Dinner & Drawing

Last night a few lovely friends came over for an evening of dinner and drawing. It was a room full of talented people who can draw themselves out of any situation (present company excluded). We kicked the evening off with some pasta and delicious salads, and moved the party to our sketchbooks. 

I was excited for Aaron Albarran of Toxik to meet my friend Tim Bubel (for this link, check out the painted shoes, that's his work) who is an artist of similar style. If you ever need zombies, monsters, or any of the like, hit them up. Not only talented, but hilarious and kind as well.

Next was the introduction of Amber Luecht and Ross Murray. Again, 2 artists with similar styles. I personally think they should do a collaborative animation...........

Finally, it came down to Greg and I. I think we spent most of the night trying to out-shade the other. I struggled with an illustration of hair, and Greg worked on creature illustrations. 

All in all, the night was a success. Except for the part where I forgot to take pics of everyone's finished work. Instead, enjoy pics of everyone hard at work, except Tim who was most likely making us all laugh.

More Concept Art

Perhaps Spring isn't the best time to introduce this project, but with all this gloomy weather, we're going to do it anyway. It's an "I miss you" card! This quick sketch gives you a rough idea with where we're going on this. It's going to be an overhead view of a bed, with only 1 side having tousled covers. The implication is that you're tired of sleeping alone, and that you miss someone. The plan is to make this as an art print/postcard. 

So, check back soon if you're interested in letting someone know you miss them. 

Spring Cleaning

Happy Spring, everyone. In honor of the seasons changing, we're doing some changes in the studio. Cleaning, re-vamping, etc. Once we're re-organized, we'll post pictures. In the 

meantime, here's a quick sketch of an upcoming t-shirt we're making. 

"It's Only Hair" is inspired by an upcoming haircut for Mean Millie's Angela. She's cutting it all off, and as a reminder, it's only hair. So the t-shirt will celebrate hair by screen printing long flowing locks on the front of a white tee. The shirt will eventually be available in white with black, red, yellow, or brown inks. 

Stay tuned for results.....

photo featuring Angela by IshootRockstars

sketch by Angela

Willow Goes Solely To Web

I know it's been a bit since our last post, but we're back now. So, dry those tears, and let's get creative!

One of our favorite local stores, Willow, is closing down their brick and mortar shop at the end of this month to run their store completely online. While this is sad news, it is completely understandable in this economy. We've become particularly fond of this store, and even had the opportunity to do a window display for them. We wish Amy the best of luck in her online endeavors, and can't wait to continue to get our favorite Willow items online.

Also, for those of you in the area, Willow will be having an art show this evening titled "Oil & Wood." It starts at 6 pm and goes until 9 pm. Hope to see you there!

Photos by the Lovely Leslie of Urbanestics.

Loco for Labels

Good morning! Just a few quick things before we get our day started. 

1: We're getting labels! For all our sewn merchandise, our branding is underway. Check out our labels. We're excited to get them and see them in person. We found this label company through Etsy, and are excited to support them. They were great with answering any questions we had, and promptly returned our emails. Even without seeing our final product, we highly recommend them. Check out their unique way of sending proofs.

2: Do you have any before & after projects you would like to share with us? We're preparing for a before & after post, and thought it would be fun to include some of your stories and projects. If you're interested, send a description of your project and a few photos to angela@meanmillies.com. 

That's it for today, see you guys tomorrow. 

Photo Friday's Presents: Birthday Bean

Here at Mean Millies, we're not professional photographers, but we want to get better. That's why we've decided to instate Photo Friday's. This is a platform for us to show you our stuff, and for you to advise us on what's working and what's not. This first Friday will be a little different from our typical Photo Friday's. That's because we have a VERY special birthday, today. Bean the dog, who rules the house of 3 very dear friends of mine, is having a birthday.

We're not about to get all personal on you, but even in our amateur photo, look how dang cute this dog is. Wherever there's a camera, Bean is close behind. He hears a shutter and the next thing you know he's in the picture. Bean is the best. He's a very calm and friendly dog who will hug anyone. He even likes handmade toys! We would know. We made him a stuffed bean, and dang-it if that dog didn't love it. We were on cloud 9 when the gift was so well received.

So, in honor of our very first Photo Friday, Happy Birthday, Bean! You're 1 cool little dude.

Love, 

Mean Millies

P.S. Have a great weekend everyone. See you Monday.

(Photo Credit: Mean Millies)

Sneaky Sneak of a Peek

So far this week we've talked about happenings in the life of Mean Millies, showed you someone that inspires us, and went on an investigation. You might actually be wondering if we do any work around here. You bet your britches we do. Today we'd like to give you a little peek into what we're working on.

The project board is packed with concepts, follow-ups, to-do lists, and random doodles. We'd like to share with you 2 projects we currently have in the works. Though we won't divulge all the details (not because we think you'll steal our ideas, but because unveiling a new product makes us feel super cool), we'll give you a little insight.

Topping the list of current to-do's, we have a print titled "Simple Science." Designed and printed in-house, we like where this project is headed. Starting from a rough sketch and then refined in Illustrator, this print will soon be available in our Etsy shop.

The other project we want to share with you comes in the form of a block carving. What we'll tell you about this concept is: think green. We're all about reusing wherever we can, and this project illustrates that. The block is all carved and ready to go, now we're working on refining the ink. An even bigger super secret hint of a peak is that this block is going to be printed on fabric. Woo-hoo!

So there you go. We work, play, and work some more, then eventually play again, but mostly we work. We're just here to create and have a good time while doing it.

Ok, but enough about us, more about you. We want to know: What projects are you working on?

(Photo Credit: Mean Millies)