Lauren E Illustration

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DVA's day off 🐰

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“If you’re scared about Trump and you’re very worried, you’re going to be O.K., too. Because if you look at our country’s history, change doesn’t come from presidents. Change comes from large groups of angry people. And if Day 1 is any indication, you are part of the largest group of angry people I have ever seen.”

- Aziz Ansari on SNL

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A new home 🐠🐟

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Tried out my new Midori sketchbook for the first time today! The paper is so soft and smooth, and copic markers work so smoothly on it. I’m loving it so far!

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“Do what you can, with what you have, and where you are.” - Theodore Roosevelt.

Somedays inspiration comes easily, surrounding you sweetly and spurring you to create with an easy force. But other days it feels like you’re slowly picking at your brain, prying ideas out slowly and painfully. You can’t control when inspiration hits you, and the best thing we can do is move forward slowly, one sketch at a time. 

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An evening illustration based on the Nepali children’s tale, Dhon Cholecha. Where an abused little girl buries her best friend goat’s bones, and they turn into a large tree, full of hot buns. 

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I’m a sheep, a SHEEP!

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This past week has been full of failures and frustrations. I’ve been trying to force myself into inspiration, trying out ideas I’ve had stocked away for a while, but they don’t look right, they look off, sad. It feels like my muscles have forgotten how to paint, draw, and create; like I’m slugging through mud. 

Any suggestions about how to break out of this?

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Social media is still something that I struggle with. There are times where I feel comfortable(ish) and share easily, but when I'm struggling it makes it very hard to post work that I don't feel is "up to snuff". Especially as I've been working on a story, recently, and I haven't made many full illustrations. But here are my characters! Character design is fun, I'd recommend it. I'd also recommend keeping in mind that if you don't step out of your comfort zone once and a while, you'll never move an inch. #copic #comic markers #illustrator #art #artist #characterdesign #character

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Mixed up wings

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I forgot my mittens in below zero weather today. My hands hurt.

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From blood and bone. I wanted to play around with not lining my forms, it was a fun experiment. Reminded me of how I work with paint or printmaking!

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Making art can be scary. Fight back and keep making things. 

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Something from a few months ago. A little fall time whirligig. 🍂

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A watercolor illustration I did recently, called Rooted. I’ve been playing a lot with masking fluid recently (with varied effectiveness.)  

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Top 10 favorite things from 2016:

1: Snuggles with my snoozy pup.

2: Anya’s Ghost, Through the Woods, and The Encyclopedia of Early Earth. 3 incredibly inspiring graphic novels.

3: All things Lush baths. 

4: Succulents. Forever and always.

5: Mint tea with chocolate, and black tea.

6: Yuri on Ice. One of the best anime I’ve seen in a long while.

7: Bob’s Burgers. This show means more to me than most things ever will.

8: My ever building collection of fuzzy socks and comfy slippers.

9: Copic Markers. The god markers. 

10: The Lore podcast. 

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5 Goals for the New Year:

Taking care of myself is one of my top priorities. With my mental illness issues, and my hectic work schedule, taking care of myself is important. So here are my goals. 

1: Take control of your eating disorder. Go to the gym and work out to get stronger, rather than to obsess over your body and your weight. 

2: Take time to read a book. Life is busy and hard, and you have a lot of goals you want to reach. But reading a good book may help to inspire you to create better and better work, as well as just serve as a way to relax.

3: Cuddle your dog, as much as he will let you (which is a lot, trust me).

4: Take a bath once a week. It always makes you feel better. 

5: Don’t let your depression rule your life. Let it be a shadow in the background, not an all encompassing cloud. Most things are not as bad as they seem. Promise.