art by melissa lee shaw

Eee! So my favorite teacher just launched a brand new course on surface pattern design, and I want everyone to know about it, so that maybe someone will join me! While the focus is certainly on repeating patterns, it also includes learning Adobe Illustrator, how to make an effective design portfolio, and dives deep into the business side of design, covering accounting principles, copyrighting your work, and signing contracts, among other things.

I can’t say enough about how much I’ve loved and appreciated the courses I’ve already taken from Bonnie. She is the person who first opened my eyes to the world of pattern making and who inspired me to switch paths and work toward becoming a pattern designer. Her kindness, unending encouragement, and willingness to share her art has impressed and motivated me from day one. I promise you this course will be worth every penny. If you’re at all intrigued or interested in design, please check it out! <3

Then bring me back.

I got an illo sketchbook from @hallaheart because she’s the Actual Best™, and I absolutely love it! So, naturally, the first thing I decided to draw was a detailed, time-consuming crosshatching portrait of these beautiful jerks, as they have basically taken over my entire brain. When will I find peace? щ(ಥДಥщ)♡

Mystics Moths, now available for sale on Society6 and my Threadless Artist Shop! Up to 40% off and free shipping on orders of $100 or more today through Cyber Monday at midnight PT. 

Hi!

For the last month or so, I’ve been working on my newest class for Skillshare, and now it is officially live! If you’re not familiar, Skillshare is an online learning community with thousands of classes on everything from business to graphic design to fashion – it’s basically the Netflix of learning, haha.

My latest class is called Character Design Crash Course: Designing Animal Characters. In it, I take students through my process of designing and illustrating an animal character, starting with finding inspiration and reference, then moving on to sketching and developing your concept, and finally, rendering it in Photoshop. I also briefly talk about the fundamentals of character design, and the importance of using reference and learning from other artists. I’m pretty proud of this one, y’all. XD I’d really appreciate if you’d help me out by enrolling.

By using this SPECIAL LINK to sign up for Skillshare Premium Membership, you’ll get access to all eight of my classes, plus all other classes on Skillshare, starting with a TWO-MONTH FREE TRIAL. Or you can use this link, which gives you the same access and free two-month trial, but is specifically for my latest class. 

Your enrollment in my newest class will help it “trend” on Skillshare, which means that more students will discover it! Also, if I can get 10 premium referrals by December 1st, I’ll get a nice bonus. Honestly, what really helps me (more than anything else) is those premium enrollments through my link. But I’d also very much appreciate a signal boost!

I added words and I like it more now.

finnglas said: Her hair is so big bc it’s full of dreams

I made this for a class assignment, which was to make a poster for your favorite band (it used to say "MUSE") a couple of years ago, and I decided to make it more blatantly political in lieu of the most recent environmental shit storm. 👍🌎 😎 

“Familiar”

The three designs I currently have up for scoring on Threadless! It’d be much appreciated if you’d take a minute out of your day to go score them; the more votes I get, the higher the chance of them getting printed! Links below. Thank you!

1. Your Royal Flyness

2. Skull Garden