And the job search begins!

This past weekend, I graduated AND moved back home to Pittsburgh so things have been kinda crazy in the world of Nicole. I've barely had time to stop and catch my breath! I already have a job lined up at a local office for myself which I will most likely begin within the next two weeks. It's very close to my parents house which is awesome. It has nothing to do with illustration :( , but it has many perks! I can make my own schedule and even bring artwork to my desk during any downtime or any of the breaks that I get. The flexibility I have with this job is a definite plus for me - I want to accept any art-related jobs I can get on the side so that I can build on my resume as well as my portfolio. I'm taking baby steps, people! I WILL put my degree to good use though - I can promise you that! Oh yeah, my graduation ceremony was on May 8th. The picture above is of myself and one of my best friends, Amber after commencement. Check her blog and website out - her stuff is awesome! I'll probably miss her the most out of anybody else at PCAD. I want to try and work on a few illustrations of us sometime soon. Until then...

FINALLY!

Another chapter of my life has come to a close (and I finally have time to write in here again)! I finished mounting and hanging my work at school earlier this afternoon - I still can't believe it! I'm so used to being up long hours and constantly out running to take care of things it's almost like, "Now what?". I've been working so hard the past couple of weeks, it's kind of weird to just stop after being in that every day routine. After graduation, I will be moving back home to Pittsburgh and with my new - well deserved - free time, I definitely want to get back into working on my personal stuff again. Hopefully my portfolio will catch someone's eye and I'll find a great job shortly after that (HOPEFULLY). I just want to thank everybody who has helped me come this far and bring everything together - even those of you who thought I might not make it. If you haven't read my website, I will be showcasing all sixteen of my greeting cards at my school's senior show on May 1st. Click here for more information on it. Hope to see you there!

17 days and counting...

There are approximately 17 days left until the last day of the semester. Wow the days sure have been flying by! I received my tattoos about three days after I ordered them and they look absolutely amazing - I would definitely recommend Straytats.com to anybody looking for their services. As for the post cards, I went with Overnightprints.com. Most of my classmates went with that site and their stuff looks pretty good. I went to the Portfolio Boot Camp mentioned in my earlier post and was pretty surprised that most of the reviewers had positive things to say about my work. I've made a few connections with other designers from the DC area and was instructed to make a Linkedin page to keep in touch with them. I'm still not sure what you can or cannot do with the site, but I was told it was similar to facebook for professionals. Here is the link to my profile feel free to add me!

Well, that's it for now; I have a lot of work I have to get done tonight!

TOO... MUCH... TO HANDLE!

I've been swamped with soo much work but I've been finding ways to manage my time wisely and making sure I don't get swept in the ocean of crap that I have to get done by the end of this month. I'm taking a break from designing my post cards to show you guys what they're going to hopefully look like...


I'm so happy with my idea and I really hope they turn out exactly like the way I envision them. I'm still poking around on Google to find good print sites that will get them printed quickly but professionally (and will fit into my budget). I'm leaning towards Overnightprints.com but if I find anywhere else with better prices I might go with them. I have to remember quality over quantity or price or whatever that saying goes, but holy moly is this graduation stuff expensive (speaking of expenses, I got my total for what I owe in student loans. OHHH man does it hurt. I really do hope it pays off in the long run though)! I used my student mentorship project that I have been working on with John Schwegel on the front of the card. That piece will be showcased in my school's main gallery later this month. I've never had my work in a professional gallery before so I'm really excited to see what other people have to say about it.

In other news...

- I got my business cards in the mail. I'm happy with they way they look!

- Another awesome thing I'll have at my senior show is temporary tattoos of my illustration logo. I ordered them from Straytats.com - SUPER anxious to get those in later this week (I even got a big one that matches my dress to wear for the show!).

- I'll be ordering my post cards and personalized stamps later tonight.

- ALSO! This weekend, I'll be attending the AIGA BlueRidge & GFAF Portfolio Bootcamp in Frederick, MD. A group of professionals will be reviewing my work and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I don't leave the Cultural Arts Center in tears. Haha!

I think that's about it with the updates. Sorry this hasn't been entirely too exciting; I'm a busy girl right now!

new developments in "getting myself out there"

I just realized today that this time next month, I will be DAYS away from school being over - that freaks me out to no end! So this afternoon, I tackled a few things on my to-do list: changing the text on my logo, figuring out the images I will be using for my business cards/promo postcards and buying my web domain. I don't have anything on it yet, but my new official website can be found here. You can also check out my new logo in the column over to the right of this post (I made the text more legible). As for my card ideas, I think I'm going to go with my logo but in different color variations as seen here...















I'm really glad that I'm getting this stuff out of the way instead of saving it for the very last minute. The amount of work I have to get done between now and April 27 is slowly widdling down.

mentorship!!!

Another requirement for graduation at my school is that seniors (I'm not sure if it's all departments or just illustration students) have to complete a student/artist mentorship project. I really dragged my feet getting this together since I had a few complications involving my portfolio review last semester. I wasn't sure who I was going to get in contact with and I had been searching high and low for an artist who grabbed my interest the most. I have NO clue how I stumbled upon John Schwegel but I LOVE his work! Here are some of the images from his portfolio that swayed my decision to get in touch with him...

"Maggie"

"Sea Turtle"

"Swamp Snack"


"Brainfreeze"

I love everything about this guy's art - subject matter, the way he draws eyes, his line work, the way he handles color (his light, "sherberty" color palettes really caught my eye). Luckily, John answered my request for the project right away and I am SO excited that he agreed to let me work with him. Since I love drawing myself so much I thought it would be cool to mimic his style and do a self portrait for the main gallery piece I have to submit for the senior show. I definitely want to sample some of the colors he uses in corel and incorporate some other elements that he uses. With my work, it's really simplistic and graphic but I don't think it gets my point across (yet). I like how he can work in a cartoony style but still incorporate little details to give the pieces character (like the little spots he did on the Sea Turtle's head). I've worked out a rough sketch so far and I'm getting mixed feelings about it from some people...


Personally, I like it and I'm excited to hear some of the ideas/input John has for this piece. Hopefully I'll have an update on my progress sometime next week. At least I have one overdue project started and out of the way. What to start next...

back into the swing of things

Today was my first day back from spring break. I have to say I think I may have gotten a little too comfortable because I completely forgot about upcoming projects due for the week. I managed to squeak this one out for tomorrow. We had to create an illustration for a promotional travel coffee mug with a "beach books" theme.


It's somewhat crude, but I kind of like it - let's hope Charlie will think the same. I've been up since way early this morning packing up my car and heading back to Lancaster from Pittsburgh so a (semi) good night's rest is in order. Goodnight!