Things I Do All Day

So, I am now employed at an upscale division of a local grocery store, and my job is basically..."Hey we need a sign for this. Just come up with something. Whatever you want. Be creative. Paint's over there." Some of the projects are bigger things that involve research and planning and sometimes they are just a quick price change and sometimes they are "Oh my god no one did this and I need it in half an hour can you make something?"

Today I got a psuedo-official go-ahead to post stuff on my website, so here are a few of the things I've gotten to work on so far. 

This was my very first little sign. We were adding Imagine Soups to our Late July display. So, on my first day, they had me make a little sign for soup: 

Masterpiece.

(according to my friend Abby, these soups are delicious.) 

And here it is on display in the store! Isn't it precious? 

Next they had me work on a sign for Hint water. This was my first kind of...bigger, no training wheels project. The soup sign I did on my first morning with my boss and coworkers around for input, but the second one fell much more into the territory of..."make what you want...here are a few ideas if you like, but if you have a different idea that's better. Here's where you can find random supplies. If you have questions or need input, we're here, but other than that, just go for it." I was given a large board to use as my base and otherwise just told to do whatever seemed good.

Here's what I made: 

Not ground-breaking, but look at my adorable fruit! Also, getting used to using traditional media after working almost entirely digitally for a few years has been exciting. There are no Ctrl+S or Ctrl+z when you are painting, and generally, no layers either. And a lot more paint on your clothes, hands...face... (I may have discovered paint smeared under my bottom lip when I left at the end of last week.) 

Next...let's see...Next, I think was Oatmeal.

The Health and Beauty department was doing a thing with products that were good for your insides and your outsides, but prior to the new hiring in my department, there was some upheaval, and as a result, there was a bit of a project backup...and the sign they needed for the discussion on Oatmeal had slipped through the cracks and the event was going to be in half an hour and they had nothing and COULD I MAKE THEM A SIGN? So yeah, I did. 

(If you can't read it, it says, "Oatmeal - good for the belly, good for the skin" awww adorable.) 

But seriously, being a few days used to using paint at all, and not only that, our paint supply was running low so our colors were somewhat limited and geeze I don't know how i did this as quick as I did. But I did. *wipes memory-sweat from forehead* 

Then there was Listerine. They have an annual contest to make a cute display and it had to be Halloween themed? And this was another project on a short schedule. My boss wanted it, ideally, by the end of the day (we didn't quite hit the deadline...but I finished it the next day.) So, my coworkers had discussed doing something with Red Riding Hood, and just to cover bases, I made some Red Riding Hood sketches and some additional concept sketches as well:

In the end, we decided to go with Red Riding Hood. As we were on a short time frame and had to paint both sides, I went with a solid color block style. They came out kind of cute: 

aww look at that bright smile! 

(there is a table down below with Listerine and...in the evil style of dentists everywhere, pumpkin trick-or-treat buckets full of candy. And some spider webs and stuff.) 

Let's see...what else...

I was asked to make an Apple Festival sign. No real direction, just..."We need a sign for the apple festival." 

So appley! 

Currently, I'm working on a sign for some fancy jams. I'm attempting to a) hurry, b) still make it look good and c) work in a style inspired by post-impressionist master, Paul Cezanne. I had it about half done by the time I left today, but here's a shot from earlier this afternoon.

So that's what I've been up to. And now I'm up to heading to bed, because I work tomorrow and my schedule is going through a bit of upheaval, for which I need to prepare myself.