Early Bird no.1 & Late Autumn House

Determined to get some headway today, I managed to come up with three possible designs for prints. The Early Bird no. 1 has had a final touch-up and I came up with two lovely colours to try out at the printer tomorrow: what I'll call "dunkin' egg yellow" and "soft green". I'm really happy with them, and I hope they reproduce well. 

I also whipped up a simple little ditty called Late Autumn House. The illustration started with the tree in the forefront. I saw a similar tree at Howletts last week that has stuck in my head ever since... with one tiny little yellow leaf holding on for dear life at the end of each branch.

early bird (doesn't need a worm)

Today's little project takem with my new iPhone toy and Hipstamatic. 

Value can be found in the irresistable temptation to share. More to come...

bring on the colours

an experimental trip to the printers brought some pleasing results this morning. it might be just the thing I need to fill my etsy shop with stock in time for christmas goodies...

new birdie idea...

... from last week. I must work on this idea... made me happy to draw and colour him in... :)

morning doodle

Birdy Sketch

ideas...

How About Some More Birds?

Owls? Not sure! But birds nonetheless! Happy Thursday!

birds, a rough house & kitties

Three days ago I decided the birds were finished. There's always a part of me that struggles with the idea of a 'finished piece'. It's altogether likely that the abstract idea of perfectionism in art and the sometimes elusive, instinctual and altogether intimidating concept of THE FINISHED is what delayed me doing for such a time what I've longed to be doing.  I hesitate to use the "should" word. I really do believe that the "should" word is a very dangerous one, even inappropriate or *gasp* WRONG to use in relation to any creative endevour. The "should" word to me has long been a proverbial 4-letter word. If it passes my lips, so does a sharp suspicion of my intention. An excuse to do what others expect? An excuse to follow the status quo? An exuse NOT to be adventurous, take a risk, do something untrendy or expose yourself as vulnerable? "Should" is obligation. And to what or whom? ... So goes the inner dialogue. It wasn't so much a matter of "should" these birds be finished, as that question has no real answer in relation to remaining true to myself... but accepting that even though it looks rough, like a sketch or doodle-like, I simply didn't want to attempt to 'improve' it when I like how it is and for fear of the improvement losing its seemingly innate appeal. Philosophical? Yes. So what? 

 Years ago I might never had painted the Rough House Blue, let alone post in a public place to  be devoured, criticized or loved (not that any of this is happening at the moment, as I don't get much in the way of traffic around these parts!) -- and I CERTAINLY would not have listed it for sale as I did yesterday on Etsy! Rough it is, and love it I do.

Nor would I ever have dared to doodle freely and post the results for the world to see (if they cared to look). Kitties, kittens, cats. A new painting/drawing in the works.

Thoughts please! Happy Saturday! 

doggies etc. and brightness problems

With a few minutes to spare on Sunday I found myself sitting at my picnic table in the garden repeatedly doodling little doggie-shaped heads and liking the result (one of the sheets above). Some were more rabbit-like and some bunny and kitty-like, but it didn't matter. I bought some fluorescent paints earlier in the day in London and was eager to try them out, so I did a quick painting Monday morning. All good? 

Well, kind of. I took a pic with my camera Monday morning which showed the fluorescent pretty well (pic above), but when I scanned it this morning? ... not so nice or even remotely accurate (left, as if you couldn't tell). The last thing I'd want is a bright shiny painting to look massively dull! No idea how to get the fluorescent colour to come out with my scanner and playing around with levels, tones etc doesn't seem to do a stitch of good. For posting online it's no problem, but if I want to create prints of paintings with  fluorescent, this poses a massive problem.

Always a learning curve this creative stuff! 

Birdy Doodles

\

Didn't get much done today as I was side-lined by an unhappy tummy, but I have been thinking about incorporating birds into some work again. Just a little peek of some mindless doodles which resulted in a new preferred bird shape.

sloth bear meets bird

What it says on the tin, really. I think sloth bear is done...with the small (very small) addition of a little bird. I didn't really want to mess with bear too much because I liked his rough quality (and sweet disposition). I did realise that my memory put his nose kind of out of shape, but I still like how he looks and  it just makes me want to experiment more. Dan said the bird looked a little bit stuck on, to which I responded ... "well he is"! I didn't want to complicate the bird too much. Simpler the better, and every time I put my brush near him again I felt like I was in danger of ruining the whole thing. Good time to stop. I sent these off on an order for cards last night, and I played with the colour digitally to see what the resulting cards would look like. The green is the original watercolour wash... the orangey pink was changed by the magic of the computer. Kind of crazy, that. I'm not entirely sure about this example, but I do like the idea of playing with colours digitally for prints and cards. What do you think? 

1 kitty 1 bird 1 mouse

tick tock tick tock tick tock

I feel a bit like I've been caught up in a whirlwind until today, when I slept in later than I have in recent memory. I guess I needed it. Listed 1 kitty 1 bird 1 mouse in the shop just a few minutes ago, and I think the painting above is finished. I have some time dedicated to nothing but creativity (and perhaps some overdue housecleaning)soon, so expect to see lots more where these came from! :)