OLIANA'S OTTER
Besides creating beautiful art and making it available to collectors worldwide Hannah Lynn loves to spend time with family. Some of her favorite activities include cooking, window shopping, going out to coffee with friends and singing. She says her favorite day is one where her whole family can get out of the house and have some fun eating out and shopping.
Hannah Lynn has been an artist all her life. In elementary school she was always drawing and classmates would come to her to have her draw things for them. When Hannah was in seventh grade she was commissioned to do a colored pencil artwork of a Bald Eagle for a science teacher’s son. That was her first paid art job. At home Hannah was forever on the floor drawing and coloring. After high school Hannah’s art activities diminished as the responsibilities of working and living an adult life. She really had no idea that doing art could be a viable career path at that time. It wasn’t until late 2006 when she found herself working at home, raising two lovely little girls, and studying online, that she turned again to her art as an outlet and hobby. She got herself a supply of good quality art materials and began experimenting with them. She found that she was truly out of practice, but kept working on reorienting her to the materials and her drawing. She wanted to market some ideas she had and researched how best to present them. Artist Trading Cards (ATC’s, 2.5”x3.5”), which she discovered on eBay, caught her attention and she felt that they were a fun product and that they would be manageable given her family duties and study schedule. Hannah began marketing and selling the ATC’s on eBay and found herself quite busy keeping up with sales. That is when she realized that there was serious potential for a professional career in art.
When asked what type of work she does Hannah replied that she does exactly what she wants to do. As far back in her portfolio as she can go, she has found that she created character art of cute girls, expressive eyes and fantasy creatures. Her art is considered to be fantasy because most of her subject matter is fairies and mermaids, but she says her style is a bit different. Hannah brings a light, fun and innocent flavor to her artwork; that is just what comes out when she works. Painting faces and hair are her favorite subjects. She does portrait work, in which she caricatures the subject with a style similar to her other character work. These works are offered as ‘Fantasy Portraits’ on her website.
Like many children, Hannah Lynn loved Walt Disney movies and artwork. When The Little Mermaid was released, she wanted to become a mermaid. She watched the movie over and over and drew, traced and colored Ariel. The release of Beauty & the Beast brought more inspiration for Hannah and she dreamed of being an artist for Disney Studios one day. This affinity for and love of character art is still with her today. It inspires her to share art with others that will make them feel the way she did when she was a child: that the world is a magical, fascinating place full of life, color, excitement and discoveries. Hannah says that art is all about how it makes you feel when you look at it. Nothing else really matters.
Hannah’s art style and skill is totally self-taught. She has found her own methods and techniques through trial and error and lots of practice. She started out using watercolor pencils as they were inexpensive and easy to clean up. Also, if she needed to leave her work station to tend to her children’s needs at a moments notice, she knew she would not come back to dried up, wasted paint. Over time she upgraded to artist quality materials and was quite happy with the results. She was also getting many compliments on the work and surprise that she was achieving her results using watercolor. This made her realize that she had a winning combination of style, method and materials.
Over time Hannah’s work methods have evolved, but they are similar to other watercolor artists. She sketches a drawing in her sketch pad and if she likes it, she will either re-draw it right onto illustration board, or trace it with tracing paper if she really loves the proportions. She then goes over the lines with permanent waterproof ink and erases all pencil lines. She then uses watercolor pencils to color the inked drawing on the illustration board before adding wet brush strokes to blend and soften the colors. Sometimes she pulls color directly onto the wet brush and paints like a traditional watercolor artist would. Hannah says she always starts with the face and eyes. Though it happens very rarely, if those don’t come out right, she does not continue and waste time on the piece. Colors are chosen as Hannah works on a piece. She says she spends a lot of time simply staring at a partially finished piece with a furrowed brow considering which colors to use. It is ironic that color choice is the thing she struggles with most as this is one of the most heavily complimented areas of her work.
Because of the more commercial type of artwork Hannah creates, she has not participated in shows in traditional galleries. She is present on many online marketplaces such as DeviantArt.com, Zazzle.com, eBay.com and Etsy.com. She is also a member of The IndiExibit, a wonderful group of independent artists who market their art through celebrity gifting at Entertainment Award Shows. Hannah recently displayed a canvas print at the Kids Choice Awards 2011 and included a small gift package of her work in The IndiExibit celebrity gift bags. Although Hannah doesn’t teach art, she does share her knowledge with anyone who asks. She gets many emails from fans and other artists and she is always happy to share tips with them.
What will we see coming from Hannah’s ‘easel’ in the near future? Hannah says she is branching out with a new series called ‘Girls Around the World’. There will be 12 paintings of cute girls in their home countries featuring elements like the landscape and native animals. The first to be completed in this series will be Auzzie Girl from Australia, an adorable girl holding a koala bear in the Australian Outback. Some other countries she is considering are China, America, France, Brazil, England and Mexico amongst others. These designs will then be made available on products such as a 12 month calendar, post cards, collectible figurines and more.
Other planned works for the future include more storybook themed pieces, more steampunk style works, and of course more fairies and mermaids. Hannah says she has so many ideas in her journals and sketchbooks that she can rarely make promises as to what will strike her next.
Etsy is Hannah Lynn’s main sales platform. In her store there she offers original paintings, limited edition Artist Trading Cards, bookmarks, cameo necklaces, coloring packs, signed prints, gift tags, rubber stamps, and printable crafting items like digi stamps and collage sheets. Similar items are also available on eBay and on Hannah’s website. Hannah Lynn Art is licensed and available from other companies on products such as cross-stitch charts, rubber stamps, purses and digital tubes; and more products are on the way. She also has a wonderful shop set up on Zazzle.com where her art is offered on t-shirts, posters, stickers, greeting cards, US Postage, Keds Shoes, stationary, iPhone & iPad cases, keychains, magnets and more and many of these items are customizable.
In the future Hannah plans to travel and share her artwork at conventions and shows. For now she is focusing on creating new products and licensing her art. She participates in local art shows and she looks forward to seeing familiar faces as the season begins this spring.
Hannah Lynn Art Website
Hannah Lynn Art on Etsy
Hannah Lynn Art on eBay
Hannah Lynn Art on Zazzle
Join Hannah Lynn Art on Facebook
All Images Copyright Hannah Lynn Disney/Hannah Lynn Art, All Rights Reserved
Edited and Written by Ruth J Jamieson, Copyright Ruth J Jamieson, All Rights Reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment