Restyle! The Letter S

S is for Seal and Starfish

Part of my job in my career as a greeting card designer was to give fresh looks to older designs that still had good bones. It was to give new life or a second wind as well as increase sales. Not unlike rearranging the furniture and painting the walls of one's living room to give it a new spirit.

So while looking at my art on the walls of my tent during art festival season, the older design below became a candidate for a restyle.

While I still carry this version on Fine Art America, I thought to produce another with a different color look.

Now I also offer this cute seal as a cute summer T-shirt.

You can find this cute T-shirt here: https://fineartamerica.com/products/s-is-for-seal-and-starfish-valerie-drake-lesiak-adult-tshirt.html 

Whether a seal fan or the letter S fan, or just love the sea, this seal is a real cutie for all that need a little fun in life. 

Review and Update: G is for Goose and Grasshopper

G is for Goose and Grasshopper

It must be the spring cleaning urge...the urge to not only to clean, but re-arrange the furniture, paint a room, change and shake up the decor a bit...only I have been doing this to my artwork as well. 

Home decor has been featuring many hues of gray. When reviewing the original below, I though gray would be good for an update. By adding some more flowers as well as adding soft pastels, it gives my illustration a whole new look. 

I am always curious as to how these changes will be received. 

Your comments are welcome!

Update and Improve

A is for Airedale

Years ago, A is for Airedale was my first illustration for the letter A as it is seen below.

It has been a good seller, but I thought to spice it up with another A word adding an argyle pattern to the background which I thought would give it a little bit of freshness.

New Letter K!

K is for Kayak and Kittiwake

The letter K is not easy letter shape that lends itself as an idea for an illustration. But then I thought of Kayak with its oars, and a newly illustrated K became a reality.

I  discovered, to my welcomed surprise, that there is a seabird that looks much like a gull called a Kittiwake that would be a nice addition to creating this illustration. 

Where Flowers Bloom

Where Flowers Bloom

Winter is having its last hurrah during this month of March. So tired of gray skies and snow. 

But this is what March does. It bounces back and forth between Winter and Spring. 

So while looking in my sketch book where I also jot a few quotes, I came across this notation about hope. The sketch finally became the illustration you see here.

My hope is that Winter does not linger after Spring officially debuts on the 20th of this month.

It will be nice to see flowers bloom again.

G is for Giraffe

G is for Giraffe

G is for Giraffe is the newest addition to my collection of illustrated letters that I have created. 

For a couple of years, while doing art festivals, I have listened to people who are looking for a giraffe. They are still quite popular! 

I finally came up with one that I liked that will also read as the letter G. 

Let me know what you think.

J is for Jar of Jonquils

J is for Jar of Jonquils

In puzzling about the letter J, I decided this time to take a different approach.

Rather than using the shape and subject to create a letter J, the J is rather apparent in this design. That being said, there are many things in this design that begin with the letter J. 

You may see more, but here is my list: jar, jug, jonquils, jasmine tea as well as linear subtle jasmine pattern in the background, juniper, jack rabbit on the jug with a border made out of J's, and of course the use of Jade green. 

H is for Hedgehog and Hammock

H is for Hedgehog and Hammock

Yes, it is a new letter H! 

And yes, there are more H words other than Hedgehog and Hammock, but I will let you guess!

It gets harder as I run out of positive ideas for the letter H, but seeing that I have only done this letter 3 times before, it became a challenge to expand my offering of the letter H.

Butterfly Promise

Butterfly Promise

I saw this quote about miracles taking a little time as quoted by the Fairy Godmother. 

It inspired me to come up with this illustration using a butterfly. 

I always thought of the butterfly as a bit of a miracle. 

I wonder if the caterpillar knows that in time he will become a beautiful and magnificent butterfly. 

B is for Beaver with a Blossoming Branch

B is for Beaver with a Blossoming Branch

Here is a new letter B that came to mind while doing a show at the Hale Farm and Village in Bath, Ohio this past weekend. 

