Jessie Lilac Blog

When I'm not painting, I love to create with beautiful coloured yarns. It's such a joy for me in deciding which colour to use next while I'm making, it's a bit like how I paint too.  I could make these colourful crocheted blankets for ever and ever but if I did that then my house will be so filled with them I wouldn't be able to move 🤣  so I've added a new section to my Etsy shop. Please  CLICK HERE  to see. They're very easy to wash and dry in the machine and lovely and cosy too!   They make great picnic rugs or as a throw for the bed. ********  So in painting news I've been enjoying using watercolour. Here are the latest pages from my sketchbook.  This one was done in watercolour along with a black pen. Same again, watercolour but not quite so much black pen action this time. The veins of the leaves were done with a white Uni-ball Signo pen. I tried it first with a white Posca but it di...

I've been busy making daily paintings and here are a few of my most recent ones. I also have some finished paintings for sale listed in my Etsy shop but more of that later. Sometimes it's nice to have a break and a few days ago we visited Tintinhull in Somerset. The house is very beautiful and because of its smaller scale than most National trust properties, very homely too.  The view from the house into the garden is very pretty. It's lovely to wander around the garden, arranged like little rooms that link one to another.  A feast for the eyes from the beautiful and delicately coloured pale lemon tulips and hyacinths  ♥   ♥ and the Heuchera Plum Royale. (I had to Google that!)  😉 How very perfect don't you think? A very pretty house and garden. So now I'd like to show you my newest paintings. This one above is called Marina and is painted on 300gsm (140lb) watercolour paper with inks. I've listed it in my Et...

This past week or so I've been painting on paper and enjoying using some lovely iridescent inks. The ones I use are by Daler Rowney from their FW Pearlescent range. You can use them straight from the jar and they'll sit quite happily on even the most darkest of backgrounds. They can also be watered down to create a lovely glaze like I've done on the figure in this painting.  The little  gold dots here are painted with golden ink and they twinkle and shine in the light! The blue background area on the right is a shimmery blue glaze from the FW Pearlescent range. You can see from the two photos how it changes in the different lighting. What better subject to use my sparkly inks than on a magical mermaid! I made a mini video (of only a few seconds long!) to show how she changes ... This larger (8 x 12inches) painting's a mix of acrylic paint, inks, souffle pens and iridescent inks. I call her 'Aurora'. She's in my Etsy shop alo...

It's April and today has been such a warm sunny day  so we went to visit a lovely National Trust garden. The bulbs are in bloom and although the trees are only just beginning to show their buds, they're already looking so beautiful in the sunshine. Tulips! And what a beautiful shade of purple they are too. :)  These strange looking yews look as though they might move around the garden at night don't you think? Or is it just me?! On the way home we saw this lovely little wooden hut in the middle of the countryside. I'd love a bell like that outside my house, although on a windy night it might not be such a great idea! This week has been a busy one, repainting things that need attention, getting our holiday lets in Devon ready for the summer season. The gardens always needs tidying so we had our work cut out but the views from here make up for it as you can see. The harbour's very pretty and I love those roof t...

I love a bit of sparkle don't you? I'm quite partial to a mermaid too so I decided to put the two together and make my mermaid of gold! I loved using the gold paint and seeing it shine when tilted to the light. She's painted on 10 x 7 canvas board and looks beautiful when caught in the light. Little golden fish swim with her and I've used touches of pale blue iridescent ink in the background too, creating a watery magical sea in which they swim. Her hair is a pure golden colour and swirls around in the water, decorated with tiny flowers. If you'd like to own this pretty mermaid of gold, please click here to see all the details. :) Thankyou for coming to visit today, I hope you're having a lovely week! xx

The other evening I stood and watched the beautiful sea. and images of mermaids and fish started brewing in my mind.... 'Popularity' for Illustration friday . It's been a while since I've used pencil crayons and I had a lot of fun blending the colours. :o) The ones I use are WH Smith's own brand, soft and bright. Just how I like it!