Vistaprint Business Cards

Hi there!

As you know, I operate out of Red Deer, AB. So you may have already gotten one of these cards from me - either in person, or found on a table in a restaurant (that's how I've made some of my best connections!)

The original design, expanded to show the words.

If you are wondering what this website is (and don't feel like typing in the URL above), then here it is for you:

Daryl Januszewski Art


So if you are here specifically for the kawaii aspect, that's awesome!! Thank you, and enjoy!

And... if you already know that outside of the cute cartoons, I do other styles of art as well, then that's great! In fact, I've been a cartoonist since I was a toddler... they weren't great yet, but since age 2, art has been my life!

I grew up watching Bob Ross, and for Christmas and birthdays, my mum got me art kits (yay!)

In elementary school, I was making comic characters already (like Reena the Witch, and Kitty, Kitty, Kitten). By junior high, I was taking art classes and in high school, various friends would request art from me - that felt so awesome!! 

Between 2007-2009, I earned my Art Diploma from SCI (Quebec), and in 2016 I began this cute art project, which eventually led to me being included in Alberta Culture Days, as well as Art Battle International.

In 2014, I opened my Etsy shop (Darylart Digital), and in 2016 I opened both my RedBubble and Zazzle shops (KawaiiNMore). The style is 'cute cartoons', coloring pages, accessories & apparel. 

And, in the summer of 2018, I took the Art of Cartooning course, instructed by Gerry Rasmussen of Betty, at the college here in Red Deer 😊


Why am I sharing this with you?

Because, if you're here for the art aspect, then there's something quick & easy you can do to keep me producing more art for you to enjoy!

You'll notice that, on the above business card (from Vistaprint), I mentioned something called Patreon. What is that?

Patreon is a funding platform for creators such as visual artists, game developers, YouTubers, musicians, authors, and more!

For $1/month, you'll get a monthly coloring page to download and print, and enjoy coloring in.

For $5/month, you'll still get the coloring page; you'll also get a custom illustration of yourself in any cartoon (2D, hand-drawn) style you'd like me to do.

So without further ado, here it is for you:

Daryl's Patreon Page

Celebrating A 1-Year Anniversary

Hi everyone, today is an exciting day (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

Though it's hard to believe, today marks the one year (already!) since I completed the year-long, cute art project dubbed Kawaii365. If you live in Red Deer, you might remember seeing random 'cute art' in public places around the city, including stickers, doodles on random objects, and even charms made from clay!

You can see my very first [of the 365 of them] at this link here - http://kawaii365.blogspot.com/2016/07/first-one-of-365.html

I know, it's shocking that it's from 2016... when I first started this blog, it was motivated by reading that book, Unstuck, by Noah Scalin, that Rob & I won at that adult coloring event at our library.

Excitedly, I jumped in head-first and just wanted to 'go for it'. Truthfully, I wasn't sure if anyone would even notice me doing this project... even if I just did it for the sake of doing it, and it never got known, that was okay. At the time, this blog only had a handful of total views... in fact, I celebrated when we hit around 500. That was super-exciting! Now, this blog has seen nearly 26,000! Yay!


One of the most major highlights, was getting this project featured on the author's blog, surprisingly not that far into this project... I'm super glad that happened, because it inspired me and motivated me to keep it up for the entire year! See it here: https://makesomething365.blogspot.com/2016/07/kawaii365.html



The year flew by really quick, and though there were admittedly days when I felt less motivated, I literally never decided to 'put it off' or skip a day. This project was great for mental health (I deal with depression, anxiety and minor ADHD symptoms) because it made me accountable. This gave me an actual goal to work toward, and something that was all my own, and was a great outlet to express feelings, thoughts, ideas and other things happening in my life at the time...



Anyway, for the very last project (#365), I used a shoebox and some random leftovers from the stuff I bought at Dollar Tree, and made a miniature museum dedicated to the previous year. Around this time, I had also started my Patreon Page,  and shared it on there, too.

Let's look at the museum's first video and second video, one year apart...

Anyway, realizing exactly one year has gone by already, blows my mind. I still recall the nervous excitement I felt while being interviewed to be featured in a couple of local publications here in our city: 

Red Deer Express - https://www.reddeerexpress.com/home/red-deer-artist-creates-365-projects-for-365-days/

RD News Now! - https://rdnewsnow.com/article/544797/year-long-art-project-brings-out-best-local-woman

😻😻😻😻😻😻😻😻😻😻😻😻

In other news, 

Rob & I visited a cat café today, and they happened to have Kitten Tuesday. Here are some clips from our adorable experience (✿ ♥‿♥)

Thank you, domo arigato! 

2017 Highlights - Personal and Other

Hello lovely friends, and welcome to 2018!



Did you have a good NYE? What did you do? Tell us in the comments section 😎



I'd like to start with blowing your mind - if you follow this blog regularly, then you might remember this 'welcome 2017' post - it really does not feel like that long ago, right?


And now, here we are, a year later, and so many more wonderful things to share with you!

In January: We went on a trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico with Rob's family! Then when we came back, I 'went for it' with something I always wanted to do - I dyed my hair pink.



In February: I officially got glasses again - prior to this, I hadn't worn them since I was about 11 years old. Why did I stop? Because of bullies. Now I wear them with pride. And I turned 29, which commenced countdown of the last year of being in my twenties!

