Sweet Tooth and a Cute Pig

A few days ago I pulled out my paints and brought them into the tiny camper along with the extra cowbells, wooden spoons and lots of good intentions.  I managed to paint 2 cowbells and now my paints are shoved under the table.  Oh, I want to paint, but the truth is, I'm just having too much fun combining my art with elements of graphic designs.  So let me show you what I did the other day..

Sometime in 2016, I drew a sketch of my grandson with all this curly golden locks.  He loves candy sprinkles and so I had him floating with only the upper portion of his face showing above the colorful avalanche of sweetness.  I also wrote a poem to go with the illustration called "Ode to Sprinkles"
JulieTownsendStudio.com:  Poetry and Other Silly Things

So just for fun, I revisited that original sketch and added some digital enhancements.  I added coloring and then went to PNGTree.com and downloaded a couple of image files of candy and donuts and placed them around the sketch.  I'm calling this funny composition "Sweet Tooth" and while I might still do some tweaking on it, I was anxious to show it to you.

Seeing how cute this turned out I decided to create a couple more images using more grandsons (I have plenty to choose from) and here is what I came up with.

I feel I should also share with you this adorable pig that I created this week that I didn't share with you. I made it to go long with my cow and rooster image I drawn a few days earlier.  I'm having fun creating simple drawings of these farm animals and then finishing them up in Photoshop.  Just like the coloring page I created the other day, these images just start out as simple line drawings in my sketchbook.  I'm sure when I finally return home to my studio they will end up on magnets and greeting cards along with merchandise.  

A Little Bit of Country in the Middle of the Desert

I absolutely love this picture my husband took of me, standing in what is actually the middle of a long row of large focal pieces.  The perspective and lighting are just perfect.   This was Tuesday, March 28th at my artist reception for my show called "Down Country Roads". We had a few minutes before the guests started to arrive at the reception and he did a great job documenting the gallery and how my pieces looked hanging there. I also couldn't have been more happy with the response I received from my friends, family and even total strangers.  One young boy that appeared to be about 11 even asked if I would be in a picture with him like I was something important.  How cute is that?

Solo art shows are a tremendous amount of work and for this show I have been painting for several months, trying to add new pieces to make my "Down Country Roads" collection larger and more impressive.  It is hard to describe the feeling you experience as the artist when you walk in the gallery for the first time and see all your hard work hung on the wall.  The closest analogy that I can of is it's like arriving to a family reunion where you actually LIKE all your relatives!

Besides displaying a total of 29 pieces of art, the Library District allowed me to include 12 of my poems.  Of course I would expect that a library would be a poem friendly environment.  Most of them have been written over the past year or so and just like my art, each of the pieces have an element of humor to them.  Pretty much everything I do is geared to hopefully make you smile.


I decided that to make the event even more special I would have a drawing and give away artwork as a prize.  Here are a couple of happy winners.

I had the chance yesterday to run back to the library to meet my daughter there.  I spent about an hour observing complete strangers walk into the gallery room and look at my art.  I was blessed to watch an older gentleman walk around the room reading each piece.  The last piece he read just happened to be my "Go Grab a Tissue Please" poem that accompanies a sketch of a cute calf using his tongue to lick his nose.  I was so pleased when I heard him actually laugh out loud.  That, my friend is the exact response that I am hoping for.

My really good friend is a high school English teacher and she tells me that she is planning on bringing her senior class down in April for a field trip because in April they have a poetry unit.  Now I call that perfect timing.  Someday I hope to publish a book of my art and poems and maybe only my grandchildren will want a copy but for now I'm just thrilled to have them hanging on the wall of the Whitney Library on Tropicana and Boulder Highway.

Let me share "Go Grab a Tissue Please" with you here and if you are interested in seeing more of my artwork or reading my poetry then please check out my website at Julie Townsend Studio

Go Grab a Tissue PLEASE!

By 

Julie Townsend

Picking or licking your nose is a bad habit I say

I promise you will regret that you did it someday

When all the other calves are playing, jumping and having fun

You will be too embarrassed to join them to rumpus and run

So when the hay fever strikes and won't slow

And the snot runs free like a steady river flow

When that fountain is turned on and you have the urge to sniff and snort

And even though God has given you a tongue that is far from short

Please! Oh please! Go grab a hanky or better yet, a wad of tissue

To handle the problems of your snot and dripping green issue 

Blowing your nose is so much better than using a tongue to lick

Be considerate of those around you for you will surely make us all sick

  

  

The Poetry of Julie Townsend

Think Big- Poem and the Illustration

Think Big

This is probably the first real example of a colored pencil sketch I did in the early part of this year.  The original drawing is 8 x 10 and is drawn on 300 series Strathmore Bristol Art Paper.  I used my Prismacolor colored pencils along with their pens for the details.  

This morning I decided to write a little poem for the piece that I call "Think Big".  It's still a bit rough but I was able to jot down the majority of my thoughts while enjoying my morning coffee.  Let me know what you think.  I would love to hear from you.

If you are interested in this original image, prints, cards or art magnets you will find more information on my website at Julie Townsend Studio along with all my other works.  

THINK BIG

What a cute little chap

Short, stubby and with your fine black cap

“What is it you have there?” 

It is quite big and you are so small in compare

I must ask again “What treasure have you found?”

It looks like a ball of string in red just lying on the ground

Forget the stick, twigs and grass

With that yarn your nest will be first class

Beaks will flap and feathers will ruffle

With this you’re sure to cause quite a scuffle

This will make you the talk of the flock

And your little Chickadee girl bird will be in shock

Sometimes in life you just have to forget the mundane

Go for the gusto even at the risk of being thought insane

It’s worth the effort to derive a plan

From the ground to your branch is quite a span

It will take some hard work and a great deal of thought

But the rewards in the long run will be worth the plot

My advice to you is to drop the twig

Go for the creative and just THINK BIG!