“A Little Bit of Everything”. A Peek Inside the Book and Free Coloring Pages

I’m soooo excited to announce that my new (and first!) coloring book is now out and available for purchasing on Amazon (and at local art shows if you are on The Outer Banks), it’s called “A Little Bit of Everything” Coloring Book, it is priced at $11.99 on Amazon (click on the book title to be directed to the Amazon link), which makes it a great stocking stuffer or small gift for this Christmas. I called it “A Little Bit of Everything” because it is a fun compilation of different themed illustrations (florals, whimsical scenes, mandalas, patterns) with different levels of complexity, some have larger blank space, some have lots of details to color, there’s two different sizes of images, most are one large image per page but a few pages are two horizontal images per page. The book has already been a success at the Holiday shows here on the beach and they have been purchased for and by people of ages ranging 7 to 70 (ish?) (I didn’t ask the lady her exact age but I would guess she was in her 70s, she told me that she wanted to color to improve her memory, I thought that was a wonderful use for my book and it made me really happy!).

 Below is a sneak peek of the book:

Do you see what I mean when I say that the book has a little bit of everything? I have a confession to make, even though I am an artist, I didn’t find the idea of coloring a pre given design all that appealing, but I gave it a try with my own book for the sake of trying different pens and markers so that I could recommend the best ones to color this book with and to my surprise I really enjoyed the process and I’m looking forward to coloring more pages! Here’s a time-lapse video of me coloring one of my favorite pages:

To color this page I used tons of different markers and pens, both for the sake of experimentation and because lets face it, I’m addicted to art supplies and as an artist I just want to try as many as I can all the time. Here’s a list of what I used on this page:

Stabilo Point 88 Fineliners

Staedtler Triple Fineliner

Paper Mate InkJoy Gel Pens, Medium Point

Paper Mate Flair Felt Tip Pens, Medium Point

Prismacolor Colored Pencils

Crayola Twistables Colored Pencils (you don’t need to spend a lot of money to color!)

Copic Ciao Markers  (these are my favorites but they are on the pricey side)

I’m sure I will be trying more markers and pens in the future and I will share here when I do.

Would you like to download and color a couple of the pages of this book for free? Just head to the downloads section of my website by following this link:  Carolina Coto Art/Downloads

I hope you enjoyed the sneak peek and I hope you treat yourself to some coloring this Christmas!

 

 

 

More Florals!

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Floral Madness!

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Stephanie Corfee’s New Art Book

I have been gone for more than a year and it is time to get back to posting. What better reason to get back to blogging than telling you about this great book that just came out by my friend Stephanie Corfee: Paint Lab for Kids. I am thrilled about this book not only because Stephanie’s work as well as her art project ideas are fantastic ( I owe one of her other books, “Creative Illustration and Beyond”, it is a treat!) but also because I am one of the contributing artists in the book, yayy! What an honor!

You can browse some of the pages of the book on Amazon by clicking here and you can learn more about it from the publisher’s page: Quarto Knows. Here’s some images as well, so you can understand why I am so excited!

Very important to mention also, Stephanie will be giving away copies of the book on her Instagram account so make sure to check her out there @stephaniecorfeeartworks as well as on her website: www.stephaniecorfee.com 

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Work for August: Surf’s Up Bro!

Summer, around here where I live, is packed with outdoor shows. These last couple of months I’ve been participating in 1 to 3 art shows a week. I know. Bananas. They are not all big shows, but they all take some preparation time (some take a lot more than others) and a full day (or days) of being somewhere else but in the house/studio, painting. So, painting time is limited, but I feel pretty good about the pieces that I have finished so far this month.

Also, two of them already sold, yaayy!

So, here they are, 100% beach and surf inspired, the first two are based on photographs (with his permission) by Ben Gallop (find him on Instagram also). On the first two, click on the image to see the photo by Ben that inspired them.

You can buy prints of these images (and more) on my online shop.

“Wave 2.2”, 2014. Acrylic on canvas, 16 x 20 inches. ((Inspired by photo by Ben Gallop- @eastbynoreast on Instagram-)

“Big Waves and Pier”, 2014. Acrylic on canvas, 16 x 20 inches. Sold. (Inspired by photo by Ben Gallop- @eastbynoreast on Instagram)

“Calm Seas and Cruiser”, 2014. Acrylic on canvas, 20 x 16 inches. Sold.

New Work :)

I’ll say it: I’m bad! I have not posted anything for almost 2 months!! And my second part of “Viva el Arte in Costa Rica” is still pending. Bad.

Well, here  I am, attempting to redeem myself by sharing some new work. I’ll keep this post sweet and simple, I don’t want to get too complicated and keep procrastinating, you all know how that goes. So, without further review, a few new pieces I finished in the month of July:

 

“Balloon Fest”. Graphite and color pencil on panel, 5×7 inches.

“Wave 1.8”. Acrylic on panel, 5×7 inches.

“Wave 1.9”. Acrylic on panel, 5×7 inches.

“Wave 2.0”. Acrylic on panel, 5×7 inches.

You guys have a great Sunday evening!

