Storytime

I took a super quick trip to Oregon during the summer to visit my brother and his wife, and to meet my new nephew: Jace. I got to read him a bedtime story and his folks captured the action. Such a squirmy little guy!

March is Reading Month!

I had the honor of being recognized at the beginning of a legislative session in Lansing on Wednesday as part of “March is Reading Month.” I was invited by Rep. Yousef Rabhi (rad dude I worked with in the City of Ann Arbor’s Natural Area Preservation Dept.) and Rep. Lori Stone. Yousef gave Elisha and me a tour of his office and, along with Rep. Bryan Posthumous, introduced me and my books to the MI House of Representatives.

Rep. Posthumous, that guy again, Rep. Rabhi

I spent a lot of the day reflecting on how blessed I am to have such an amazing community who have supported me as an independently published author/illustrator over the years. Whether it be joining a Kickstarter project, buying books, reading and sharing the books, or inviting me to the state capital…I am so thankful for all the friends and family who have helped me along the way.

I also thought a lot about my dad, and how proud I think he would have been to see the books that he championed so enthusiastically get such nice, unexpected recognition.

Dad would say it’s a “major award”

And then we got lunch at an amazing Mexican food truck. Torta w/ lengua

What a cool day.

Ungnyeo

It’s been exactly 2 years since my last blog post. I honestly haven’t done too much art in the meantime.

This is a commission I did for a friend, finished earlier today. She requested a painting of a character from Korean myth named Ungnyeo (Sino-Korean for “bear woman”); she is planning to give it as a Christmas gift.

God’s Bear III - Ungnyeo (Mixed media on 9x12 Fluid 100 watercolor block, hot press 140lbs.)

From the Wikipedias:

“In the tale, a tiger and a bear (Ungnyeo) lived together in a cave and prayed to the divine king Hwanung to be made human. Hwanung heard their prayers and gave them 20 cloves of garlic, a bundle of mugwort and ordered them to stay out of the sunlight and eat only this food for 100 days. Due to hunger, the tiger left the cave after roughly 20 days, but the bear remained inside. After 21 days, she was transformed into a woman.

Ungnyeo was grateful and made offerings to Hwanung. Her lack of a husband drove her to depression, and she began to pray beneath a sacred betula tree (신단수 / 神檀樹) to be blessed with a child. Hwanung heard her prayers and was deeply moved. He took Ungnyeo as his wife and soon after, she gave birth to a son, Dangun, who would go on to found the nation of Korea.”

It was a fascinating project and I knew pretty much immediately how I wanted to do it. I went with the iconography style I’ve used in the past, and added specific elements relating to the story: garlic, mugwort, and birch trees. I depicted Ungnyeo as an Asiatic black bear (also known as a “moon bear” for the white patch on the chest) which is native to the Korean peninsula. I included the full moon as an allusion to the bear’s name and it’s connection to sacred feminine power.

I like how the bear turned out, particularly the eyes. Bears can have such intense, complex emotion in their eyes, but until now I’d never been quite satisfied with my attempts to capture it. The garlic braid was also a neat little solution to a tricky part of the composition. The mugwort is a bundle of non-descript greenery, which was frustrating (I need more practice with plants).

New Christmas coloring sheet!

Click the image below or follow the link HERE to download from Dropbox. You can find coloring pages of Christmas past there as well :)

Post your masterpieces on Instagram and tag @robbnjohnston_art to share some Christmas beauty this holiday season!

Christmas in December SALE!!!

!!!Get 20% off your order!!!

Use promo code NICELIST20 at checkout during the month of December to get your discount. I’ll also throw in 5 cheeky Christmas postcards with your order so you can spread the holiday love. Visit the store HERE!

*** Please try to place orders by MONDAY, DEC. 17th to ensure delivery by Christmas :) ***

Beards in the Desert

Craves book tour 2018

What a week! I just got back yesterday from my first ever book tour as an author/illustrator, and in some ways I’m still processing the incredible experience. It all began over a year ago now, with a message I received through my website on Aug. 25th, 2017:

Subject: Craves Book

Message: Good Afternoon,
I am the Coordinator for Baraga County Communities That Care and was turned onto your book by a local judge that uses it with small children that he sees come through the system. It's an EXCELLENT portrayal of addiction that is easy to comprehend for anyone who reads it. 
Our team is looking at trying to find funding to purchase these books for a large number of students in our community. 
Who would we get a hold of to talk about large scale ordering and what exactly is the program that you offer for coming to speak in person? 

I'd like to have all of our ducks in a row before we bring this to the schools and see what we can do to get this launched in our community.

Please contact me and let me know.

Thanks!

A full year (and million emails) later, we had a schedule in place: Nov. 5th, 6th, and 7th, along with an order for almost 1500 books. The visit had grown to include Marquette, Baraga, and Ontonagon Counties, spending a full day in each, presenting to schools and libraries. My contacts in each of the 3 counties were amazing, coordinating schedules and securing funding for my visit.

