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...

Illustration Friday: Twins

Here's my entry for this week's Illustration Friday. The subject this week is 'Twins.' A couple of people in the past have said that all my girls look like the same person but let me tell you, I didn't find it easy to draw this piece looking like convincing twins! The twin in blue is slightly taller and I've made the personalities slightly different too. Even with identical twins as these are, you often find that one person is more confident or extrovert than the other don't you?

Have a great week!

Jess xx

Reworking a Painting and My New Obsession

Hello there! It's been a while hasn't it? Sorry about that, I've been spending most of my social media time on Instagram and getting particularly hooked on Instagram Stories. Have you discovered them yet? It's my new obsession! My username on Instagram is @jessiespainting if you'd like to pop over and say hello, I'd love to see you!
So today I'd like to show you the latest page of my sketchbook.

I've recently been using a limited palette and this one has just 4 colours, I think it works quite well. If I make myself stick to a limited number then it stops me from going overboard with all the colours of the rainbow which is something you'll already know if you've visited here before. 
Of course there's nothing wrong with making a painting with lots of colour and I still do that too as you'll see in a moment.

You might remember this 7 x 10 inch painting I did last year on canvas board. I was having a sort out last week and when I looked at it I had an overwhelming urge to jazz it up a bit.

I actually jazzed it up a LOT.

So it's under the same listing in my Etsy shop as before with its new photos. If you'd like to have a closer look, then please CLICK HERE to take you to the page. Thankyou for looking!

I hope you're having a good week,

Jess xx

Illustration Friday, 'Wax'.

This week's word for Illustration Friday is 'wax'. This was a toughy! I've never drawn wax before as such and because the candle is actually quite small in this painting I decided to draw another kind of 'wax' in the picture. Can you see what I did?😊

I'll be listing this one and perhaps last week's too in my Etsy shop very soon. Do come and see me on Instagram if you have an account. I'd love to see you there!

Have a great week! xx

Illustration Friday, 'Women'.

Ok so I'm back! I'd thought I'd like to have a go at Illustration Friday this week. The topic this week is 'women'. So here are some women! I've often been asked why all my girls in my usual artwork look the same, well I thought here's my chance to have a collection of all sorts, both young and older. It's probably one the one strangest illustrations I've ever done so I'm not sure yet whether to make this into prints for sale. What do you think?😊

Hope you have a great week!

Jess xx 

I'm changing my Blog.

Thankyou you SO MUCH if you're reading this because it means you've popped over to see what I'm up to.xx
I'm very sorry that I've not been here blogging as much as I'd like to, it seems that a lot of people are abandoning their blogs and spending more time on Instagram these days. I'm afraid I too am one of those 'guilty' of this!
As a very visually oriented person I know the appeal of posting on Instagram. I believe it began as a photography site and for people like me who would rather look at pictures than text, it's the ideal place to catch up on what others are doing.
So after a lot of thinking, I've decided to use Instagram as my main blog, so if you'd like to see what I'm up to then do please come over there and say hello. I'd be so happy to see you there!
Social media is always changing and maybe I'll come back to Blogger again but for now I'm going to be at

https://www.instagram.com/jessiespainting/

Hope to see you there! 

Jess xx