Friday, August 30, 2013

A work in progress

A work in progress

Last week I was working on the below commission. 
Unfortunately I can't show any of the finished artwork yet but this is one of the draft pieces. 


I think this is the first time I have drawn a baby/child figure. 
It took a while to work out the pose but I am happy with the layout for the overall design. 

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Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Customising

Customising

My nan has recently moved house and has ended up selling a handful of furniture. 
I quickly snapped up this little footstool. 


I had the idea to repaint the legs and cover the top with a new piece of fabric. 
I chose a checked shirting fabric for my cover, as there is a lot of red in my living room already and I thought it would fit well.


I borrowed the staple gun from my mum and used it cautiously. 


I toyed with painting the legs black or white but ended up actually painting them silver as I wanted them a light colour but white seemed too matt.



There you have it, the finished stool. I know it may not be to everyone's taste but I love my little home edition. The whole project was so simple that if I fancy a change it would be so easy to swap the fabric or paint colour. 

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Monday, August 26, 2013

Moving house

Moving house


After a hectic couple of months searching for houses and checking them out, Tom, Moby, Tenzin and I have finally moved house. The beauty of it is that it is just round the corner from our last property, making moving a lot easier. I hope to get a couple of house pictures up when we have found homes for everything and we have tidied up. 

We were sorry to be leaving our previous house, (due to the landlord selling the property) but now feel really happy to have a fresh start and a little bit more space. 

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Friday, August 23, 2013

Sketching...

Sketching...

I missed out on last week's stylist magazine so there is no sketching faces this week. 
Instead I have some poses I have been working on for a recent commission, they are baby poses.




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Wednesday, August 21, 2013

A little inspiration...

A little inspiration...

I've been trying to think of ways to make my sketchbook project 'I see no ships' a little different.
So when my mum suggested some books from my childhood I couldn't resist to share them.

These little treats are all by Janet and Allan Ahlberg, and follow the adventures of the Jolly Postman.
The first book is The Jolly Postman or Other People's Letters. 
This is my favourite and the one I remember most from when I was a child, along with Each Peach Pear Plum another Ahlberg gem. In this book the jolly postman goes on his route delivering letters and visiting friends along the way. 



The Second book is The Jolly Pocket Postman.
In this book the jolly postman shrinks to the size of a postage stamp.



The third book is The Jolly Christmas Postman.
The postman delivers letters and gifts from one fairy tale character to another. 



I love the idea of creating my sketchbook into a series of letters, with envelopes and pieces hidden inside. 
Thanks for the inspiration Janet and Allan Ahlberg, and thanks for the suggestion Mum. : )

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Monday, August 19, 2013

Rufford lake and gardens

Rufford lake and gardens

So the other week I visited my family and we decided to take an evening walk around Rufford lake. 
Along with the walk around the lake there are gardens and sculptures to browse around.




My sister and I played noughts and crosses in the children's garden area. 
We took photos of the bugs, wildlife and fed the ducks a handful of bread. 
It was a lovely quiet evening with the family.


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Friday, August 16, 2013

A little visit home.

A little visit home.

Last weekend I visited my family for the first time in ages, it feels like months but it hasn't been that long.
Looking for a new house takes up quite a lot of your free time, and dictates the majority of your weekend.
So I pulled out my little travel bag and immediately gained a companion, though I don't think he was actually volunteering to travel anywhere.



Because it would only be the girls at home, as dad was working all weekend we had a little pamper session in the evening. Turns out face masks are hilarious especially when slapping it on your sisters face!


I also managed to catch up on a little more stitching whilst watching movies with mum.

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Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Sketching: Stylist Issue 184

Sketching: Stylist Issue 184

All sketches drawn from Stylist Issue 184.



Well I seem to have had a really hard time sketching this week. 
I don't feel happy with any of these sketches, even when drawing them I didn't feel inspired. 
The poses I picked weren't the best, and I think I drew them quite badly over all. 



I think the Queen is the best of this week though not great. 
Better luck next week??

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Monday, August 12, 2013

Illustration Friday: FRESH

Illustration Friday: FRESH


Submission to Illustration Friday: FRESH
Daisy created by Harriet Alice Fox.

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Painting Pansies

Painting Pansies

For the last month of weekends one of our neighbours have been working on their garden, all day, all weekend and some week nights too. And the result: It looks great! It's a really pretty garden with decking and lots of multi coloured plants. Tom thought it was so nice that we should send them a little note to say how much of a great job we think they have done. I decided to paint them a little card.


I sketched out a bunch of different pansie faces.



Painted the piece with watercolour paints.



Then used fine liner pens to outline the piece.



All in all this took around 2.5hours, a fraction of the time they put in to the garden but I hope they like the note. : )

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