New Blog...

Hi Everyone...Please visit my new blog Think.Write.Create. Thank you for following me!

...Lisa

Christmas card 2009...

I am finally getting around to posting my Christmas card from 2009. The beginning of this year has been very busy for me. I have had parties to go to practically every weekend and it is continuing through the end of February. I am also working on my psychology class, which is much harder than I thought it would be. I hope you all like the card.

Christmas card time again...

I have been trying to decide what I will draw for my Christmas card this year. I wasn't very happy with last year's card, so I want this year's to be much better. I have previously drawn ornaments, snowmen, and a gingerbread house. I was thinking this year I might do something more like Santa & his reindeer flying through the sky, a snow globe, or mistletoe. I need to get started so that I have enough time to get them printed and mailed out.

A look back in time...

This drawing, of what I imagined as being a building in an Italian or Greek village, was my first attempt at drawing anything since art class in elementary school. One day, back in the fall of 2003, I found this reference photo, I believe from www.wetcanvas.com, and decided I would draw it. It took me a very long time and a lot of erasing before I felt like I gave it a good go. You can see that there are many imperfections in this drawing, the values are not really there, but at the time, I was very impressed with what I had done. I had actually sat there for many, many days and drew this freehand, no tracing involved at all, no rulers or tools...it was all me!

That is one thing that I love about drawing. I get frustrated when my drawings don't go the way I envisioned them, but if I keep at it, I end up with a piece of art that totally impresses me. I'm not really that concerned if other people are impressed, although I feel really good when I get compliments and I appreciate them, but the most important thing is the sense of accomplishment that I feel when I sign my name to a piece of art that my hand drew.

Wishing I was there...

I took this photograph last summer when I visited California. My brother, his soon-to-be wife and myself took a drive up Highway 1 from LA and ended up in Monterrey and back again. The scenic drive was just gorgeous, there were many beautiful pictures to be had. My one disappointment is that the MOST beautiful scenes were located in places where there was not a spot to turn off to capture the beauty. We also stopped along the way and took a hike at Big Sur. It was a very hot day, there were forest fires nearby, but it was very nice, even though if you heard us during the hike, you might have a thought differently.

Anyways, this year there is no vacation in sight for me, so I am flipping through my memories on my computer and I thought I would share. The 4th of July is coming upon us and the weather here is supposed to be spectacular. I have a 4 day weekend, which I am thrilled about. I hope to have some fun, but I don't really have anything planned at the moment.

Do you have any vacation plans for this year? Or are you like me and just daydreaming about one?

Perfect day...

Today really was a perfect day weather-wise. The bright sun woke me up at 6 AM and has been shining ever since. The temperature went up to 81 degrees and at almost 8 PM is is still 77 degrees. There was also a nice breeze today that just created a relaxing, calming effect. I wish we could have so many more of these kinds of days. This past week was really hot and humid, requiring the AC, but I prefer to have the windows all open.

I did some weeding in my gardens, as they really needed it, and have been working on my homework for most of the day. I am on lesson 7, so I have 3 more to go before the final exam. About 1 month left and I can't wait to have it all finished so that I can enjoy the summer. All my time has been put into this class, as it is very time consuming.

I plan on starting up my drawing again at the beginning of August. There is a contest that I would like to enter in September and that will give me time to complete whatever it is that I decide to draw. It will need to be a mixed media, which I really haven't done before, so it will be interesting.

Time, where does it go?...

I have been very busy the past few months. I am on my way to completing my Bachelor's Degree and currently am enrolled in an Environmental Conservation course. The course is very interesting, especially now with the whole world talking "green", but it is also eating up ALL my extra time. The assignments consist of 10 questions each requiring a 1-3 page answer, so the total assignment is a minimum of 10 pages, usually more. I have 4 more assignments to go, a research paper and the final exam. I plan to be completed with this course at the end of July. At that point, I am going to be able to get back into creating art, but for now, I have to concentrate on school.

