects to try, I don’t know where to start. Maybelle has truly out done herself with this offering.

II. Another exciting Maybelle related favorite is Melmoth by Sarah Perry.  Our Rare Bird font Specimen I (in Maybelle’s hand) was spotted on this soon to be released book cover. It’s not out yet, so Michelle and I downloaded the Serpent of Essex by the same author, which also has rave reviews (we’ll keep you posted).

III. With our Frenchie passing, we wanted to find ways to ease the pain with our 4 year old (death being a very hard concept for a Little). We have been reading this book and this book to her. We also ordered this Frenchie stuffie, a character from a fave book. The company that makes it also creates stuffies for other beloved characters such as Olivia and The Day the Crayons Quit.

IV. October is around the corner and I am going to participate in Inktober, it’s 31 days of drawing with ink and posting to share your work. I will be sharing on both my Instagram and Lettering Rx instagram. Is anyone else joining in?  There are daily prompts, but I think I am going to go with another daily theme. I still have on my goals for this year to draw a realistic face. I can draw ONE realistic eye and that’s about it, my progress is slow going, but we still have a few months left. The founder of Inktober is also a partner in the Society of Visual Storytelling which has a plethora of drawing classes including one on how to ink!

 

We have been away for a bit, but only due to some technical difficulties we have been having with our web hosting, you know the really exciting stuff in life. We are back and have some faves though!

I. We are offering Custom Product Photo Editing sessions now at Foto Rx! We created this offering for those that feel they need extra hand holding when tackling their product photo editing. Our Product Editing Photoshop actions automate the process but we know that even opening Photoshop can feel intimidating. We will edit 3 images and record the session so you can see exactly how we would edit YOUR images and can reference back to the video.  For those that don’t have products to edit we are happy to offer the session for any of our other editing offerings!

II. I really, really want to try one of these new tinted facial oils. Supposedly it’s your skin, but better and it works as a serum so it’s performing double duty. Totally in.

III.  I just ordered this makeup kit as an early birthday present. I am on the fence, it feels super comfortable on, and my husband mentioned how great my skin looked, but Michelle thought it looked really heavy around my eyes (not what I was going for). They have a 60 day return policy, which is huge plus and other people have had AH-MAZING results. Here’s the how-to video. I will keep you posted…

IV. I can’t justify the price of this line but it sure does look like it would comfy, PJ’s cute enough to wear out?

V. Michelle just got this bag for her laptop, it fits a 13″ Macbook pro perfectly and hits the perfect note between put together but not trying too hard.