Jessie Lilac Blog

Here are some some fish looking poised for Illustration Friday and what a coincidence that the french word for fish is poisson which looks a bit like the word poise doesn't it? Am I clutching at straws here?

I started this drawing by doodling the shapes of the tendrils. It was going to be a flower but ended up as an octopus type creature! This is a better view of the doodle in the bottom corner of the page. I did this one while on the phone to a friend. Drawings like this probably have deep meaning but I'm too close to them at the moment to see what that is!

Sketchbook drawings in coloured pencil.

These were little sketches for my first idea for 'subtract'. Can you see I'm beginning to enjoy this new sketchbook now? The trick is to only use coloured pencils and to keep the water well away!

The Tree Pose While doing yoga, you're supposed to subtract your thoughts and concentrate on the pose!

I'm getting to know how this new sketchbook behaves now. It takes a great dislike to anything water based but it loves coloured pencils. I discovered this yesterday while doodling this girl. I've also started a smaller sketchbook (A5 Winsor & Newton) with paper that I can actually paint on - the joy! I've been playing around with dancing fish ideas... They didn't show up very well with gel pens. But good old waterproof black ink worked better. The other creatures at the bottom evolved from my still-loaded brush that I didn't want to waste! They were joined by a baby fish. And another dance troup.

A face doodle. peacock sketches and the finished peacock that I used for a Mother's Day card.

Can you see how the paint has bled into the paper in the wrong direction ? I want to love this sketchbook but I don't yet. But I've been using it to work out ideas for a couple of pictures. One will be about yoga and one will involve dancing fish. I'm also making a mother's day card with a peacock on it and using inks on top of watercolour. Memo to self: Don't play with quick drying inks when you're wearing your best jumper. I'm not going to photograph it to show you because I've had to rush to the tap to wash it off before it got a proper hold!

As mermaids are one of my favourite images, what else could I have chosen to draw?! This week's Illustration Friday word is 'Legendary'.

How different a lovely sunny weekend can make me feel! And to make it even better, I logged on this morning to find that I've not only won an award from Joss , but also won a give-away from Sandy ! Thankyou both so very much :)))What a lovely start to the week. Above is a little picture I did yesterday morning with a green gel pen sat in the warm sunny garden and it's march!

After thinking to myself I spend more than enough time online, I go and join Twitter! No, I don't make sense to myself but the lure of it was too much for me. Hey ho, see you there? I've had a difficult day feeling a bit cabin fevered, painting, drawing but missing the outdoors. I started a page of a brand new sketchbook too. I'd been looking forward to this moment as I drew closer to the end of the old one. I love a fresh start and all that. But. The pages won't take watercolour very well. I don't mind the buckling but the washes leave a mottled finish and bleed as they dry so I'm very disappointed with it. The picture above is the first page from it where you can see the mottling on the dress and neck. It looks better on the screen than it does in real life. I'm just going to have to buy a new one, oh the sacrifice! Here's to a sunny, happy weekend!x

Craving the wetness of watercolour again, I made these drippy puddley trees, then decided they needed something sitting on the branches. Owls had the first turn, then came the cats. These are mainly watercolour with tiny hints of a dark brown ink line here and there. I'm not sure where I'm going with these, but sometimes you just need to follow your nose. As they say.

Feeling I needed a change today, I've been having fun with acrylic inks. They dry really quickly which is great if you're using a dip pen but not so much if you want to do a wash. The painting below was going to be my submission for Illustration Friday but I ended up hating the overworkedness (is that a word?) of it, so I decided it would be better off cut up... ...ending up with something entirely unexpected. Can you tell what I did? We went to a really good concert last night. It was the band Elbow . Click HERE if you'd like a quick listen to them.

I've had a break from watercolour and had some fun with pen and ink. There's something very satisfying in using a dip pen. The yellow background is ink too but put on with a brush, same with the rosy cheeks and petals. More ink playing to follow...!

I love sketchbooks. I love choosing and buying them, I love using them, and I love to look at other people's. The painting above is one I did this morning in my sketchbook without having a reason, other than just wanting to draw eyes really and the rest tagged along. Now it reminds me of a certain hollywood actress - (non intentional!) I then wondered as a matter of interest of what was in my sketchbook exactly 10 years ago this month. I've been keeping sketchbooks for some years now so I knew there would be something and below is what I found. I've noticed a similar way of drawing the features, but at least the 'mud' that I used for shadows has improved a bit!

After I'd finished a sketchbook page of jumping frogs, I was eating my pea and ham soup, and it occured to me.. ...how green my day has been so far. It's been very sunny and springlike this morning so I spent a while cutting and cutting and cutting in the garden until my arms wouldn't let me cut any more. Yes, there's still a lot to do! Have a lovely weekend :)

Illustration Friday this week is Breezy .

I've always loved what people refer to as 'children's illustration. Why is it just for children, what about meeeee? When my children were little, a perfect day for me would be to visit the library and spend time pouring over the children's picture book section, taking pleasure in choosing the best illustrated ones (sometimes regardless of the story content, shame on me!) It's taken me a while to realise I'm 'allowed' to have these books just for myself, so I've treated myself recently. I've bought the Lost Happy Endings by Carol Ann Duffy and illustrated by Jane Ray. Jane Ray has a lovely way with colour and design, and has illustrated many books, so now I want all of them! I'm so familiar with having toys around, that I've not noticed them as possible models for drawing. Here's a quick sketch of a little plastic crocodile see-saw and a swing.

Will you dare to resist? CLICK HERE to see an online painting my daughter made yesterday, I'll bet you'll want to make your own once you see it! (There's a slidey button if you want to change the speed.) It was just like spring yesterday so we went for a walk in Nympsfield for a change of scenery and that's just what we got!