Free artwork?!...

The NY York Times posted an article, Use Their Artwork for Free? Some Artists Say No to Google, about Google contacting illustrators and artists requesting they create artwork for no pay. The pay would be the millions of viewers it would reach. Read the article to see the artists reactions.

Updated blog...

I just updated my blog. I didn't realize that my old email was being used for moderating the comments, so that is fixed and I decided to let the comments post without moderating. Also, my profile had disappeared, so I created a new profile and I gave my blog a new "look". I am really liking it.

Graffiti article...

Another interesting NY Times article "Graffiti Gains New Respect". Check it out!

Interesting story...

This is an interesting story from the NY Times about how the recession is impacting art.

Check it out: "Getting Creative in a Downturn"

Oliver...

"Oliver"
11 x 14 Framed
Copyright Lisa Ullrich 2009

Oliver is finished and framed. I don't usually work in colored pencil, so this was a challenge. I was also told that I was brave for using black paper...I didn't realize that black paper makes colored pencil paintings that much more difficult. It is better when you don't realize things like that because then you don't have that thought going through your head while you are drawing. Luckily, I was told after I was almost finished with the piece.

You can find me on Etsy...

I have listed my drawings for sale on Etsy. I have been wanting to do this for a long time and today I just went ahead and took the plunge. I won't ever know if people like my art, unless I put it out there for people to purchase. I will see how these go and I guess take things from there. Wish me luck!!

Fall is here...

Our weather has took a turn towards fall. Today is raining and cool and it is supposed to be cool, in the 50s, all week. I hope that it warms up again and we get another taste of summer before it leaves us.

I have been spending a lot of time on my school. I am currently taking Environmental Conversation and it is a lot of reading and writing. I didn't realize how time consuming it was going to be.

I am also working on a colored pencil drawing of my friends parrot, Oliver. Once I complete it, I will post it.

Have a great day!

Lisa

Beautiful flowers...

Today I went to the McHenry Dam to relax. It was a beautiful day and lots of people were out fishing, boating, and bbq-ing. I just sat down and drew these flowers. I haven't been drawing a lot lately and today was a good day to enjoy it.

Images are back...

I uploaded my images again and now they are appearing. I am not sure why they weren't working, but hopefully they will be fine from now on.

I submitted a drawing today for Blue Moon Brewing Co. art contest. They are having a few different ones, but I submitted for the Chicago show. They select 25-40 pieces to be put in a show at the Museum of Contemporary Art on July 31st.

I am not allowed to publish my drawing, so I can't post it here. I have seen a few other people post theirs on their blogs, but I don't want to take any chances.

This is the first contest I have ever entered. Wish me luck!

Pics in blog...

I am not sure why the pics that I have posted within my blog posts are not showing up. I will have to do a little investigating and get that fixed.

I hope you all have some nice plans made to enjoy the summer. I already took my vacation a couple weeks ago in L.A. It was very nice and I had a great time.

It is a very rainy summer so far. I hope that it gets a little better as time goes on. It would be nice to take off a few days and enjoy the nice hot weather.

Lion drawing...

My latest drawing is of a lion....I am pretty pleased with it, although I am going to draw it a different way and I will post that when I am through.

Christmas cards...

I have uploaded my 2006 and 2007 Christmas card drawings. I guess I never uploaded a pic from last year, so here are both of them.

2006


2007

Happy New Year....

The holidays are ending as we are already at New Year's Eve. I hope you enjoyed your holiday season.

I have been doing a lot of thinking about my art lately. I am contemplating doing pet portraits. I really love to draw animals, it comes easy to me, so I thought maybe I would give that a shot. I just need to find the time to do it.

Last year was a very busy year for me....as was the prior year, so I am hoping to get a break from busyness this year so that I can enjoy some time to spend on my art. I did draw a lion the other day, but I have to build up the values a bit more before I post it.

I hope you all enjoy any parties that you will be attending tonight and are ready to ring in 2008....I sure am!