Eggs....

come in all shapes and sizes, and at this time of year I particularly like the chocolate ones! Eggs is the theme for Make A Moo, and I have hand drawn mine, coloured them with watercolour pencils and added some chalk eyes to finish.

Mother and Child

An interesting theme set by Gothic Arches this week. I chose to hand draw my image on my arch using watercolour pencils and finishing the detail with a fineline pen. I hand wrote the wording, cut out and chalked the edges and applied to the background. Hope you like the end result, it took a while to get a good composition and the facial features working as I wanted them to!

Fruit

There are so many wonderful kinds of fruit available at our fingertips today, and because of modern shipping methods we can get most kinds at all times of the year. This is quite a shame as I remember having fruit in season and only in season! So strawberries were a summer fruit; apples, blackberries and pears an autumn fruit and oranges a winter fruit. They taste better at the right times of year, and especially when they are left on the plant to grow and ripen, being sold locally rather than flown halfway around the world!!

For Make A Moo this week I have hand drawn my fruit in black fineline pen and then added colour with watercolour pencils. I added hand written words in a sepia pen and finished the edges with chalk eye.

Marie Antoinette

Was one of the most famous French Queen's, who at the height of the French Revolution incurred the wrath of her people and was sent to La Guillotine! These are my moos this week for Make A Moo. They are altered photographic images layered on top of a background.

Mixed Media Drawing

I got the chance to sit down and have a play today. First I completed a great class held by Scrapbook Sisters, where I made a great altered mirror; then this evening I had a play with mixed media to create this portrait. I collaged pages form a book for the background and added Gesso on top. Once dry I marked the image out in pencil then added colour with watercolour pencils, a black waterproof fineline pen and then coloured markers. I am fairly happy with the end result, but think I need to leave it and come back at a later date.

Buildings...

are the theme over at Make A Moo this week. I chose to hand draw mine on top of a background made with crackle paints. I then added some silver and red metallic pens to complete.

Favourite Medium.....Mmmmm........

As I am sure I have said before I find it hard to stick to one medium, and there are several that are top on my list to work in. So for Arty Girlz this week, I have decided to share one that I always go back to and use on a daily basis - pencil. Below are some architecture inspired doodles that I created a while ago, and have developed further into a painting which now hangs on my wall. I am always doodling things while thinking, talking on the phone, or putting off those other things that need doing!!

Food....

Glorious Food!

I really do think I have an addiction for chocolate - anyone else out there share that sentiment?? For TMTA I chose to hand draw my ATC this week as I found I do not have much craft stash around that theme, and what is better than chocolate! I hand drew my chocolate coated cake and added colour with markers, using a water brush to blend it out. Once dry I added stickles to really give it that sticky feel and added this great little quote I came across, which also meets the theme over at Arty Girlz. Think I might have to go see if I have any chocolate in the house now...

The Human Body

Is the theme over at MMM, and is a much used theme in artwork. I have chosen to share one of my favourite life drawing images in charcoal on A1. I drew this while at university and find it a very hard thing to get right - if the proportions are wrong it shows, faces are difficult to draw accurately quickly and hands and feet are a nightmare!! For this piece we had to draw the figure without drawing a direct outline - not easy - so the whole image is made up of crosshatching. It is framed and hanging in my house, so was difficult to photograph. Hope you like it.

Burning The Candle.....

at both ends really isn't leaving much room to party! It has been one very long and hectic week so far, with 12+ hour days, then more work to do once at home! But I did manage to find a few minutes of down time to complete these for Make A Moo this week. They are hand drawn and coloured using watercolour pencils and distress inks. I then chalked the edges and added some tickles to the glasses and balloons to add a bit of glitz to the party feel. Hope you like them.

Marie Antoinette...

One of the most famous Queens of France, known for her excesses in life, and finally her infamous death at La Guillotine, at the height of the French Revolution. SPA set this as their theme and I chose to draw my own version of the famous lady rather than use a collaged image. Drawn in pencil, and colour added with watercolour pencils, the edge finished with a purple chalk eye. I hope you like the end result.

Tiny Dancers....

The theme was dance this week for Make A Moo, and I decided to hand draw mine for this one. I chose to do two tiny ballerina's drawn in pen and coloured with watercolour pencils. I added detail with stickles on the tutu's and hand wrote the titles. The edges were finished with chalk eyes.

Zetti....

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It took a bit of interntet searching to figure out what Zetti was. Well, what I have found out is that it is based around the work of Teesha Moore. She makes quite quirky, but strangely attractive and interesting work, which is basically about a bit of collage, doodling, adding strange figures and shapes, pointed hats, and basically anything that comes into your head.

SPA set this as their challenge this week and the results of my labours are below:

I had fun creating these, I found it quite hard to start, but once there were some marks on the paper it was easier to make the rest follow.

Pumpkins

Well school has only just started and already people are thinking of the next 'holiday' to celebrate. Halloween. Having rummaged through all my art and craft materials and media, I have come to the conclusion that I need to invest in more halloween themed things - papers, stamps, etc. So for this weeks Make a Moo or Two I resorted to producing some hand made Moo's.

I drew the images freehand in black pen and then added colour using Twinkling H2O's. I finished the edges with a copper leaf Krylon pen. I had some difficulty photographing them due to the use of the Twinkling H2O's, when the flash went off the images got lost in all the sparkle!!! This is the best result I got. Hope you like them.

I would also like to say a big Thank You to the team of Inspirational, who have showcased some of my work on their site. Take a look, there are some beautiful pieces of work from many people highlighted there. Thank You Inspirational!

Doors

For the Sunday Postcard Art challenge - Doors I created the following two 6x4 postcards:

1. This one is made using a hand drawn and inked door, punched leaves, edged with chalk eye, hand journalling, and acetate faeries.

2. This is a hand drawn Art Nouveau door - drawn in pencil first and then basic colour added using watercolour pencils, detail put back in on top with fineline pen, then distressing inks were used to age the feel of the door, and final detail added with white fineline pen.

I hope you like them.

Drawings and Sketches

Well, the first step before making any of the work I have posted so far is to sit and produce a whole range of drawn studies to explore colours, textures, patterns, compositions and experiment with media to get the desired effect.

Below are a range of studies from two of my sketchbooks, they are based on a sea and nature theme.The first is a section of three shells, with the image being drawn on top of wood filler to add texture and then painted with watercolour and emulsion:

This image is drawn lightly in pencil and then watercolour washes added on top so the colours blend into one another, with dark shadows added to make the shapes and colours stand out on top:

This is a section of an aloe vera plant drawn in oil pastel using a range of mark making techniques and blending of colours:
This next image is a section of a watercolour study of an octopus, I have slightly abstracted it by just highlighting the suckers and main shape of the legs:

The image below represents folds or movement in the earth, the basic shapes were drawn and then a colour wash added on top, some emulsion was added for texture and the final detail was added by painting a scrim fabric with dark paint and then laying it on top of the study so the paint transfers to the paper:

This is a watercolour study of a pattern found on a tropical fish, I liked the bold nature of the pattern and the bright colours:

I like to work with texture in my work, one good way to do this is to paint using acrylics or emulsions and then scratch detail into the paint with either the end of the paintbrush or a kebab skewer. This image represents cloud formations as seen from space:

This is an ink study of barnacles found in rock pools around my home town of Broadstairs:

This last image is a pencil study of seaweed. I have abstracted it out to show just the main shapes so that I can develop this further into a tapestry, print or painting:

This just a small sample of the many drawings and studies I have done over the years, I will explore other areas of my drawings in another post.