2008 Calendar Sneak Peek!

I think, just maybe, for 2008 I'll actually finish creating artwork for a calendar. I've been sketching and dreaming of and planning a calendar for forever - the photo below shows just a few of my calendar ideas sketches from the last couple of years - I pulled all of them out a while back and looked through all the old ideas, sketched some new ideas, and finally decided on a format, theme, style, etc....


And here is the finished art for January...

(click image to enlarge)

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The calendar will be called "Words of Encouragement", and each month will feature a key word, like "comfort", "faith", "laughter", etc, and will have a Scripture verse and design to illustrate that word. I will be creating the artwork digitally using Painter, and it will be a sort of blended style between my whimsical "cut-out" look and my more painterly, realistic rendering. The plan is to self-publish these designs in a calendar format using CafePress and give some as Christmas gifts as well as offer them for sale at my CafePress store - then I plan to send some out to art directors as a promotional piece... I just hope I can actually follow through this time and finish these designs by mid-December... God-willing, I will do just that.

So, if I occasionally skip an Illustration Friday or don't post for a few days, please know that I am likely painting away on June's "Joy" theme or September's "Splendor" perhaps. I do plan to share my progress from time to time as well as a few more finished designs, but hey, I don't want to spoil all the surprises...

Here's to 2008 being a very good year!!