week 7 in sketches

fb challenge: weeping willow|aquilegia|cannabis|mermaid's wine glass
venus fly trap

fb challenge: parakeet|law|dismember|brain|seed|Petey|Charlie Parker|goose

fb challenge: building|coyote|lapidarium|funhouse|train|farm|house

Onto a new week....

week 6 in sketches

cattails | cherry blossom | peony | pyracantha | thistle | tigerlily

asparagus | aubergine (eggplant) | banana | passion fruit | pomegranate

artichoke | lemon | lychee | parsimmon | rutabaga

hippopotamus | marmoset | narwhal | otter | (huge) puffin

angler fish | fungi the dingle dolphin | puffin (take II)

So my 'sketch of the day' has turned into something else... quality not quanitity? I have five for this week, but as it turns out it's a lot of sketches in each.  My Facebook Sketch Challenges have been very fruitful indeed, and I'm enjoying them 

(as I hope the participants are) !

What do YOU think? Comments more than welcomed!

week 3 in sketches 2014

19/1/14

20/1/14 (perhaps not the best of days?)

21/1/14 (moo-se?)

22/1/14

 23/1/14 

24/1/14 (date on this one is wrong! Changed after pic taken) 

25/1/14 (dreaming of pondweed)

Soooo by this time next week (hopefully by this time tomorrow) my studio will be mostly set up and I can share some photos. I was thinking about taking a few to show the 'in progress' stages, but honestly it looks like a bomb went off in here, so I'm going to put that off a bit until it's just ever so slightly less embarrassing.

I will say I have two new lamps to make sure I never stop working because of lack of light. I have an actual work table which will hopefully also fit my scanner. I think what I might be lacking are some creative storage solutions for my supplies -- but there's always Muji for that! I'm sure I'll think of something.

Back to table (re)assembly. (Silly Ikea

sent me a faulty part so I had the (dis)pleasure of going there on a Saturday afternoon with the ever-present Ikea vacuum sucking money from my pocket.) I have entertained the idea that they might very well put faulty bits into cheapish Internet orders so people are all but forced to going to their stockpile of material temptation. Astoundingly, their wait time for email response was a whopping 11 days (seriously, I could get hit by a bus in that time) -- and the phone wait ridiculous. Ah well, a few more things to inspire me in my new space.

Stay tuned... and share this site with your friends (and enemies if you like. enemies are fine too --  or at least generally interesting).









Oh, and here's me. 

Cats

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... :)

The Bee's Knees

A bit over a week ago I was asked by Bok Theatre Bournemouth to create an illustration for their theatrical adaptation of The Queen Bee, a fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. Bok Theatre Bournemouth is "an informative, interactive, inclusive theatre company" created by the uber talented Mr. and Mrs. Parkin. I was happy to accept the project because it seemed like good fun (bees? ducks? ants? ... why ever not?) and also because Aaron and Charmaine easily inspire with their obvious passion for theatre, their unique creativity and their enlightened goal to "use the powerful tool of theatre to benefit society". Do support them if you are able! If you're unfamiliar with the fairy tale, you can make up for that HERE. Well worth two minutes of your time, I'm certain.

Some sketches below: 

Prelim ideas of the personified bee and other characters
- not far off the final results. 

Kind of like this very simplified version ... but not sure she could command the role of "Queen". Below the bee, a note about Charmaine's suggestion to include a key, pearls and honeycomb after I mentioned I'd like to include the King Ant and ducks. 

Working sketch of the queen before being "transferred" to watercolour for the final illustration. The bit cut out to the left was for gauging how close to the bee I should place the ducks.

 For some reason, when I drew this version and decided it was the best, I forgot to include the wings. So, amazingly without realising it, I thought I had completed the illustration when the Queen still didn't have her wings. Thinking I was nearly finished,  I showed it to Dan and he said "I like it, but it looks kind of like an ant without the wings". WITHOUT THE WINGS?? I actually hadn't noticed!! So these wings here were sketched on the above bee the next morning as practice. I cut out a piece of paper into the shape I thought would be best and traced around it on either side to make sure the wings were uniform and to decrease room for error. At this point, I didn't want risk drawing them freehand. I then (very nervously) added the wings to the final illustration using the same method. Voila! I added the little third and fourth wings (yes, Queen Bees have four wings!), and it was a go! PHEW!

Oh! And the tiny ants (some of the 5,000 helpers) around the King Ant were a last minute addition and the idea of my Dad. Thanks Dad! :)

Elephants & Hand-lettering

The neon blobs from my Bonkers post now have the company of some lovely (if I do say so myself) elephants, one of which has its own company of a little visitor. I've put them up for sale in the shop today along with No Place Like Home no. 6. 

I also recently did a bit of hand-lettering ... this one's a favorite quote by Henry David Thoreau. Unfortunately, watercolor paper wasn't the best thing to use, but it was a fun exercise. I'd like to do more hand-lettering. There's something about putting meaningful quotes down on paper that breathes new life into them for me, and it would be nice to share them with others. Maybe they would make good prints, too... and perhaps with a bit of illustration. What do you think? 

No Place Like Home no. 7

Approx. 6" X 4" in watercolour and ink.

pink neon kitties

New illustration just listed in the shop! Playing around with kitty faces and shapes, obviously not necessarily relying on realism. Who needs realism, anyhow? Which is your favourite?

some detail -- MEOW

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! 

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! :)

partial to antennae

Just a little something because I realise it's been over a week since I posted anything. Lots of things in the works this past week, some of which include snails and more snails! A friend of mine has asked me how I feel about drawing them -- with a view to possible commission work. Not having had much practice in drawing mollusks at all, I started in on it! I might be hooked...

Which do you prefer: with colour or without? Of course, the colours can be nicer... this was just a tester.

I always was partial to antennae.


** (added March 27) new colour scheme to reflect Zoe and Kaylea's comments below!