Make a Smilebox slideshow

Gretty Sightings

Here is Ms. Gretty Primbleton finished.  We may see her from time to time with her companion and friend Pup.   I'm looking forward to doing a short little narrative on Gretty in the up coming months.

From This to That!

I posted a sketch that I did before going to bed two days ago.  Here is the finished piece.

Sometimes they come out a little different from when I start out.

I did this in Corel X.  

Have a great day everyone.

V

Thoughts of Gretty Primbleton

This is a sketch that I 'm playing with.  Gretty is 65 years young living with her sweet little companion Pup. They live right next door to Mr. Turnman's Bake and Sweet shop.  She loves his buttery danish and Pup likes the sweet rolls.  Gretty and Pup are also very sweet on Mr. Turnman, but Gretty is a lady and a lady never tells.  At least for now....

Good Day All,

I think that I am getting the hang of blogging. I just uploaded a few new things that I've been working on. I am also learning the art of animation. There are so many websites out there that have great tutorials on animation. I would really like to put some animation on this blog if given the chance. I love stop animation. Remember Davey and Goliath and Gumby and Poky? I'm just a retro chick to the bone. Even the Charlie and Lola show has elements of stop animation about it. These things made me very happy as a child. I want to give children and the adults I meet just a little bit of that joy during the day. We have so much to deal with in the real world. We have stopped ourselves from day dreaming which is so important to anyone who wants to create. Daydreaming is a powerful tool in your art bin. It' s where ideas are birthed and stories are created. I am no preacher, but I want to encourage as many as I can. For everyone one person telling what you can do, you have 10 others that are saying just the opposite to you. " You'll never get published." No one will ever visit your blog." Do you really expect anyone to buy your art or even like it?" We hear it all the time. At 45 years of age I just choose not to listen or hear it anymore. I hope you do the same. Go out and create something. Even if you never put paint to paper try. Make a mark and see where it takes you today.

Peace

V.

Self Discovery

Truely, I could just sit all day long looking at all the beautiful blogs out there. The reason I created this blog was very simply that I needed to express and share with everyone my own brand of art. I asked myself the question, " Why are you still waiting for someone to discover you? Do yourself the greatest favor and discover yourself doing what you love!" I love to create anything and everything. Happy me! However, there are so many people that I meet and when they find out that I'm an illustrator and crafter, they of course ask, "Where can I view your artwork?" I needed them to have somewhere to go so, I got to blogging. I will have a website later, but for now the blogging really works for me. It's something that I can do to share my creativity with the world right now.

Today I wanted to share some of the rough sketches in my art note book. I keep lots of them. I usually use whatever paper is on hand, but sometimes I doodle and sketch onto note paper. I have one with this wonderful brown cover and creamy buttery yellow paper inside. It reminds me of when I was in school. I was always doodling in class. I would come up with the funniest things, which would later be snatched up by my teachers. I know a few of them kept the funny little illustrations that I did. I love to people watch and so much of my sketches have to do with character building. I found this to be very important when working on children's books. The Art Directors and Editors want to know if you can first, create good characters and then remain consistant with your illustration of them. I learned from Peter H. Reynolds (A children's book Author and Illustrator) that you should draw something every single day. Do some kind of drawing before you go to bed at night. You never know where it will take you. I have been doing this and have found it to be so very helpful. Hopefully I have encouraged you to do it. "Just make a mark and see where it takes you." - Peter H. Reynolds.

Lets leave our mark on the arts together. Have an artful day!

Peace,

V.

I wanted to share with you all a new project I had the wonderful pleasure of working on called,

"Ruby and The Booker Boys", out in stores now. It's a funny and colorful work written by my new friend Mr. Derrick Barnes. Please visit his website for more of his great work at www.derrickbarnes.com. Ruby is a sassy and cute little 8 year old African American girl who is trying very hard to make a name for herself among her very popular brothers. It's a great summer read for 7-11 years. Even grownups will enjoy! There are 4 books to this series, two which will be released later this year. Ruby is being sold at www.barnesandnoble.com and www.amazon.com. Have a Ruby kind of a day!

Welcome to Ooh La La Design Studio

06/26/08

I've been meaning to start this little blog for a long time now. To all my friends and family who have been busting my chops about doing this, you can stop now! I finally did it! I am very excited to present to all, "Ooh La La Design Studio". Showing the illustrations, artwork, and handmade crafts of Vanessa Brantley-Newton. I hope to learn from all of you and hope to inspire and encourage other creative souls. Lord knows we need it. This has not been an easy road for me at all. Lots of hard work and tons and tons of rejection. I figured it was time for me to do my own thing and leave my own mark on the arts and society. To all who may visit this blog, I hope that it will make you laugh and encourage you to pick up a pad of paper and some pencils or watercolor or whatever media you may want to try and start out on your own artful road to discovery! I would love to post every single day, but Mama's got to take care of herself, the family and get my work done. However, please feel free to leave your comments. I would love to hear from you. Thanks again for visiting. Please stop by again.

Peace

V.

Hello I'm Vanessa Brantley-Newton and I am so glad that you came to visit my blog. I am a full time Mom and freelance Illustrator. I work from my home in East Orange, NJ. I love to craft, cook, day dream, laugh, draw, sing, look at other creative blogs and websites, paint, collage, read children's books, and tell stories. When I 'm not doing any of these things I'm catching up on much needed sleep if you know what I mean? I hope to share a bit of my whimsical world with you.