Shaunie J Designs – New Business Beginnings!

August 23, 2020August 23, 2020Leave a comment

On Tuesday, 18 August, I officially launched my T-Shirt design storefront on Teespring and on Redbubble on 23 August. The designs go on more than just T-Shirts (sweaters, cups, etc.), but it’s just easier to call it that. The application I put in to sell merchandise on Amazon is pending, but I’m hoping to share good news soon.

All the designs can be viewed here:
https://teespring.com/stores/shaunie-js-designs

shaunshirts.redbubble.com

Starting this business endeavor is very Enneagram 7 of me – looking for new adventures in every corner. I work full-time, there are my children’s books, and I have my blog. I dabble in the children’s books on and off mainly because I grow tired of doing similar illustrations over and over again. Writing the stories is way easier for me to do, as I have a few written down on paper already. It’s mainly doing the graphics that I struggle with. It’s coming along though – I only have about 20 more pages to do for my next one. I haven’t been the most consistent in my blog either. I mainly write post about travel adventures and made up super hero stories that are in my head, but I struggle with just sitting down and typing them up because I want to start doing other things. I do use it though – I’m blogging on it now, after all.

So, what makes this endeavor different? I think it’s the consistency. I’m always doodling and sketching random ideas that come to mind. I even design them on the computer just for the fun of it. When making shirts, for the most part designing one shirt is its own project, and I love to move onto new projects. That’s what will make this a little different for me because it’s something I do consistently already. If people buy it, great, if not then I’ll keep on designing and putting up new shirts. I know it doesn’t sound like something difficult to explain, but I struggle putting things into words, so I hope I expressed this clearly.

Just to be clear, I haven’t given up on my children’s books or my blog – I’m posting this to my blog now and I’ve been slowly making progress on my illustrations. I’m no permanent quitter!

The Black Heartbeat

July 25, 2020July 25, 2020Leave a comment

The final installment in this series is The Black Heartbeat.

heartbeat where one of the pulses is in the shape of a fist — The Black Heartbeat

Because our heartbeats matter. Our blackness matters. Our lives matter.

Black shirt with a heartbeat that has a pulse that shapes a fist — Shaun in “the black heartbeat” t-shirt

Silence is Violence

July 20, 2020July 20, 2020Leave a comment

The second piece in this three part series is Silence is Violence.

Silence is Violence. the "I" in both words have been replaced by a hand and lips in a "shh" position. — Silence is Violence

Because Silence is Violence. Speak up and speak out.

Shaun in a green and pink "Silence is Violence" shirt — Shaun in a green and pink “Silence is Violence” shirt

We Matter

July 13, 2020July 20, 2020Leave a comment

We all have roles in different lanes. Some people protest and some educate others. Some people ensure that those out there protesting are fed and kept out of jail and other make art. Whatever your role is, do it passionately.

For this particular series, I’ve created three graphics which were turned into t-shirts by my brother, www.clothingcounts.com.

Here is the first in the series.

Survival. The two "V" spike up representing heartbeats. — Survival.

Because we’re out here fighting for #survival.

Mermay Part 3

May 27, 2019Leave a comment

Hey Guys,

I have some more mermaid pictures! I may have one more, but I’m unsure right now. I skipped quite a few while I was on my conference in Berlin, and I don’t know if I’ll make them up. Either way, enjoy!

Nurse Joy!
Did this on the plane to Paris. I thought it came out really nice.
This is the only one that i used a dropshadow
How do you draw a mermaid in flight? Jumping, I suppose.
This one is a little more racy.
Queen Bee!
Check the pick! One of my favorites.
A rumpa bum bumm

Mermay part 2

May 16, 2019May 27, 2019Leave a comment

Based on my co-worker Sarah!

Figure I’d do cats because that’s all they do, right?

Gian wanted one to have a betafish tail

For my mom gramma and aunt

MerMay

May 9, 2019Leave a comment

This week I decided to do things a little differently. I haven’t had time to type of one of our recent travels, but I have been participating in MerMay, a month-long celebration of creativity, community and above all…MERMAIDS.

