Illustration Friday: Squirrel

This week for Illustration Friday, the word is SQUIRREL.

Illustration Friday, 'Emoji'

I almost didn't want to do this week's Illustration Friday because emojis aren't my usual style but I thought I'd have some fun with it!

Have a great weekend! x

Illustration Tutorial with Posca Pens

As you might have seen from my last post, I've been making paintings in my sketchbook and so I thought I'd share my method with you of my latest one. I've also decided to make it into a new design for the items in my Rebubble shop, which I'll share with you at the end of this post.

So here's how I made my latest sketchbook painting..

 

 First I painted in some random coloured areas of watercolour with a vague house shape in the middle and allowed it to dry.

 I drew the windows to the house with a white Posca pen size 1M and painted them with some more watercolour, yellow ochre which is the same colour that I used for the house.

I added detail to each of the areas of watercolours using a Posca colour that would look nice against each one. You can see on the blue and green areas that I used a darker colour in the same shade. When in doubt, I find that white always works well against a dark background.

I continued to add details treating each area of watercolour almost separately. Towards the end, you have to think of the picture as a whole so I added a few extra details across areas, that helped to knit the areas of colour together until I was happy that the picture looked balanced.

There are no rules and this is only one example of how I've made a painting. Mistakes or changes of mind are easy to do by blocking over anything you're not happy with by using acrylic paint or sticking on a piece of collage paper. Once the acrylic or the paper is dry you can then paint again on top with Posca pens.

So once it was finished I thought it would make a nice design for fabric and on other items like mugs, travel cups, bags and all sorts!

Here are a few examples..

I've got lots more in my Redbubble shop, PLEASE CLICK HERE to see.

Thanks for looking, ♥ ♥ have a lovely weekend! xx 

My Intuitive Artwork and a New Video

 Most mornings when I have time I like to fill a page of my sketchbook with colour.

It's become more of an art journal than a sketchbook because I'm making intuitive images, shapes and colours that come from somewhere that I'm not entirely conscious of when I'm in the process.

For instance, if I feel like I need to see lime green and pink then I make a drawing using it.

I sometime have an idea of making a random background and then layering on top to define areas, like with these leaves above. I then add some more detail to it with pens.

Souffle pens are great for drawing over a dark area. The pigment turns out a lot lighter when it dries.

And then some days I sit back and look at what I've drawn and I wonder, "Why fish?" Maybe it's the influence of the sea!

I've made a short little video of some of my time in early May. I hope you enjoy.xx

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO WATCH

Illustration friday: Pink

Here's this week's painting for Illustration Friday. 

The word is 'Pink.'

I used my pink Poscas on top of a watercolour background. Have a great weekend! xx

Illustration Friday: Crown

Here's my submission for this week's Illustration Friday. The word prompt is 'Crown'. I did this with my Posca pens on an acrylic background. Lions aren't something I've drawn very often so this was a little bit out of my comfort zone to begin with but the flowers were fun.

Have a great week

Jess xx

The Selkie Films and Tales.

I often find my art influenced by the sea which might not be surprising as I live near the coast in Devon but since I can remember I've always loved stories about mermaids and selkies. I saw the film Miranda starring Glynis Johns when I was very tiny and the memory of it has always remained with me. When I'm near a rocky coastline I always imagine what it must be like to live nestled in a rock pool and to escape into the secret underwater world just like Glynis Johns!

Does anyone remember Aqua Marina from the children's TV series Stingray? I have a very faded memory of her but I do remember that for me it was the best part of the show. I've just looked it up on Youtube and it's nothing like how I remember but something about it must have stayed with me even at that very young age.

Anyway, years later I watched film 1984 film Splash with Daryl Hannah as the mermaid. I loved how she had to learn about living in the human world and learnt how to speak from watching the TV!

One of my favourite films that came out in 2009 is Ondine starring Colin Farrell. It's based on the story of the selkie, a sad tale and I personally think it's the best film Colin Farrell's ever done.

Which brings me to the wonderful 2014 animation film Song of The Sea. Here's a clip of Saoirse bringing life back to the fairies with her song. Such a beautiful and moving film.

So you see those mermaid seeds were planted way back then and have grown with me over the years until this day.
I'd like to show you my mixed media painting 'Marina'.

She loves and cares for fish and sea-life and is at her most happiest when she's close to the sea. She's made in mixed media on paper, measures  8 x 10 inches and waiting for a new owner in my Etsy shop at £45.
I actually have my own fish girl who was the inspiration for this piece and last time we visited her at her home in Cornwall I made a little video of her. It's only a minute and a half long and the next wave that came along was a particularly big one and caught us both unawares! It was a beautiful sunny day in March but not a great time of year to get soaking wet!

I hope you have a lovely week,

Jess xx

A Trip to Oslo

My youngest is currently away studying at uni in Oslo and we've just got back from spending a couple of days with her.

I was a bit worried about how cold it would be there but we were very lucky to have blues skies the whole time we were there so although there was snow, the bright blue sky and sunshine made up for it.

The Norwegians certainly know how to keep warm. Everywhere we went were snug blankets and heaters outside and inside the rooms were as cosy and warm as can be. I now know the real meaning of Hygge!

We packed in quite a lot over the 3 days we were there. The Viking Ship Museum,

the Norwegian Folk Museum,

the City Hall with its beautiful murals,

the Vigeland Sculpture Park,

and the Royal Palace.

Can you believe we walked to all these places and my toes that would normally be numb at even the slightest change in temperature stayed fine throughout!

A memorable few days. 

♥

I've made a little film compilation of our time there if you'd like to see...