Oh hai!

Jeez, nearly a year has passed since I last blogged!

So far, I haven't died. Jasper the Cat is totally fine. So what's my excuse?

*shrug*

In other news, I was looking at the drafts section of my blog and have a lot of old blog-stuff I was working on for a while and didn't finish for whatever reason. Even though some of the blogs won't necessarily be as relevant now, I personally will get enjoyment from them, so yay!

Also, my usual website had shut down and I started a new website: www.ClaireNobles.com - it's super cool. 

I also have a twitter, tumblr, Instagram, YouTube and other random stuff that I update from time to time. - double yay!

Stay tuned and enjoy the rest of your day! For sticking with me, here's a cute picture of Jasper the Cat: 

Awww!

Twitter- @clairenoblesart & @hopefullytweet

Instagram- @hopefullytweet

My Love of All Things Hobbit

"Dragon's Lair"-$30

Medium: Ink on bristol board

Size: ~5x8 inches

©2012 

In the anticipation of The Hobbit movie coming out, my muse cranked out this drawing which was actually started last year. I inked it out, and at the very end, added a little Hobbit in the bottom right corner. This is a scene from my favorite J.R.R.Tolkein book, The Hobbit (soon to be a movie). Bilbo sneaks into Smaug, the dragon's cave and has a little chat with him. Smaug has an awful lot of treasure which he just sleeps on top of and lives in... 

Fun little piece to do to get the juices flowing again and to get excited for the Hobbit movie which comes out in what feels like won't be a century.

This drawing is offered at my website, www.clairenoblesart.com under "Originals". Click the picture and it will take you directly there, and you can also get some detail. Because I have a free shipping over $25 purchases policy on my website, then this original work can be yours for only $30. No unauthorized reproductions, alterations or copyright infringements of any kind.

Bookmarks, Necklaces and Scaredy-Cat Updates

I'm so happy to announce that over the weekend I posted all the bookmarks listings on my website! You may browse through them -here-

All my 8.5x11 inch prints are also available -here-

Right now with any purchase, there is FREE SHIPPING on orders over $25 at ClaireNoblesArt.com

I have also updated all the listings on my necklaces on Etsy.com. I have very limited stock so get them now!!

And finally, the Jasper the Cat has overcome his fear of the papazan chair (read the Scaredy Cat post -here-) and he is now curled up in it and snoring loudly --as usual. Silly kitten... 

Shopping Cart!!!!!

Hello all,

I am SO flipping excited to share with you that I FINALLY have a Paypal Shopping Cart on my website! *angels sing somewhere* So please, check out my store at www.clairenoblesart.com -- and click on the Gallery tab to purchase prints!  or just -click here- If you experience any trouble accessing these links, try refreshing the page.

Also, while you're there, you may notice a few site changes, namely the crazy pink background is gone due to my eyes bleeding. However the American Heart Association donation at my shop is still going on until February 29th. I have changed the website's colors to green, my favorite color and in honor of March! I even painted my nails green, but that's beside the point.

I couldn't be happier to be making changes to my own site on the go whenever I please-- it is seriously awesome. I still have quite a few new additions in store so stay tuned!

A Sketch a Day... (Keeps Artist Block Away?)

Hopefully you all have seen some of the changes happening at www.ClaireNoblesArt.com --if not, GO THERE NOW!

As I stated a few blogs ago, my painting time will become rather limited since classes have started. Right now I'm in 5 classes, and none of them are Art Classes..... I'm getting a ton of extra general ed out of the way, being a junior and all... I won't be getting normal weekly practice and painting even once a week might not be able to fit in my schedule, so I bought a "Sketch a Day" Journal.

This journal works exactly how it sounds. It gives half a page for each sketch-- so it doesn't even has to be good or even resemble anything, it just has to be done every day. That's my challenge. Let's see if I can do it for a year-- or if I even last a week!

I decided first off that the sketches did not have to be fantasy related. I have given myself permission to draw whatever I want and in whatever style I want (stick figures, cartoons, realism, abstract) as long as its something! Also, I shall not allow myself to spend long amounts of time on these, just pure, quick, raw thoughts!