Now, I must admit, I haven’t drawn in quite some time. What used to be something I did every day slowly became something I’d occasionally do when I’m bored in the office. This is a nice little challenge to get my hand in motion again, whether it’s on paper or digitally.

I’ve been super self-conscious about the pictures because honestly I know they aren’t that great, but as the days go on I’ve started to build up some confidence. At least enough to share what I’ve done. I hope you guys enjoy #Mermay as much as I am.

I think day 1’s theme was a little hard for the first attempt!
Cute mermaid that’s acting like she’s up to no good
Not sure what “rockability” is, but I thought rock!
I forgot that they were separate and just did one pic…
Kid ready to play ball
Our Godnephew? in squid form!
Maybe he should have been the rascal the way he’s thieving!

SUPER Powers are Overrated

November 7, 2018November 9, 2018Leave a comment

In my previous post I mentioned that I wanted to do some super powered stories. Let’s call this so-called-universe SUPER Powers are Overrated, or #SPAO for short. The premise of this universe is that everyone in the world has a power, but you have to know exactly what your power is to use it. The reason for the name is because not everyone’s power is “super.” Super, in this case, is interchangeable with mainstream. Some powers are much easier to figure out because they are mainstream, like flying or telekinesis, but the chance of having a mainstream power is quite rare. Majority of the world hasn’t figured out what their powers are because they are usually random and useless, but people make do with them anyways. Powers are cool, but SUPER powers are overrated.

How did this come to be?

In a way, I’m always trying out different kinds of hand techniques and motions, and trying to channel my energy in different ways in case I actually do have some sort of super ability. I can tell you that I have not discovered one yet! I’ve always wanted to write stories about this, and majority of the shows I watch have powered people (every anime I watch, anything by Marvel or DC, a bit of my Netflix shows). Hopefully mine are an interesting read, but aren’t too similar to shows.

I forgot to mention that I’ll probably write about some people who haven’t figured out what their powers are. Some people will probably have multiple stories too.

I think I’m starting to feel it in my bones.

-Es Kay Johns

Pen to Paper, Tips to Keys…Just Start Writing

November 1, 2018November 4, 2018Leave a comment

Ever since I wrote my first book and only book (as of right now), I’ve wanted to start a blog. I have so many ideas swirling around in my head, and even though I jot some of them down onto paper, I rarely share them with anyone (Well, of course I share them with the hubz Gian).

I thought my ideas were too sporadic and that really held me back from writing a blog. Another interesting fact is that I really contemplated on whether or not I should use my pen name. Es Kay Johns published a children’s book, and this blog isn’t necessarily aimed for children. But in the end I’ve decided that my blog will be a place for me to express myself and bring my ideas to fruition. At most, anything I post here will be PG-13, but if I do decide to make something NC-17, I’ll be sure to make it known.

As I’ve mentioned before, I have had many ideas about what to blog about. It’s hard to keep the list short, but here are the general items:

Children’s book themes:
- More anti-bullying books
- Self esteem
- Asking for help
- Everyone is different
Poetry
Comic strips
Short stories
- Random ones
- Super power universe
Travel
General things in my life

What I will focus on (in no particular order):

#Poetry – I like writing poetry even though I don’t write it often. If I like a piece that I would like to share, I will definitely post it.

#Comics – As much as I’d love to make them, they probably won’t pop up too often because they take up a lot of my time doing them. Key words there are “too often.” Maybe this will give me the drive I need.

#Shorties or Short Stories – These posts will appear quite frequently on my blog. I really want to take the people in my life and events that happen and turn them into a super powered story. I’ll go into this in a future post.

#Travel – We are frequent travelers, so you will definitely see posts about where we’ve been and our experience there.

What I’ll pass on:

Children’s Books – I’m still working on children’s books; therefore, this isn’t the forum for it. I will still blog about the themes as they are quite important to me.

#General – I used to blog about my life almost every single day. It was tiring, yet satisfying. You’ll receive glimpses into my life through the topics above, but I won’t treat this as a daily journal.

With all of that being said, I’m probably going start off posting weekly. The more I get into the groove of free writing and editing, designing, formatting, and making time to actually get this on here, I’ll increase the load.

I really hope you guys enjoy this collection of spontaneous thoughts.

Here goes nothing.