In March: We did the #KaraokeChallenge on this blog - did you film yourself singing? Share it with the followers here, or on our facebook group! Rob & I also celebrated our 9-year anniversary of meeting at work, by going to see the live action Beauty & The Beast! Such a fantastic movie, and the first time I've felt truly happy in a theatre! Oh and I got the honor of painting for my first time at Art Battle International 😊

In April: I don't really remember anything specifically personal about this month... however, one of our favorite stores in Bower Mall here - HMV - officially closed. It later became Sunrise Records. Thankfully they still sell kawaii collectibles :)

In May: The Red Deer Regional Hospital literally saved my life! I don't want to gross any of you out, but I take it that the majority of the readers here are girls and women, so I'll tell you - I had a very heavy menstruation, that was almost life-threatening. I got to the emergency room just in time for them to give me clotting medication and take care of me. I credit them with my still being here.
Also became friends of a sort with a super awesome girl who goes by Piper Dollface - we share an affinity for squishies, and Hello Kitty stuff, so she sent me this as a gift:



In June: Preparations for Canada's 150! Rob & I had wanted to do something nice together at Bower Ponds, but a major storm hindered that (thunder, rain, hail, cold wind, and small tornadoes forming - Alberta weather, eh?). We spent it indoors.

In July: The #Kawaii365 project came to an official end on July 10, after a year of making kawaii art. Because I felt 'empty' after such a sudden stop, the Zoo'd Animal Hybrid Friends were 'born' 😍  Rob & I had a table at the local Farmer's Market and sold some of my kawaii art.
A major highlight [of my life!] was getting featured in 2 local publications - Red Deer Express and RD News Now! I'm still on cloud 9 from that.

In August: Rob & I celebrate our 9th anniversary of being a couple, and our 6th wedding anniversary. He spoiled me by taking me to the Fairmont Palliser Hotel in downtown, Calgary, where he booked us for a couple's massage. We then went to the zoo, where we enjoyed our first time at the penguins' enclosure.

In September: Since opening both a RedBubble shop AND a Zazzle shop earlier this year, I've enjoyed the feeling of seeing my own artwork on day-to-day items. It's a real rush of adrenaline! The feeling literally never gets old.

Mousepad from my shop on Zazzle

My Zoo'd tote bag (still so proud!)

In October: Following his 39th birthday, Rob & I celebrated our 10th Halloween by going to a haunted walkthrough house in Parkland Mall. And since recently discovering the Netflix original series, Stranger Things, I simply had to dress as Eleven. Then Rob & I co-hosted a Halloween party at our condo, as we celebrated our 3rd Halloween here already!



In November: Sears officially closed... another place we loved going to in Bower Mall here in the city. Still waiting to see what goes in there next? Though we both feel awful for all the laid off employees, it was decent to get some high-fashion items for up to 90% off. I hope every former employee found new work quickly.
Rob & I kicked off the holiday season in late November by attending fabulous local events such as: Red Deer Lights the Night, the Festival of Trees (to support the hospital which saved me), and the Black Knight Inn's Christmas Wish Breakfast.

In December: We celebrated a fantastic 10th Christmas together (complete with a romantic sleigh ride together at Heritage Ranch, followed by a very romantic New Year's Eve (our 10th one, too) at the Black Knight Inn together!

Here's to a safe & prosperous new year everyone!

xoxo,
Daryl J.

Reviewing The Last Year

Hello everyone!

Last Wednesday, I did a 'different kind of Review Wednesday' and I'm going to do another one today (August 16, 2017).

On July 10 of this year, I completed a year-long 'cute art' project dubbed #Kawaii365

Close up of the final project; a mini museum

This daily art project was inspired by reading the Noah Scalin book "Unstuck: 52 Ways to Get (and Keep) Your Creativity Flowing at Home, at Work & in Your Studio" (2011, Voyageur Press)

Rob & I won this book when he took me on a date to an adult coloring event at our library downtown. I was excited enough from winning something, but I had no idea yet how much it would change my life! This was July 2016. 

After completing some of the projects, I decided to dedicate myself to a year and go all-in. So every day for 365 days (from July 10), I made a new piece of art in the Japanese 'Kawaii' (meaning cute) fashion. And it became an entire lifestyle! 😄

Originally,

I wanted to put all 365 days' worth in order, but there wouldn't be enough room in this post for all those images (HTML doesn't allow for that). So instead, I looked over my year of artwork, and saw some patterns in which they could be categorized:

1. Alternative Mediums

2. Animals

3. Body Art

4.Clay Cuties

5. Digital Art

6. Disney

7. Fashion

8. Foodie Cuties

9. Hello Kitty

10. Moustaches

11. Nail Art

12. Outer Space

13. Pink Hair

14. Rainbow

15. Sharpie Doodles

16. Stickers

This project has truly been an honor. There are almost no words to express the gratitude in my heart. Since July of last year, I've networked and gotten to be a part of some of Red Deer's most exciting art projects, including Alberta Culture Days and Art Battle International. I've been featured in various local news sources [toward the end of the project].

I've also gained momentum in selling my art and developing a unique style. I've improved my Etsy shop, as well as opening a RedBubble and even Zazzle shop! And most recently, I developed a new line of characters called Zoo'd Animal Hybrid Friends.

Though I got my Art Diploma in 2009, I ended up leaving that part of me on a back burner while I ended up settling for a retail job, and looking after a home. I always said to myself "I'll get to be an artist someday." It took 7 years for my 'someday' to happen, and it did. And I couldn't be more grateful. 

Now it's the rest of an exciting journey from here...

xoxo,

Daryl J.

Stickers

And last, but not least, some sticker art!

I really enjoyed stocking up on stickers at Dollar Tree - stars, rainbows, smiley faces.... we also had some leftover stickers from calendars, mail-outs, and the like.

If you like stickers, check out the ones I make here

Sharpie Doodles

Another one of the first things I did as the artist of the #Kawaii365 project, was to bring a black Sharpie marker with me everywhere we went. I had no interest in vandalism, but it came in handy when we were in hotel rooms, restaurants, or random places with small blank canvases.

Doodle on a canvas bag at Parkland Mall