Things of note

Self Portrait Project

I spontaneously started this project on my birthday in 2024 and have drawn a self portrait every day since.

• Check it out!

I create quick portraits of you and your guests LIVE in just a few minutes. I have two styles you can choose from - one where I draw without lifting my pen off the paper, using one continuous-line, and one where I use bold colourful brushstrokes. The results for both are a little unpredictable and often a bit wonky, but the likeness is always there!

Portraits are hand-drawn on watercolour paper using either black ink and a limited 3-colour watercolour palette (which can mix to create a surprising amount of colours), or with 3 colours of drawing ink, depending on the style. The option to pick specific colours to match your event and different size paper is available.

Live portrait illustrations are great for parties, weddings, corporate events, in-store events, brand launches, PR events and more!

• BOOK NOW!

Live portraits are a fantastic conversation starter for your guests, perfect for sharing on social media, and great for generating excitement about your event!

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Nice to meet you!

I’m Melissa Martin, a freelance illustrator based in Toronto, Ontario. My work celebrates the beauty of everyday life through vibrant landscapes, expressive portraits, and illustrations that reflect the world around us.

Rooted in observational drawing, my art is bold, colourful, and full of energy. I love experimenting with a variety of mediums—gouache, watercolour, ink, coloured pencils, pastels, and more—to create dynamic and lively finished pieces or to have a play in my sketchbook.I thrive on collaboration and am passionate about creating custom illustration styles tailored to your brand or project. From colourful maps and eye-catching patterns to short animations and impactful branding designs, I’m here to bring your vision to life. If you’re looking for fresh, high-quality illustrations delivered on time and on brief, you’ve come to the right place!I’m always open to new projects, whether it’s illustration work, painting commissions, or creative collaborations.

• Let’s create something amazing together!

I’m also the host of ART HANG PARTY!, a weekly live hour-ish-long art-making session full of fast-paced drawing and a lot of fun!Thursdays at 7 PM ET on YouTube, each session features a new theme, often inspired by the community (though I occasionally pull rank 😅). It’s a growing, vibrant space where creativity meets community, welcoming artists of all levels to connect and create together.Come join the party — I’d love to see you there!

When I’m not playing in my sketchbooks, I’m wearing my marketing hat over at Halfsquare Designs —a digital marketing agency I founded in 2018. We specialize in graphic design, website design, and social media content creation, helping businesses bring their visions to life.

Ways to support me:💖 Visit my shop!☕ If you enjoy the art I make and like joining ART HANG PARTY! leave me a tip here!✉️ Want to see more of what I’m up to on a weekly basis? Sign up for my Newsletter!📣 Want to help me? Share my work on social media or send a link to your friends! Tag me!🎟️ Do you like to draw? Join us for ART HANG PARTY!🍿 I make lots of art related videos over on YouTube you can check out!

Knitting & Public Transportation:
An Illustrated Guide

Once upon a time back in the days of commuting 45 minutes on the subway to and from work I was big into knitting. Here are the lessons I learned and tips I have to pass along. Hope you enjoy!

1. Seating. You have to be prepared for impossibly tight, cramped situations. Of course, if you can tuck yourself into one of those lovely little two-sweaters against the window, that's fantastic and you can snug yourself in and get ready to knit.

Also, the end of an open three-seater is also ideal, as if like me this morning a rather plump lady decides to squeeze herself into the open middle seat, you can simply scooch over and hang ever so slightly over the edge of the seat.

If you have no other seating options, never fear. Following the next two points will help you no matter how cramped you are!

2. Form. Form is incredibly important when knitting on transit. And it's quite simple. Tuck your elbows in. That's it, that's all. So long as your elbows stay glued to your rib cage, you're all set.

3. Needles. Forget about those long straight needles we're all used to. No matter how tightly you tuck your elbows in, if you're going to knit with straight needles, you're only going to drive yourself and everyone else around you crazy.

Circular needles my friends. Circular needles.

Before I became a regular transit knitter I saw this girl knitting a regular scarf with circular needles, and I just had to ask her why, because I couldn't figure it out. She told me it's so she doesn't bump the people beside her, and plus she can slide the scarf onto the wire when she puts it in her bag and no stitches will fall off. Genius!

So yes, I am forever grateful to that lovely knitter for sharing her words of wisdom (as all knitters are likely to do if you take the time to ask us a simple question).

3. Pattern. Now of course what you ultimately chose to knit is completely up to you (as is everything else I'm recommending here, really), but I would strongly suggest you keep it simple.

Simple here meaning nothing that requires you to constantly read a pattern for every stitch. For example, I'm currently knitting a sweater that had a somewhat complicated colour pattern. It's a honeycomb pattern that alternates between two colours knit in the round, but it's pretty repetitive so I only have to consult the pattern at the beginning of every other row or so.

But it ultimately depends on your comfort level with what you're working on.

4. Be friendly. The chances of a fellow knitter sitting down across from you on a crowded subway are slim, so in the rare instances when this does happen, look up and smile. The simple acknowledgment of each other will ease any awkwardness that you or people around you may be feeling.

Also, if you catch someone consumed with your work, don't be alarmed. I often glance up to find the man across from me staring intently at my hands, or the woman half a car down sideways-glancing at me, and when I catch their eye, I smile, because I want them to know that it's ok.

I know that what I'm doing is unconventional transit behaviour, but I'm extremely proud of my talent, and so I don't mind if I can provide a little distraction for someone from the monotony of their morning commute. Also kids love to watch you knit. I once had a boy about 10 stop dead in front of me while I was working with double-pointed needles and ask how I was doing that. Turns out he is a knitter himself (cutest thing ever, btw), and so I slowed down my work and showed him how it's done. His mother thanked me for taking the time to show him, because she is not a knitter herself, and he said he would go home and give it a try.

So just be friendly, because you never know, you might just brighten someone's day.

I used to be as obsessed with knitting as I am currently with drawing and painting, so that should tell you how much I was knitting back when I wrote this guide! (I think I was actually on the subway when I wrote it!)

Do you knit? Do you go from one obsession to another like I do? Do you know anyone who needs an illustrator?

• Reach out!

Daily Self Portrait Project

Every day since my birthday in 2024 I have done a self portrait in a rarely-used 5-year Hobonichi Techo journal.Some days they are quick 30-second single line drawings, other days they are fully-observed portrait paintings.Regardless of how long each self portrait takes I find the practice incredibly rewarding. Not only are my observation skills improving when it comes to capturing likeness, but I find I am a lot gentler and much less critical on my appearance.Here are all the self portraits I have made since May 7, 2024!(this page will be updated monthly)

FEBRUARY 2025

JANUARY 2025

DECEMBER 2024

NOVEMBER 2024

OCTOBER 2024

SEPTEMBER 2024

AUGUST 2024

JULY 2024

JUNE 2024

MAY 2024