Wednesday 31 August 2011

finally some drawing... getting back to normality!


So they released me from the hospital and all is a-OK, thank you for all the well wishes! Leg is on the mend and I'm no longer experiencing painkiller induced narcolepsy so here is my progress this week for Illustration Friday's prompt 'disguise'.

Every cat has an air of mystery to them, where do they go at night? And what do they get up to?

I imagine my cat Milly prowls the neighbourhood in disguise to cause maximum mischief... until she is caught. Then she becomes cute and cuddly and gives the 'butter-wouldn't-melt' look (see the attached photo!)


I want to add a lot more detail to this yet, particularly to the mask and cat. My scanner is on the fritz but hopefully this will be sorted in time for me to submit :)

Friday 19 August 2011

'swell' - illustration friday

A quick entry for this weeks Illustration Friday. The prompt was 'swell', so what better than a puffer fish?! Poor things get startled and swell up like a huge balloon... still, very cute even for a fish!

This'll be my last post for a while as I'm back into hospital from tomorrow, more knee work! All the recovery time will give me loads of time to draw, crochet and embroider though so it's not all bad :)

My Etsy shop will also be down for a while, but as soon as I'm back feeling a bit better it'll be back in business!

Monday 15 August 2011

birthday discount today at my Etsy shop!

So today is my birthday! And to celebrate I've decided to say a big thank you to all my followers for lovely comments and feedback!

Head on over to Crem-bru-laa at Etsy and enter 23BDAY at the checkout to get 23% off! I know, madness but everything is 23% off until midnight (GMT) tonight.

Happy shopping!

Sunday 14 August 2011

apologies for the grainy photo...

... I'm hoping for a new camera very soon!

Another A3 drawing and working at this size still seems huge! However working bigger means you can get loads of detail in which is a bonus :) this bit of the drawing is only taking up a quarter of the page, so still A LOT to do!

I want this to be almost a pattern of townhouses, filling the paper. I may then experiment with a bit of colour and perhaps make it into an actual pattern that can be repeated (would look pretty funky printed on to fabric I reckon?)

We shall see how it ends up, I've been in an experimental mood of late so who knows what'll happen to it!

Thursday 11 August 2011

100 illustration's book opportunity

Listen up fellow Illustrators! The lovely Diana Evans at 100 Illustrations blog is wanting submissions for a new book based on 'Favourite Foods'. Illustrators from all across the globe are welcome to enter and it's free to do so! All the info can be found here, such a good opportunity it'd be silly not to give it a go!

Here's my entry, depicting my undying love for all things cereal. I may get a bowl now... mmm!

Wednesday 10 August 2011

'imperfect' - illustration friday


This weeks entry for Illustration Friday. Going through my make-up bag I was a bit shocked at the amount of stuff I have to mask the fact that, like everyone, I'm imperfect...

... and I'm a sucker for buying the next wonder cream or super-extending-volume-boosting-ultra mascara, but what girl isn't?!

No-ones perfect :)

Tuesday 9 August 2011

illustration friday progress

A sneaky peek at my drawing for this weeks IF contest - 'imperfect'. Nowhere near finished, however the drawing is A3 which is huuuge by my standards. One thing I can tick off my list of things to do, work bigger! It'll be finished Wednesday evening (pub time depending, it is my birthday week after all!)





That reminds me, there may be a wee birthday discount code coming up in my Etsy shop... you heard it here first!


Monday 8 August 2011

ideas ideas ideas!

I have far too many ideas swimming around my head, and if I try and do all of them I'll end up forgetting where I've got to or what I still want to do. So... it's list time!


  1. Reading the wonderful Sissy Sparrows blog I saw they're creating adorable calender desktop backgrounds for their readers to download, this is SUCH a cool idea! I've wanted to do a calender for ages but printing costs scare me, this would be a fab way to do it (and my lovely blog readers would benefit too!)


  2. Tee-designs, there are so many sites where you can upload your images to and they'll be sold on t-shirts, totes... all-sorts! Should give this a go as you never know until you try!


  3. I need a proper online portfolio or website, should really get on this a.s.a.p. No excuses.


  4. DRAW BIGGER! Just bought some lovely A3 paper and need to make my images bigger, better and louder!


  5. Use more materials, I seem to have fallen into a comfort zone of drawing-scanning-tidying-colouring. Although this is fine, I need to push out of it occasionally.


  6. Re-photograph my Etsy items - The lovely Rebekah Leigh Marshall did this not too long ago and the results were stunning. Hopefully I'll be getting a new camera shortly so this is the first job it'll have!


  7. I've been reading Max Scratchmann's Illustration 101, and it's so damn useful you wouldn't believe. Such a good book if, like me, you're starting out on the scary Freelance Illustration road. Anyway, in it he talks about Portfolio Investment, doing mock-ups and voluntary work to build up your portfolio. This is one of millions of helpful hints in the book, and is something I really need to do (have already done a voluntary piece for MKPulse magazine which is being published in September, which I'm super excited about. Thanks for the tips Max!)


  8. Start actual PROJECTS, like an idea I have for a book aimed at children having to spend time in hospital. Or a series of images for an exhibition I'm hoping to plan with MK Arts for Health in the future. Stop thinking about it and do it woman!

I think that's it, any suggestions are always welcomed. Hopefully I'll have ticked these off by October. Ready... set... go!

Sunday 7 August 2011

a sewing machine sunday

For some reason I really fancied doing some sewing this afternoon, but also wanted to do a bit of drawing... after a bit of combining the two this is what came out!

It's freehand sewing machine embroidered onto paper, which didn't rip as I was half expecting it to do thank goodness.

Rather pleased with this little experiment, I'll have to do bigger and better in the coming weeks :)

we draw dogs, aka the cutest blog EVER!

If you're like me and love anything canine then head on over to We Draw Dogs. Lots of submissions from Illustrators all over the globe sending in adorable and funky images of all kinds of dogs! I fell in love instantly.
I submitted a few pieces to the fabulous creator of We Draw Dogs - Jo Cheung, and she kindly put them up! :) You can find the post here.
Thanks Jo!

Friday 5 August 2011

sketchbooks and new art stuff


You know those drawings you do in a sketchbook that you never get round to doing anything with? Well here are two that I DID get round to doing.

Hooray!

I've also just splurged on some lovely new pens and silly priced paper, so I am happy (if not a little guilty for spending more money...)

Wednesday 3 August 2011

heatwave!

We finally have a bit of summer in England! Nearly 30ºc most days this week, and that's hot for us! So here is a bit of tropical summery-ness in the form of a fancy flamingo.

I really enjoyed colouring this one, but struggled with the eternal dilemma of 'when does vibrant turn into garish?'

But, with tropical and hawaiian patterns I suppose a bit of clashing is allowed... it is summer after all!

Monday 1 August 2011

'obsession' - illustration friday

I've always had a slight obsession with wanting to travel around America, and I've wanted to go to all the big cities for years!

My uncle went when he was my age (22) and used the Greyhound buses to travel across the country, stopping off whenever and wherever he was. How amazing would that be? Never know who you'd meet or what you'd get up to, and get to see so many great and iconic places. This would be a dream for me to do, and if I ever get rich it's the first thing on my list, and these are only a few of the cities on the agenda!

One day...