B is for beaver holding a blossoming branch, but is that a blue berry bush by him perchance? Butterflies too, please add to the B list.

Hope you enjoy this cute fellow, he is not to be missed! 

T is for Two Tulips with Tea

T is for Two Tulips with Tea

 

I wanted to illustrate some kind of still life with flowers, yet design another illustrated letter. 

So I compromised. 

 

Beside the obvious T words such as Two Tulips, Tea cup and Teapot, there is Turquoise as well as Tartan.

  

S is for Seahorse

S is for Seahorse

Here is a new letter S! 

His name is Sydney and he is a special seahorse as he makes the shape of the letter S. 

Check out all my illustrated letters by clicking here on:

Alphabet Soup

V is for Vine and Veranda

V is for Vine and Veranda

I have to admit, although I love the letter V, it is not that easy to come up with ideas for it. The word Vulture just does not do it for me. So as I thought of the wonders of summer and its lazy days on the porch, I came up with V is for Vine as well as Veranda. If you note, there are suggestions of violet and verbena in the color scheme. Okay, I know, I am pushing it.

 

C is for Cat, Cockatoo and Coo Coo Clock

C is for Cat, Cockatoo, and Coo Coo Clock

I have had a lot of cat requests at shows. So of course I have returned to the letter C.

This time my cat Katie was be my source of inspiration.

So as you can see, I went overboard on the letter C.

C is not just for Cat, Cockatoo, and Coo Coo Clock, but chair, cherries and check pattern as well! 

 

Yellow Bird's Love Song, a Second Look

Yellow Bird's Love Song

Here is a new redo. Every now and then I take an early piece that seems tired, or in the case of the original below, did not have much selling appeal and take another stab at it. 

 I hope the make over will have a better response in the upcoming shows.  

 

Happy 4th of July

Let Freedom Ring!

P A T R I O T I C   Q U I L T

Let us celebrate what makes this country great. Let us not forget what our forefathers sacrificed and try to teach us as well as the gift they gave us. 

Let us remember. 

H A P P Y   B I R T H D A Y   A M E R I C A! 

For the Love of Flowers

Summer Bouquet

Finally it is feeling like spring!

The old I get, the more I love flowers and look forward to them growing in my garden as well as filling the empty vases that have been barren all winter. 

Of course I can always fill my walls with flowers as well! 

Hope this one will brighten someone's wall as well as my own. 

You can purchase a print here at Fine Art America.

 

Chasing Away the Cold Weather Blues!

Coffee Pot Surprise

This May has had its ups and downs. This morning when I looked out my window, I thought I woke up in late February! There was snow on the roof tops as well as some light coverage on the grounds! Fortunately by the afternoon it was gone.

All the more reason to finish an illustration I was working on. I pulled up an old illustration that I did called Coffee Pot Quotes.

I had done this illustration years ago, when practicing using fonts. However, it did not really resonate with people enough to buy it. I still liked the shape of the coffee pot, so I thought I would start again using the coffee pot shape. I am hoping that Coffee Pot Surprise will tickle someone's fancy this year enough to buy it.

Meanwhile, think warm and beautiful weather. 

 

Home is Where You Bloom

Home is Where You Bloom

A while back I did a piece that was about home. It was an early piece and though I sold one, it really did not blow up my skirt, as my husband would put it. Because I have always thought of home as a blessing, whether it was the home I grew up in or the home I live in now, I thought to take another shot at it.

Inspired with the feeling that spring is upon us as well as seeing the birds starting to visit the abandoned birdhouse outside my window, this is new illustration I created.

 

 

C is for Cal the Curious Carp

C is for Cal the Curious Carp

 Okay, I was looking at the letter C and decided to add yet another one to my collection. My husband laughed at my choice of using a carp for the letter C, but then was pleasantly surprised. 

Cal swims against the current.