A New Chapter – Finding My Own Style (Part 1)

It’s been a long break but it’s been a wonderful time of reflection and contemplation. No matter where my thoughts take me, they somehow always take me back to my love of art. Not just the physical art, but the process of letting my imagination pour out on paper.

I’ve decided to lean into that heart beat and dive deeper into my “hobby” of sketching and see what happens when I let my imagination run loose! While doing so, I want to discover and embrace my own style. I have a massive appreciation for talented artists in the world, but what I’m learning is that the best way to appreciate and thank them isn’t to just do fan art, but to be my own artist. (Not discrediting fan art because it is still amazing and I love it too). But that’s where this next chapter is taking me, finding my own style and embracing it.

Step 1: I’m going to be stepping out on a limb and producing my own unique creative art where you’ll get to see my own imagination! Regardless of how it’s received, I’m excited to embark on the journey and get to know myself better through my own art.

Step 2: Name changes and social media! I’ve gotten married since I originally started this blog, and I thus have changed my name. I’m going to leave the blog name as-is because it was with my maiden name where I produced my favorite work of all time and had my dream come true by being selected as the Disney 2015 D23 Challenge finalist. I am still on cloud 9 from that!! But I’ve started an Instagram where I’m producing all original art! If you’ve enjoyed the blog and want to see where the next chapter of finding my own style leads, than please follow my Instagram! @meglaughlin.art

The Instagram is where I’ll be posting all my new creative endeavors for now. This isn’t goodbye but a “see you around.”

So here’s a sneak peak of what will be posted on my Instagram and Part 2 will be found there…

To start, I’ve been dreaming up a series of sketches that reimagine inanimate objects as if they had personalities as people. What would they look like? What is their personality?

Here’s the first bit!

a couple who loves to dance the night away by Meg Laughlinan baseball pitcher at the top of his game by Meg Laughlina dancing queen by Meg Laughlin

Thank you to all the followers and friends and I hope to continue to connect with you via Instagram!

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Personal Touch

What is more fun than a personal card! I love making cards for people because I think it adds a sweet touch of servanthood that speaks through the illustration, in addition to the words themselves. In my opinion, Art (especially through personal cards) has the power to sometimes carry more weight and emotion and love than words themselves. At least for me when it comes to my writing ability. I love drawing, so people who receive a personal illustrated card from me know that there is a lot of love behind the card.

I coach high school volleyball and at the end of the season I decided to make personal cards for each of the seniors. I wanted to capture their personality and stand out features with each depiction of them. I’ll write a personal note to the right of the drawing before handing them off. I hope they like them!!

It’s a Girl!

My best friend is having a baby girl! This is baby number two for her. When her first little one was born, I made her a baby rocking chair out of recycled window jams (last image. Their last name starts with a T and the room theme was florals and pink). So for this new baby I wanted to make her something as well! (Gotta share the love 😉 )

I asked her the theme of the nursery and my friend told me it was going to be baby animals and a neutral color palette! I was so excited because watercoloring immediately popped in my head! I had been on a kick of drawing and watercoloring elephants so I felt like this prepared me well! The tricky part was to make them cutesy and fun but still realistic. These animals were so fun to design and make! I gave them to my friend at her baby shower this weekend and she loved them! Yay! Now we are eagerly awaiting for the little one’s arrival!

Winnie the Pooh. And some Honey too. 

This is a canvas painting I did with acrylics. The process was simple. First, I looked for a quote by Winnie the Pooh that I though was indicative to his loveable character, because I wanted to make this painting for my roommate who loves Winnie the Pooh and has been a good friend. I then sketched Winnie the Pooh and his honey pot on the canvas, and then began painting! The sketch took me roughly 20 minutes and the painting took 2 hours. All of the painting was done with a small brush (you can easily find at a craft store) and the fine lines and text were done with a toothpick. 

And the huggable loveable Pooh Bear was complete.