Holiday Permission

This is your permission.

Permission to be fully you during the holidays.

Permission to be sad about what isn't, while joyful about what is.

To not allow others' anxieties, hang-ups, and issues to become your anxieties, hang-ups and issues.

Permission to feel lost and yet found.

To be whole. To be rooted. To be free.

To feel grounded in the middle of everyone else's chaos.

You get to decide.

You are in charge. 

And isn't that a lovely thing?

Sending hugs, peace, and light to you,

New Class!

Hello friends!

How is your week going? I hope you've had some small, or even BIG victories to celebrate. There has been so much going on in our little corner of the world that my head has almost literally been spinning these past few weeks. 

My boys starting middle school (HOW did that happen?!), one of my busiest times of the year at work, and keeping up with usual life stuff like we all have. But in the midst of all of this craziness there is much to celebrate, including the launching of my fourth class with Big Picture Classes, Fantastic Digital Florals!

I can hardly believe this is my fourth class with BPC, and being asked to teach another iPad drawing class has been like a dream. I had no idea how the iPad would change everything for my drawing career, and now I want to share all of the fun tips and tricks I've learned this past year with you!

This class focuses on the basics of drawing floral shapes in Procreate, one of my favorite things to draw. Flowers can be challenging though, so I hope this class can take some of the anxiety out of the process. 

I'd love for you to join me! 

And if you want to dive into lettering in Procreate, be sure to also check out my Master Class, Mastering iPad Lettering!

Sending you all of the good Tuesday vibes!

XO,

A bit of encouragement for all of us...

The creator’s journey is not for the faint of heart.

Once you figure out that thing you want to do with your life, you’ll do just about anything to make it happen. But the path is usually unclear. Sometimes you wonder if you’ll ever find it.

It comes with hurdles, speed bumps, closed doors, and doors you have to decide to open or not. It takes courage to accept the lot of it, allow yourself to wallow for a bit in disappointment, be okay with settling into discomfort, know that you will never do it perfectly, know that there will be times of genius and times of absolutely no inspiration to be found, know that there will always be competition, but also know that no one else can do it like you.

And the path you are paving is only creatable by you.

For all of us that are finding our way toward our creative destiny, we are not alone.

So keep going.

Don’t give up.

We were made for this.


Hanging in there with you,

New Class!

Have you ever been given an opportunity that is so in line with your biggest goals and dreams that you start to doubt yourself?

Those annoying internal questions start chiming in, "Why did they choose me?" "Surely there is someone more talented to do this!"

(Helloooo imposter syndrome!)

You know what? Yes, there probably is someone more talented than you. There is always going to be someone ahead of you. 

And still, the opportunity belongs to YOU! 

IT IS YOURS. 

End of story. 

So take it all in, throw all of the thank you's you can out into the universe, and rock the sh*t out of it.

YOU GOT THIS.

If you want an example of my latest version of this story, head over to Big Picture Classes on May 1st to check out my newest class with them, Mastering iPad Lettering! Seriously...we are going to have SO much fun lettering on our iPads!

You can check out my teacher page here--->

https://www.bigpictureclasses.com/users/mandyfordart

Hope you have a fantastic Thursday! 

Autumn Lessons

Happy weekend friends!

I saw this quote yesterday while scrolling through Instagram and had to letter it.

Another reason to love autumn!

I'm getting ready to head to our local orchard and treat myself to a cider slushy. Yum! Hope you're having a fantastic day!

Full Sized You

I drew this a few weeks ago after jotting the words below in my notebook...

Don't stop. 

Don't hide. 

Don't discount your talent. 

Don't apologize for it. 

Don't shrink!

The world needs FULL SIZED YOU!

We really do. Give us all you got!

Sending love and brave vibes to you today friend,

Hello April!

Happy April friends! Did you avoid getting fooled today? 😄👊🏻

A post shared by Mandy Ford (@mandyfordart) on Apr 1, 2017 at 8:13pm PDT

Can you all believe it is April already?

I tell you, February was a crazy mess of sickness in our house, but March was full of so many lovely things.

And April? Whew! I have some really exciting new projects I'm working on that I can't wait to share with you!

So let's go April! We're coming for ya!

(I created that fun lettering video up there in the Procreate app on my new iPad pro with the Apple Pencil. Such a fun app!)

XO,

Creative Process + Dream Art Supplies

"The creative process is not like a situation where you get struck by a single lightning bolt. You have ongoing discoveries, and there's ongoing creative revelations. Yes, it's really helpful to be marching toward a specific destination, but, along the way, you must allow yourself room for your ideas to blossom, take root, and grow." -Carlton Cuse

I've been learning a new creative process over the past week with my new iPad and Apple Pencil (dream art supplies!). Let me just say my poor sketchbook is lonely! I'm amazed at what I can create, and how quickly, with them. 

I've been playing around with a new technique I learned that I used in the floral motifs up there, and in this lettering...

I am really loving the smoky, etherial effect. 

I'm also having fun replicating my usual pen and paper lettering...

The Apple Pencil is truly amazing...I didn't expect it to be so similar to using pen and paper but it really is.

I also created my first pattern using it...

I could seriously create ALL day!

Hope you're having a good week friends and follow me over on Instagram if you want to get a daily peek at my illustrations!

XO,

illustration process

I thought it would be fun today to share the entire process of an illustration, from the idea to the sketch to the finished piece.

This one came to me as I was putting away laundry the other day, laughing about how I had told a friend earlier in the week that I had gotten so good at self-care that I was worried I was spoiling myself. But really...isn't reading a good book with a warm mug of coffee way more important than dusting? 

I think so. 

So here's the beginning sketch...

And a video of inking in the lettering... (I almost always use a Papermate Flair pen)

Inking in last night's lettering while sipping on a latte! ☕️🙌 #howidochurch And this isn't boomerang but I'm gonna go with it for today's #marchmeetthemaker prompt!

A post shared by Mandy Ford (@mandyfordart) on Mar 5, 2017 at 6:44am PST

A few close-ups of the lettering...

The full illustration after ink...

And the finished illustration with lots of fun color!

Remember to practice self care this week! Those dishes can wait. 😉

Sending good vibes your way!

do something good

The world needs your goodness!

XO,

MLK Day

Thankful for a morning off of work to search through quotes by Martin Luther King Jr. and take some time to put one of them down on paper and then on my computer screen. 

So many of our freedoms we take for granted, but doing the right thing seems to be one that provides the biggest challenge for many. 

Here's to pushing ourselves to do right even when it is hard!

XO,

Letters

I've been playing around with letters lately, mostly on our iPad with my new stylus...

With the exception of the "g" which was a scanned hand-drawn piece, I created the rest solely in Adobe Draw on the iPad. It is addictive!

This might turn into a daily project! Stay tuned...

XO,

2017!

We did it friends! We made it to 2017!

Wishing you a fabulous year!

XO,

{new illustrations}

I've been busy working on a fun fall favorites collection, based on all of my favorites things about the season. 

Here are all six I've created so far!

Campfire favorites...

Favorite treat...

 

Comfort foods...

Fall nature walks...

Orchard favorites...

And favorite outfit...

This has been such a fun collection to work on. Did I miss anything? What would yours say?

XO,

{a reminder}

Let that light shine, my friend!

And if you are still looking for it...don't give up! It is in there I promise!

XO,

{new collection in progress}

Happy Monday friends!

I'm excited to share a new collection in the works. It started yesterday when I was thinking up ideas for something fun to letter. And of course I have FALL on the brain so I went with my favorite things about orchard trips...

And today I decided to add campfire favorites to the collection...

What will be next? Stay tuned!

XO,