Viva el Arte in Costa Rica – Part1

Since I moved to the U.S in 2011, I’ve been trying to come back to Costa Rica, my home country, a couple of times a year to see my family and participate in the two art shows that I used to participate in before moving (it always surprises me to think that I currently participate in about twenty art shows in the Outer Banks every year! Most of them are very small shows, but still!). Yesterday was the last day of Viva el Arte, this really, really cool show in Costa Rica at a shopping center called Plaza del Sol in the busy suburbs of Curridabat, San José. Every time I’m getting ready to travel for this show (specially the day I’m packing!), I feel a little overwhelmed and think it is a little crazy to come for only a week, attend the four day show (1 day is set up and opening, the other three days we are here for nine hours), and then try to hang out with friends and family for the remaining days. But as soon I’m here, all set up, I feel so happy that I made it. The artists here are so awesome, so much fun to be around; my friends and family come and visit here as well, so it is great to catch up in between tending the customers, not to mention that I can usually cover my airfare with the sales. Win/win situation, no doubt.

I wanted to share a few pictures of some of the booths of the artists that were my neighbors this year, as well of a couple of pictures of my booth (I will share pictures of other artists tomorrow).

Arturo Santana, Venezuelan/Costa Rican artist who has resided in Costa Rica for decades, and his wife, Lilibeth Martínez were to my left. Arturo started his art career as a painter but currently sculpts as well. I’ll let the images do the talking, here are some pictures of their work, taken yesterday at the show.

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Next to Arturo and Lilibeth was Adrián Gómez, his colorful paintings and characters, inspired by the Caribbean of Costa Rica always get a lot of attention at this show. Don’t let the picture fool you, he’s always cracking jokes, you’re guaranteed to be entertained if you’re his neighbor at the show, he’s not as serious as he looks in the picture!

Next to Adrián, one of my personal favorites, awesome young designer María José Da Luz, I, of course, bought a couple of her illustrations and I’m thrilled. I think the design world needs to keep an eye on this one (I believe they already are ;)), I have no doubt that she’s going to make it far.

 

 

And last, I would just like to share a few pictures of my space….I had a great time at this show as always and I’m looking forward to next year. Tomorrow, I will share some images of some of my other neighbors, including a couple of my other personal favorites :)

Have a great Monday!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finding Shapes in the Clouds

A couple of weeks ago I shared one of my new pieces: “Balloon” in this post . It’s funny how that painting came to be. I have my little work area just next to our kitchen, I was quickly doing dishes after dinner but had my mind on these three small paintings I had started that day, and I was looking at them from the kitchen. The one that was going to become “Balloon” was laying flat on my desk, it was only a background at that moment, random brush strokes, and I had not idea of where it was going. As I continued to wash dishes and look over at it on my desk, the random brush strokes transformed so clearly into an air ballon. I though: “yes!!”, that’s what that painting it’s going to be. I love when that happens, but in reality, it happens so often. Even if you sketch first (I sometimes do before starting a painting, very often don’t), the sketches are so often the result of that lightbulb going off in your head after seeing something or doing something that is just part of your routine or your daily life, in moments that we would consider not creative. Seeing that Air Balloon so clearly in those random brush strokes made me think that sometimes making art is like finding shapes in the clouds.

By the way, I thought that was a cool quote, and I looked on the internet and I couldn’t find it anywhere….did I come up with a cool quote and a cool painting idea on that same day? it might be! Should I claim it? (I know, I’m being such a dork now, maybe I’m the only one that thinks that’s a cool quote, but you know what?  I’ll claim it anyway ;) ):

“Sometimes making art is like finding shapes in the clouds”

Here’s some of my new minis (5×7 inch paintings) that have balloons in them, and now I’m off to find some more “shapes in the clouds” and hopefully come up with a few more paintings before I leave for Costa Rica this coming Wednesday to participate in Viva el Arte.

“Orange Ballon”. Acrylic and acrylic markers on wood panel, 7×5 inches.

“Clouds and Balloons”. Acrylic and acrylic markers on wood panel, 5×7 inches.

“Big Balloon”. Acrylic and acrylic markers on wood panel, 7×5 inches.

Happy weekend!

 

“Orange Sky and Lighthouse”, “The Tower” and “Wave 1.7”

Here are a few “minis” that I finished last week. Some of these are already hanging at my solo show in Avenue Grille in Manteo, and I’m bringing the rest with me to Costa Rica for Viva el Arte, this awesome little show that I go to (or try to go to) every year. This is just a quick post for today, trying to stick to what I said in yesterday’s post , that I will share some new work in the next days, instead of trying to post something super elaborated (hence waiting long periods of time before posting anything due to time constraints!…we don’t want that :/)

“Orange Sky and Lighthouse”. Acrylic and acrylic marker on panel, 5×7 inches.

 

“Orange Sky and Lighthouse”. Acrylic and acrylic marker on panel, 5×7 inches.

“Wave 1.7”. Acrylic and acrylic marker on panel, 8×10 inches.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!!

 

I need to stop doing “this”.

I need to stop waiting to come up with super elaborated blog material and not post anything for more than a month…because, you know what? I’m always working on something and there’s always a little something to post, even if it is just a “quicky”. So, today’s “quicky” post, a few of my new pieces. And tomorrow I’ll share a few more, and the day after a few more. There. A blog post in less than 5 minutes. I need to stop making this so complicated :). I will be hanging my tiny solo show at Avenue Waterfront Grille this afternoon. I will take pictures and share later this week. Most of these new pieces will be hanging there for about a month.

“Balloon”. Acrylic and acrylic markers on wood panel, 10 x 10 inches. (Sold)

“Blue Sun”. Acrylic and acrylic markers on wood panel, 8 x 8 inches.

“Blue Tree”. Acrylic and acrylic markers on wood panel, 10 x 10 inches.

Mission accomplished. Posted in my blog, yay!. Happy Tuesday!