Week 16 - Mirror

This week I created a new pattern. I doodled a host of frame ideas, on my A5 sketchbook, with the idea that I would tidy them up and straighten them. In the end I only rearranged them and added a tad of colour

and copied a street-photo from 1941 of children playing with a broken mirror. I didn't go searching for this, I happened across it in a magazine - a bit of serendipity :)

I started with the pink pen - because that's all I had to hand, and added the black for definition later.

Week 15 Ocean

I had so many ideas and so much stage fright this week.
I've bottled out of some of my more ambitious ideas and kept it relatively simple, and to a theme.
I love the light coming through the water and onto the ocean floor - so here's a literal interpretation and a repeating pattern developed from my tutorial which I wrote a few weeks ago.

Acrylic on paper, A3

Shells drawn on paper with a fineliner
Pattern created in photoshop, then coloured.
Ripples added as an extra layer.

Week 6: Printing*

I got a bit carried away this week and still didn't manage to do a mono print or a lino cut!

Here are my three offerings, most recent first.

I was expecting to end up with a duo-tone image, with smooth edges, so that it would look a bit like a labyrinth. However I like it like this - a bit less polished, like me.
I took a photo of an ordinary ink pad thumb print and edited it on photoshop.

**and it was in the #illo52weeks picks - can't believe it!

Fine liner and colour pencils
Wallpaper printing,
featured in a British Pathe film, 1968

The wall paper designs are based on some of my patterns :)

One day, I will see some of my work on fabric or paper, I hope.

Well, the theme is printing - why not go literal?
Collage of coloured paper and letters cut from a magazine.

Week 4 Swimming

4 images
An eclectic range of styles this week.
Inktense pencils, fineliners, brush pens, photoshopping... here's my swimming collection, in the order I created them.

2016 Week 3 - Theme Park*

Two images
Continuing my attempts to produce repeating patterns, here's my rollercoaster.
I created a draft on paper and then used it as a guide when I drew it in photoshop.
It took AGES! It's not perfect, but I am pretty happy with it.
(** and it was included in the picks :)  )

And now, here is a little sad doodle character not tall enough to ride.

This design, along with a few others, is available on clothes, stationery, home decor items and more in my Redbubble shop 

Week 36 Dance

Week 36 Dance

Several images!

I've learned to make a repeated pattern in photoshop!

I'm very excited!

More about these little girls below.

     

I used photos I took at a music festival to make sketches, above are my three favourites.
Below is my first idea of how I would arrange them, as you can see from the main picture I got a bit carried away and created something a bit more complex. 
And last of all is a digital sketch I did of myself dancing.

Week 21 Stripes**

Two images

This week started off with a 'does what it says on the tin' illustration. I needed something bright and colourful after last week's sombre theme.
Simply stripes of watercolour on watercolour paper. The paper is white, but I had trouble brightening the white without losing the colour of the paint.
I haven't given it a title, but I was thinking about the sun rising behind trees in a wood.

The second offering is taken from a photo I took a couple of years ago at Whipsnade Zoo of a group of lemurs. I love how their very stripy tails are fanned out. I always intended to paint the photo at some point but at least this sketch is step in the right direction.
Pencil and fine liner on plain, copier paper.

I have also noticed a great white, untouched patch on the foremost lemur, oops!

I can hardly believe it, both my illustrations were picked this week! 

Feeling a little emotional tbh.

Week 18 Art Deco*

Oh my goodness, what a lot of time I spent thinking about what to do for this challenge!
Art Deco is all about planning, form, structure and clean lines. Although I am still finding my way with different media and subjects, one thing is clear. My images tend to develop organically and often the final outcome is done pretty swiftly.
I needed a twist. I settled on turning one of my doodled characters into an aspiring Art Deco lady. She isn't all tall and thin and willowy, but she tries.

* Update! This is one of the picks on the challenge blog :)
Art Deco picks #illo52weeks blog

Drawn with pencil and colour added using Pixlr

The original line drawing

I then wanted to play with patterns a bit more and was taken with how the structure of an iris is like Art Deco. I'm afraid my concentration lapsed by the time I got to the eye lashes, and perhaps the patterns in the iris could have been large for more impact.

Inktense pencils on cartridge paper.

(I had trouble lightening this one)

Week 14 Whimsy

Two images 

So this was harder than it seemed, or at least harder than a carefree prompt would suggest - being deliberately and self-consciously whimsical seems as wrong as telling everyone you are quirky. Surely that is for other people to notice for themselves?

My first illustration is based on a picture I remember from my childhood in the 1970's. It was a small picture, quietly filling wallspace in the background of Mindy's apartment in Mork and Mindy. I have always drawn birds based on this shape. I bet no one else even noticed it when Mork was calling Orson.

I drew the outlines of the sun and the bird and the rest just sort of came to me.
Pencils from WHSmith on A4 copier paper.

This one uses little characters who have individually appeared on my greetings cards in the past, but never together. I wasn't sure what their context was going to be, even after I had finished them. I wanted them to jumping around and clouds just didn't seem to be right and a trampoline would have had too severe edges to it - so I plumped on a bed, which felt like a a mixture of the two.
There WERE ten in the bed - what's happened?

Watercolour paint and paper. A3.
The colours aren't quite right as it's A3 and my scanner is A4. I took the picture with my phone and editted in Snapseed.