I won't be posting the results every day, but I might post the interesting ones, or at least group them together and post a bunch at once. 

This is Day 1

"Heart on your Sleeve" 2012, pencil and ink 
(done in 15 minutes)

Whenever I don't know what to draw, my fallback is my left hand. The sketch paper in the journal is alright for pencil-- not amazing. The blending I tried works only OK. I tried to draw some sketchy-stylized realism, probably my second favorite style of drawing. I love zig-zagged, harsh, messy grey lines. It just adds to the rawness and emotion for me. I drew my hand raw and messy pencil, and drew the tattoo clean-lined and in permanent black pen. I was trying to juxtapose the two concepts of emotion. The hand being real and raw and full of emotion, the real character of the piece. The heart is fake and precise, yet is suppose to represent love and emotion, it's in cold black ink. I added a second line to the right side of the heart- it was not a mistake- I like the design, I wish I knew why.

The idea of the tattoo on a person is to represent love and compassion, wearing your heart on your sleeve. I think it's a cool idea. I don't actually have this tattooed on me though, it's just pen.

I hope you all enjoyed this short detour from my fantasy art into my random feelings of love and such... Again, please check out www.clairenoblesart.com because it just keeps getting better each day!

On a side note, my left hand is in pain and lost all circulation from keeping it clenched in a fist for 15 minutes straight. That vein in the center of my wrist got more and more pronounced as the drawing wore on, so it does look a bit creepy now... But that's seriously how it looked at the end of the sketching. My vein is not usually that bulgy...

New Website!

Hello all,


As I'm sure some of you have found out already, my art website looks a little different. 


I met with Matt, the all-powerful webguy, and had him switch over the website we made in 2009, to one which I could update at 3am if I so desired! 


I know right now the new website is very bare. However, in the coming weeks, it will grow into something quite amazing, and you'll actually be able to purchase products straight through me!! I'm so excited to finally be able to customize my own website! Please let me know how the if I can do anything to make your experience at my site better! I will try my best to make your experience at ClaireNoblesArt.com amazing!


So stay tuned!!  --and thank you for all of your patience! 

Website Redesign

Hey guys,

I wanted to let you all know that my business is going through a LOT of changes. 

First, I got a whole new computer/printer/scanner system so that I can finally do all my own scanning, printing, product making, etc. Matt, my webguy has been the most helpful and wonderful person on the planet. However, he does have two day jobs and it's become increasingly more difficult to meet up with him to scan new art. So he'll be there for me of course if I have an emergency of a goblin getting lodged in the disk drive, but otherwise, I'll be doing everything web and product related myself... Please bare with me during this time. =)

Second change, I have designed all on my own (well, with the help of a web creation site) my own website complete with shopping cart options!! *angels sing somewhere* I'm not quite finished yet unfortunately. But it is a LOT of work -- especially for someone who has no idea what they are doing. I've have to redo entire areas of the site a few times now so that I could have everything flow better and make more sense. But seriously, right now the construction site is epic -- considering it's made by me, of course.

The new website will be a lot more interactive in the sense that I can update it whenever I want, there will be more links, an actual shopping cart system, fun pages, etc. I'm even using paypal as my shopping cart which is a very trusted internet payment service. The whole thing is growing very nicely.

While I have been painting a bit, most of my energy has been going into the site and the new software and learning how to use everything. So hang tight for now. I will be really excited to finally start doing everything on my own without having to wait or rely on others to do things for me. It will make my painting time and uploading much more efficient in the long run anyways because I will be able to scan/print the second I finish a painting rather than waiting for weeks. Go efficiency!

I am really looking forward to releasing the redesign of the site as soon as I am able. I hope it happens before the holidays, but you know how busy this time of year gets. At least we'll have it for the new year if nothing else.

And if anyone has any web-building-paypal-printing products-mechandising advice, please feel free to send it my way! 

Cheers!