Monday 29 September 2014

What am I up to next?




New watercolours … You'll have to guess the rest! ;D




Tuesday 23 September 2014

Real Fairy Tales are Scary … But at least these aren't

Here are some more oldies but not too old - only a few years :) I suddenly thought of them and realised that I could try a few things. I won't tell you what I plan to do (it's nothing dramatic) but here they are first off, in balck and white!












Wednesday 17 September 2014

Dive into the Past!


I was scanning some of my images today when I came across these! Mermaids. When I was younger my favourite Disney film was The Little Mermaid, I had Ariel dolls, I loved Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and will probably still love mermaids for a long, long time yet. I did do these a good few years ago now. It's when my drawing skills were starting to improve but I know these are far from accurate! But they are a bit of fun. So I'm doing my version of throw-back-Thursday on a Wednesday bit never mind - here's a glimpse into my imagination a few plus years ago. 







Monday 15 September 2014

More Sketches and Ideas for Composition

Just adding to my Animal Project. I've already said it before but I'm falling in love with these characters. Any animals is good enough anyway but I seem to be drawing these guys so much they're like me friends haha!




Thursday 11 September 2014

Medusa was Beautiful …


Following on from my 'Metamorphosis' themed day and also gaining a rather unexpected surge of inspiration from an article by illustrator Chris Oatley (whom I will write about at a later date) I found myself drawing Medusa. We all know who she is, what she could do to men and how dangerous she was but thats exactly the kind of character Im drawn to - at leafs every so often. I think it's a sad, sad story and she's actually someone I feel sorry for. 

She's often described as a monster and is terribly ugly and gruesome but she wasn't always like that. She was cursed by Athena for falling for Poseidon and breaking her vows. I've heard slightly different versions of the same story but you get the gist. Regardless of how she's described, she's terrifying, but she's still beautiful.




Work in progress



Wednesday 10 September 2014

One Day Project - Metamorphosis


Second week into my mini mission of using the topics from Illustration Friday as a brief. This week it was metamorphosis, and a tricky one at that. I didn't want to do something real such as a butterfly. Nothing to do with the natural associations we have with metamorphosis, I wanted to do something imaginary which is always my most favourite thing to do anyway. So here it is, even though perhaps a little angry again and gruesome, I love dark art as much as fairytale (pretty) art and recently, I've felt like I'd try my own version. May as well run with it while I'm in the mood!


Work in progress

Friday 5 September 2014

The Power of Love …


Remember my doodles??? I've been doing more and this time it was in the form of a song by 'Frankie goes to Hollywood' called 'The Power of Love'. We all know it I'm sure, it's one of the many songs played at Christmas. But the reason I did this one was for my parents 25th wedding anniversary. It's their song. :) x

Tuesday 2 September 2014

Possibilities???




Original drawing already adjusted on Photoshop so animals are all similar in size.

So onto the next stage in this baby animal project. To get an idea of what the colours could look like, I first used Photoshop to layer watercolour splashes and patterns over one of the images. I won't be working with watercolour for the final thing but I'm more comfortable with this method as I used it frequently at uni. I then moved onto the acrylic paint but again used layering on Photoshop to save materials, paper, paint and time. 

These are TESTS, they aren't something I want to waste too much time on but they're still important so I can visualise the final thing. With these, it helps me map out a plan, and therefore avoid mistakes and again, time wasting when it comes to the final piece. 

See what you think! Here are some of the other pages of development from previous weeks if you want to catch up on this commission :D

Will Terry








I was browsing the internet when I came across Will Terry. He's really quite an inspiring person as well as illustrator so hisAbout page is definitely worth a read. He loves to blog, teach and illustrate and has made a living out of doing what he enjoys most. I'm envious and can wish that one day I'll be able to live out of doing the things I love most too.