jennie kohl austin

If you’ve looked through my blog at all, you’ll notice that my interests are quite varied. Most recently, I become enthralled with digital coloring, specifically coloring comics. I only discovered this about a year ago, after reading the Hi-Fi Color for Comics book by Brian and Kristi Miller. I worked through the book and discovered something new that I love to do!

Then, like a lot of artists, I got busy with life and let some of my art go for a while. But this spring I discovered Twitter, and it all came rushing back as I got to talking to comic and coloring people from all over the world! How exciting! I know I need to work a lot harder and I have a TON to learn, but my enthusiasm level is high and I can’t wait to see where this takes me.

Here’s some of my new digital coloring work!

January 5th, 2010 update – My digital work has all been moved to a new blog, jennie does colors – www.jenniedoescolors.com …check it out over there!

Original inks by Anthony Pafford:

And my coloring:

Original inks by Freddie Williams II:

And color by me:

Original inks by Jun Bob Kim:

And color by me!

I just had a little woo-hoo crisis when I tried to update my blog! I accidently overwrote a file and had to find the info to re-create it. Advice to all…backup your blog before you update it. But now I can use the Wordpress app for my iPhone! Hopefully that will help me update more often.

Coming up next, some digital art!

Sometimes I forget who I am.

No, not in THAT sense, but in the sense that I forget what makes me tick. I get caught up in everything that’s going on in my life and forget to spend time doing certain things that I really want to do. This blog is an example of that…I’m kind of a dabbler when it comes to art, and my newest work is at odds with a lot of the work I’ve shown here.

But it’s still me.

So I’m going to be adding my digital art to this site soon, so you can see another of my many sides. The lesson is, don’t be afraid to be you – and that means ALL of you! 

Thought I’d share some more of the work I’ve been doing since my old posts. Anthony and I have been doing quite a few plush designs, and I’ve been playing with construction and materials for unique plush guys. Here’s some of what we’ve done so far!

Jellyfish

A ninja kitty and a fairy kitty

Just a silly guy

A kitty based on one of Anthony’s drawings

A starry-eyed guy

A doorknob jellyfish

The newest member of our family, Rocky, is the beneficiary of my most recent sewing project!

Hey, where’ve I been? Busy, busy, busy, but not with art as much as I’d like. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve done some art in the last 15 months. Just haven’t been documenting my progress like I was. Let’s get that corrected, shall we?

I made this handbag during the Star Art Project to carry to the opening.

This piece was done for a public art project, wherein our only direction was “a star”.   

Sponsored by Goldenrod Printing, Inc. (sold – Private Collection)

Inspirational Statement:

In “String Theory: The Strength of Our Woven Community”, the stars represent the City of Lincoln, surrounded and supported by a diverse mix of women as artists, all a little rough around the edges but continuously growing. The colorful threads symbolize the links between humanity regardless of race or culture, and the use of the heritage craft of piecework quilting emphasizes the importance of the role of women in this historic community.

This piece was part of the Star City Art Project – 2006. For more info, visit http://www.ywcalincoln.org/START2006.html.

Here are some additional pics of the process:

A friend introduced me to this book recently, Now, Discover Your Strengths, by Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton. If you haven’t learned this about me yet, I have an unusual attraction to self-improvement books and programs. If you haven’t read this book or done the assessment, please, do so immediately!  The insight it gives is meaningful and may very well change your outlook on your entire life. 

The concept is that while we all know our weaknesses, we overlook the value of our strengths.  We should focus on our strengths!

Here’s how I stand:

Ideation
People strong in the Ideation theme are fascinated by ideas. They are able to find connections between seemingly disparate phenomena.

Activator
People strong in the Activator theme can make things happen by turning thoughts into action. They are often impatient.

Strategic
People strong in the Strategic theme create alternative ways to proceed. Faced with any given scenario, they can quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues.

Input
People strong in the Input theme have a craving to know more. Often they like to collect and archive all kinds of information.

Learner
People strong in the Learner theme have a great desire to learn and want to continuously improve. In particular, the process of learning, rather than the outcome, excites them.