What is Girls Drawin’ Girls?

I’ve mentioned before that big changes are coming in the year ahead.

This will be my 4th year working as a full-time artist, and I still have so much to learn! My goal for 2018 is to make more art, while continuing to perfect my website and merchandising.

To help me stay focused I’ve partnered with the leading world-wide organization of female illustrators, animators, artists and comic creators Girls Drawin’ Girls for their 2018 season!

Their members hold some impressive resumes which can be somewhat intimidating, but mostly I’m overwhelmed with inspiration. I’m confident working alongside these women will bring major growth and development to my style and skill, as I continue to hone in on my craft. I’ve already learned so much from them, and it’s only just begun!

GDG provides their members with collaborative gallery & expo exhibitions, group art-product projects, and weekly/monthly Lady-art theme challenges. Click here to see my previous blog post showcasing the artworks I’ve done for them so far!

Visit their website to read more about their foundation, goals, and upcoming events!

One of the driving forces behind my decision to partner with Girls Drawin’ Girls next year was the intention of making my personal projects more of a priority going forward.

I love and appreciate custom orders and I’ll still be accepting them, just a very limited amount per year to ensure I stay focused on executing all these ideas of my own (only ONE commission spot left for 2018)!!

My membership doesn’t even officially begin until January, but I’ve already started to see an impact both on my work and drive.

In addition to the other artworks shared in the previous blog post, they recently gave me the opportunity to create their call for new members flyer!

 Merging my original artworks with graphic design, I created this custom art & flyer for them which they then shared across their social media platforms.

I also recently completed another digital painting, inspired by one of their weekly group art prompts!

This one being “sexy santa,” I kept it simple enough and tried to work as quickly as possible.

It still took me a couple work days to complete, but these prompts have been great for inspiring new pin-up ladies for my collections and for practicing!

‘Santa Blues’ is a digital painting so there isn’t an original. I do plan to make her available as prints & merch. over time- be sure you’re subscribed to my website to receive updates on that kind of stuff.

GDG feature’s select artist member’s monthly. They also pop up at artist conventions all over the world! Follow Girls Drawin’ Girls on Facebook & Instagram, there you’ll see their chosen artworks for the weekly & monthly submissions as well as other featured artworks created by our member’s (including some pretty well known female illustrators!).

Pulling back on commissions, also means pulling back in other ways.

All of the income made from the sale of my artworks, be it original or custom, go back in to Aries Art.

This includes but is not limited to materials & supplies, computer devices & software, marketing/website/ecommerce hosting, merchandising, and events.

These first couple years have been mostly funded by the income made from custom orders. It was never my intention to be a custom-order artist but I realized early on that by taking on these orders, and for things like hand painted products and such, I could invest more in to growth and development. Accepting these orders in the earlier years funded events and so much more! It has also been great practice and has allowed me to promote my array of skills and services.

While I remain hopeful my fans and collectors will continue to admire and invest in my original ideas as they have been, I realize that in limiting the number of commission/custom orders this may result in a loss of income. But that’s okay!

This did play a major part in my decision to roll out the new Perks Package Program. My subscription service that gives sponsor’s access to all sorts of offers and goodies exclusively in exchange for their contributions to my goals! I’m hopeful this will help compensate for any losses. Click here to learn more about becoming a sponsor.

I’m hopeful the work I’ll be doing with Girls Drawin’ Girls will help me continue my efforts in reaching a wider audience and showcasing my art, only now on a much larger scale. I’m looking forward to being able to participate in their group event & merchandising projects and I think this will make up for any “lack of” I may experience as a result of these operational changes.

Subscribe here to my blog to get updates on new artworks including everything I’m doing with GDG!

Right now the blog & website are two separate subscriptions, they will be merged in the year to come.

Thanks always for reading!

Much love,

Mindie