Tuesday 31 May 2011

the garden is in full bloom!


Sitting in my garden this morning I thought, 'Wow, the rose arbor looks amazing in the summer', so got my sketchbook out and drew furiously while the sun was still out. Scanned and coloured this is not a bad finished piece for a scribbled sketch really :)

Tuesday 24 May 2011

Bordeaux series is finally finished!






















Finally got round to finishing all three illustrations, and I think they look pretty good! I picked the colours out of the photographs I had taken and used these in the images to give them a proper French feel. Going to get some prints done once I get paid :)

Wednesday 18 May 2011

'safari' - illustration friday























A simple one this week, why would I most want to go on a safari? To see some of these gorgeous creatures!

Monday 16 May 2011

bordeaux now has colour!


Have finally got round to scanning and colouring these contour drawings... well one of them anyway. Once they're all done they'd make a nice series I reckon. Can't wait to get some prints of these made!

Friday 13 May 2011

'inchies'










Another Swap-bot swap, this time inchies! 1x1" pieces of art that are traded amongst artists... pretty good self promotion as well as fun! These are my first and I love 'em, done with gouache on thick watercolour paper with some collage and pen work. I was warned creating teeny-art was addictive and I can see why! So once the weekend is over these will be going in the post :)

Tuesday 10 May 2011

my first swap-bot!

















I read about this on Dara's (aka ravenastoria) blog A Very Good Coat Rack and just had to sign up. It's called Swap-bot. If you don't know or haven't done it yet... have a look, it's pretty amazing if you love getting mail and trading arts and crafts with people. You find a swap that interests you, join it, then you get assigned a random 'partner' whom you create work for and send it to them. And another random person does the same and sends it to you... simple!

This is my first which was called 'doodle, doodle, doodle', and is being sent to the U.S of A tomorrow :) the swap involved creating an 8x11'' doodle that covers the page, and you can use your 'partners' profile as inspiration. It also required a note on the back, and a flat/paper made 'surprise' (I did an illustrated origami!) I hope my receiv-ee likes them!

Wednesday 4 May 2011

'lesson' - illustration friday























I based this weeks topic on one of Aesop's Fables "The Peacock and the Crane"...

"A Peacock spreading its gorgeous tail mocked a Crane that passed by, ridiculing the ashen hue of its plumage and saying, "I am robed, like a king, in gold and purple and all the colors of the rainbow; while you have not a bit of color on your wings." "True," replied the Crane; "but I soar to the heights of heaven and lift up my voice to the stars, while you walk below, like a cock, among the birds of the dunghill."

"Fine feathers don't make fine birds."

Had been a while since I'd read or heard any of these stories and loved the moral of this particular one. Probably more relevant now than ever with the unobtainable expectations we have on our shoulders, but reading the fable today was really uplifting and I hope this illo shows this :)

Monday 2 May 2011

the sketchbook project 2012

I've ordered my sketchbook! Have wanted to take part in this for years but (like alot of things) never got round to it... til now! I've chosen the theme 'stitches and folds', was difficult to choose one but thought this would be quite a broad subject :) can't wait for it to arrive and get cracking!

The Art House Co-op's website with all the details is here, have a look!