Working on my MFA degree

 Wow, life has been cram-packed busy. In the summer of 2020, I felt prompted to go back to school to earn a Masters of Fine Art degree in Design. So I researched programs, applied, and started at Liberty University (online) in September of 2020. Since then, I've gone every semester and have completed over half of the credits/classes required to graduate. As I finish up this current term, I sigh with exhaustion and an overwhelming feeling of surprise at the sheer amount of knowledge I've gained and artwork I've completed. 

So, just as a small taste of what I've been doing, I decided to share my final presentation for the project I've been working on for the last 7 weeks in my Interactive Design class. We had to come up with a completely new concept for an app and execute the entire design and prototype over a single term. It sure would be fun to see this app actually come to life someday, but for now, here's a glimpse into what it could be.


If you're interested in more of what I've been doing in the programe, check out my portfolio at https://julieolson.myportfolio.com and click on GRAPHIC DESIGN or UI DESIGN. These include just a few of the projects (not nearly all though) I've worked on over the last year. 
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General Conference October 2021 Sketchnotes

For anyone who is interested, here is a link to the pdf file of my notes from October’s General Conference. All I ask is that you credit me when you share them and that you do not resell or publish them in any way for profit. These are free to use for personal or classroom use or to be shared among friends and family etc. I create these for my own personal reflection as the conference speakers are speaking, so I’m sure there are mistakes. My apologies for those. But I share these in hopes that other visual learners like myself can benefit from them.  

I was told by several Instagram followers that I should also share my Venmo name so they could donate a little.  IF you would like to donate, my Venmo is @julie-olson-1 BUT no donation is required. 

Click on the link below the image for the pdf file. Enjoy!

http://www.jujubeeillustrations.com/uploads/October%202021%20General%20Conference.pdf


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April General Conference Sketchnotes

 Hello my friends. Some of you may be interested in this post and some may not, but I just wanted to share something with you. Every 6 months, the people of my religious affiliation gather (mostly virtually) to uplift one another through messages of positivity, hope and truth. And every 6 months I draw sketched out notes of the speaker's messages as they speak to help MYSELF remember them better. But I also share them with anyone else who is more of a visual learner like I am. So, here is a link to the pdf file of all of my notes from last week's April 2021 General Conference. 

Feel free to share the link, just PLEASE do not repurpose them in any way or form in a manner other than that which is presented here. These are for your own personal use and study and not for resale in any way, shape, or form. Stick to those terms and I can keep providing them for your use. 

I would LOVE LOVE LOVE it if you would follow my professional page on Instagram or Twitter @JulieOlsonBooks where I post my notes as I create them in real time (you'll see them there first). Also, it helps my professional career if you follow me... and costs nothing for you. Thanks so so much!

Enjoy!

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE PDF FILE



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Mother's Day Parade Portrait Sale! 10% off Plus Bonus Deal


Have you been looking for the perfect mother's day gift for your wife? For yourself? For your own mother? Well, you're in luck!

I'm offering a sale on commissioned Parade Portraits just in time for Mother's Day.

There's one catch...

Due to my busy schedule
THERE ARE ONLY 3 SPOTS AVAILABLE 


And one more...
You must place your order by April 20th 
to guarantee a May 8th delivery

What is a Parade Portrait?
     An 11x14 (or longer depending on number of people portrayed) hand-drawn and hand-painted depiction of children or an entire family which actually will look like the person. Optional free inclusions: Family name or motto banner, items of interest for each person, specific items of clothing depicted. 

So what is the deal anyway?
     You will get 10% off the base price of a custom-created Parade Portrait, and 30% off each additional person added to the portrait. The base price is usually $350 for up to 4 people depicted, with extra persons costing $50 each.  So you will instantly save $35 off of the 4 people.

BONUS DEAL?
the 30% off each additional person added. So instead of $50 per additional person, the price will only be $35 per person and $20 per pet. 

The so that makes the sale price...
ONLY $315 
for a custom, one of a kind, commissioned work of art
MOM WILL LOVE FORVER!
How do you order?
  1. email:  jujubeeillustrations (at) gmail  with PARADE PORTRAIT REQUEST in the subject line
  2. subject of email: include names and ages of people to be depicted and hobby or interest or pose you'd like shown, and any special bonds/connections between people to be depicted (so I can place those people interacting with each other more. In addition, include your mailing or drop off address for delivery.
  3. attachments to email: send 2 photos of each person, one of their head and neck only with a smile on their face, in profile, and the other of a side profile view their full body frozen in a walking position if possible (in particular clothing if you want that depicted). Send any pictures of items you'd like included.
  4. I will respond with a paypal invoice and confirmation message 
  5. I will draw paint and deliver your custom work of art by May 13th!

HERE ARE SOME OTHER EXAMPLES OF PARADE PORTRAITS I'VE CREATED














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30 ways to reduce Anxiety

 Ever since March of 2020, when the COVID-19 Pandemic shut down the world as we know it, anxiety levels in the human population have risen. And even though I am a generally positive, glass-half-full kind of person, over the past year I often felt that positivity slipping and a creeping sense of powerlessness overtake me. I have dealt with panic attacks in the past, but found them happening more frequently and even sometimes in the middle of the night, waking me from sleep. I found this wasn't only due to my own feelings about the state of the world, but also because I worried for my children who were also dealing with huge increases in their levels of anxiety. 

So in October, I participated in a 30 day drawing a day challenge called Inktober. Instead of only following the given prompts, I decided to apply them to methods for combating anxious feelings. So I researched proven methods for decreasing stress and anxiety and for improving overall mental health and created one drawing each day with the plan to put them all in one poster for anyone to download and print. My thought was not only to help myself and my children cope with the situations life was throwing at us, but to help anyone else in need as well. I finished all the drawings by the end of October and then...

Life happened. 

I got overwhelmed and overburdened with Graduate school assignments and holiday preparations and my plan to put everything together in one poster got delayed. But I'm happy to say, I finally was able to scan in and clean up all the artwork and put it together to share. 

If you want to print a free 11x17 poster of 30 ways to cope with anxiety and stress, just click on the link below the image and it will take you to a downloadable file. Then try one of these suggestions each day, whichever you feel like doing, and hopefully it can bring a little more peace and happiness into your life. 

CLICK HERE FOR THE POSTER FILE.

For personal use only. Not for reproduction or resale in any format.


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I'm a freelance illustrator working in the children's book industry. I love kids and raising my own 4 children. They are the inspiration and the passion behind all I do in art and in life. See my website at JulieOlsonbooks.com

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