Some new art- chick graphic mixed media

My good friend Alicia commissioned this piece as a 21st birthday present for her sister Nadia. It was so fun to make! First, I drew a chick graphic (hottie style) for her based on some photos that I had of her. She's so beautiful - and she has amazing talent doing makeup (the photo doesn't do her justice), especially her eyes. I did her hair wild and crazy as an nod to Medusa and resembles Nadia's hair when she takes it out of French braids. Silver paint brush strokes for highlights, bling, painted background, cardboard, mesh (from an auto upholstery shop!) and various papers and word strips finish it off. I got the frame from Aaron Bros. and even though the artwork was somewhat 3-dimensional, it still fit under the glass after I removed the extra piece of cardboard filler in the frame. Nadia LOVE LOVE LOVED it! It was so fun to make for Nadia and I'm so pleased that she thought it looked just like her!

I'd love to create more!

The Brand of YOU - marketing yourself

I work with many clients who are solo professionals. I help them build their brand by creating a character representation of them. Why a caricature versus an actual photo of yourself? I believe that a graphic representation of yourself can be just as or even more engaging than an actual photograph, especially if you don't feel comfortable in front of a camera or if you feel you aren't photogenic. My clients tell me that their chick graphics attract attention and help make them more memorable to potential clients. Wendy Maynard the Marketing Maven has a great article on personality-based branding. Spend some time on her site if you are working on marketing yourself - she's got a lot of good articles! Check out my chick graphics too - I can help you create your own brand so you can go out there and start marketing yourself! 

Here are some of my clients' websites. See how they use their chick to market and promote themselves.

The Road to Fabulous - Sandy Grason is an International Speaker, Hot Mogul, Rock Star Author of the bestselling book, JOURNALUTION and host of "The Road to Fabulous" on LA Talk Radio. Sandy asked me to design her blog header and a fabulous chick version of her. 

Girlfriend We Gotta Talk! - Mary Foley and Susie Galvez's radio show in Richmond, Virginia. I've also illustrated Mary's book called Live Like Your Nail Color. I love working with Mary! She's full of energy and it's no wonder she's great at motivating women!

The Skinny Blog - My friend Michelle who is a fabulous esthetician and mompreneur with lots of entrepreneurial spirit. I helped her set up an easy-to-update blog/website. She's got great skincare tips that she's sharing on her blog. We're working on designing a stand-out eye-catching print ad using her chick too!

Get excited about yourself and start a self-promotion campaign. I'm telling you to do it - start today!

via Ping.fm

drawing chick caricatures today! my fave! $20 off Original style chick graphics in my store www.clarawallace.com. great time to get your own for FB or twitter!

Would you like to stand out from the crowd?

I just read this article from Wendy Maynard's Marketing Maven. She talks about selling yourself and how not to feel icky about it. I'm in a business where I sell my chick graphics to people who want them as part of their brand...to make it easier for them to sell themselves. The chick graphics are eye-catching and stand out. On a business card, they are memorable in a good way - which is sometimes hard to get with a real photo. (Think outdated photo, unphotogenic photo, or the glamour photo...)

Wendy says, "Make a very specific offer. Don’t be vague. Be very precise in your offer so that people understand. Don’t ask your prospects, “Would you like some food?” when you can say, “Would you like a huge, ripe, mouth-watering, strawberry covered with Ghirardelli dark chocolate right now?” I took that tip and applied it to my own marketing. Here's what I came up with - "Would you like a profile picture of yourself for Facebook/blog/website that isn't an outdated photo of yourself that you don't really love?"


How can you apply the tip "Make a very specific offer." to your marketing?