My contacts in each of the counties gave generously of their time to show me around their communities, keeping me entertained, on-time, fed, and caffeinated (HUGE thanks to Mary, Mr. Jim, Carrie, and Adriana!!!) The famously harsh Upper Peninsula weather even seemed to cooperate, allowing me to visit some of the beautiful natural wonders on offer.

Canyon Falls, Baraga Co.

Heading into the schools, I was briefed on the issues and challenges that were unique to each community. Among other things, poverty and addiction were two harsh realities facing the kids in these schools every day. We were all a little unsure of what their reaction to CRAVES might be, so in some schools we had support on hand to provide counseling in the event that reactions got too intense.

The students were absolutely incredible. I was so impressed by their creativity, curiosity, and engagement. Standing out in front of any group is a total coin-flip in terms of how well you’ll be able to connect with the audience, but in these schools the rapport was almost effortless.

A young man gifted me his CRAVE drawing after the presentation :)

I am really hopeful that memories from my visit will echo within these students and their communities, inspiring their creativity and empowering them to make healthy choices. I would love to see this program grow and expand to reach more and more students. I’d re-worked my entire CRAVES presentation for this trip and I was kinda nervous about how it was going to go down , but now I can confidently say that it is my favorite book to present to k-5 classes.

With Judge Tim Brennan, who first shared CRAVES with community health workers and got this whole thing started.

I feel so blessed and humbled to have had the opportunity to share CRAVES with communities in the UP this week. Thanks to Marquette, Baraga, and Ontonagon Counties for having me…hope to see you all again soon!

We're making a difference!

(This post is from an update sent to backers of the CRAVES Kickstarter)

Exciting news! I have been working with Baraga County's "Communities that Care" program to get copies of CRAVES to as many of their students as possible. Baraga CTC is an awesome organization that focuses on creating healthy, vibrant communities by empowering, supporting, and connecting their youth, families, and schools. The folks I've been in contact with are incredibly passionate about their mission, and it's an honor to be able to support them in any way I can.

Yesterday I did a marathon signing session and rocked-out 1360 signed copies of CRAVES, all boxed-up and heading to Michigan's beautiful Upper Peninsula this weekend.

The Sharpie gave out before my hand did :)

I'll be doing a 5-day whirlwind trip to the UP and back in early November, visiting schools in Marquette, Baraga, and Ontonagon counties. I'm so excited to share the book with students and spread our message of making healthy choices. 

More updates to follow, but I just wanted to share this awesome little bit of news with you all, because without your support this never would have been possible. So again, because I can never say it enough: THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU  :)   

-Robb

ArtPrize 10

I made a last-minute decision to participate in ArtPrize 2018, and received a last-minute confirmation from Palatte Coffee & Art to host my piece. ArtPrize encourages (demands that?) artists explore large format. I’m still relatively inexperienced in creating large works, but I was excited to show a new piece from my “arbor” cycle. My paintings from this series are done using homemade black walnut dye, along with a handful of other media such as gold leaf, gouache, watercolor, and my beloved mushroom spore prints. Palatte is an awesome gallery space and they are an absolute pleasure to work with.

Druid of the Arbor ii

The biggest challenge of preparing for ArtPrize this year was making my own custom frame. Having works this size framed professionally is incredibly expensive, and I wanted to explore the DIY process to cut costs. Aside from all of the planning and figuring, the work itself went quick, and the materials were cheap (the plexiglass was the most expensive part). All told, I spent less than a quarter of what I spent to have a similar-sized piece framed a few years ago. I’ve built 2 more large frames since the first, and the process is steadily improving.

My Neighbor AskaPo

Just finished the latest interpretation of my lil dumb fatties. I did a watercolor painting of Aska and Po as a bday gift for my gf. I've been a fan of Studio Ghibli and the brilliant Hayao Miyazaki since I was wee, and have been re-watching some of my old faves with Tracy, introducing her to those masterpieces. "My Neighbor Totoro" was particularly well-received, which inspired me to paint my cats in that style.   

Totoro and susuwatari

And there they are. This was a fun one! 

Lucy and Milo

A good friend in Grand Rapids commissioned a couple paintings of her kitties last December.

Lucy and Milo!

I was very excited for this project after hearing her vision for the pieces:

“Hello,

There is no rush, within the next couple months perhaps?

I was thinking one separate picture for each cat in a 10 by 8. Each cat having antlers! With a Mythical feel. Think..a cat that a wood elf may have haha. Or not, lol just where ever your artistic soul takes you!

Let me know if there are any more details you need to know :)

Take it easy,

Melanie”

I had one piece to finish before Christmas, and I didn't do any work until the new year. After doing some rough sketches, I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to do to give these cats an elvish sort of flair.     

Miloshroom

Mossy Lucy

I'm still taking orders for commissioned pieces for the winter, so please get in touch if you're interested!