I have a bit of a thing for Parker Quink ink. It separates out into bluey greys and yellows when you use it diluted as paint, an effect I quite like.
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Glorious gardens
Posted by –
January 25, 2011
Ok so this is the big project I had on before Christmas. My client has a beautiful garden by the South Downs in Sussex which he opens to the public in the summer. He gives his visitors a print-out of information about the garden but wanted to accompany this with a aerial plan. So my brief was to design such a picture – something simple and clear, with a key. The below is the result, drawn in ink and cleaned up in Photoshop. The map was to be printed out on a side of A4 paper, so I drew the original slightly bigger at approximately 23cm x 32cm; this way you can get more detail in with crisper lines. Click on the image to enlarge.
The second half of the commission was the same plan but in colour and with little illustrations around it of the highlights of the garden. This version was to be framed for inside the house. I used ink and watercolour for this, on lovely 100% cotton Fabriano paper, so it will stand the test of time. The dimensions are approximately 35cm x 53cm. A frame is the final element for a picture like this, to group the images together in their composition. Click on the image to enlarge. I should add that there are some lovely blue skies in the little illustrations which the scan hasn’t picked up very well.
Hungry Hyacinths
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January 18, 2011
It’s a bit of a mess but what the heck. I was getting increasingly hungry while drawing/painting it and consequently sped up as I went along. I will do an improved Version II when the bulbs are in bloom. Spring seems to suddenly be here and it’s filling the flat with light and the garden, slowly, with flowers.
Pencils
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January 13, 2011
The view from my boyfriend’s family’s house in Wales after a snow flurry, and a self-portrait. I don’t look very happy but I think it’s just intense concentration.
Rowr
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November 12, 2010
Well there’s not a lot happening on the blog at the moment. I have quite a big commission on, which is great, but sketching is definitely on the back seat. I’ll post the piece I’m working on in the new year once the recipient has been given it as his present.. for now here’s a quick sketch from Trafalgar Square. I love the lions there, it feels like at any moment they might take a chunk out of one the tourists who sit on them and stick their hands up their noses. Will try to show the blog a bit more love in the upcoming weeks.
Intermittent sketching
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September 20, 2010
I’m not sketching at full throttle at the moment; life has been pretty busy but that’s no excuse. Looking for a job makes me feel guilty if I do anything else.. it’ll only be part-time though, so I can devote the rest of my week to the pursuit of all things arty.
That was some sketching while at the British Museum the other week, at an exhibition on the Printed Image in China. And a carved oak figurehead thought to be from a Roman/Germanic ship. I shudder at the intentions of a ship with something so monstrous on the front. It’s beautifully carved and still has an air of menace about it.
Freesias in London while I kill time waiting for my man to fly home to me, and lilies in Wales.
The Liverpool Apron
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August 25, 2010
Here’s an apron I made from a Liverpool FC shirt for my boyfriend’s birthday. I bought a cheap 2nd hand shirt off eBay and converted it in rather haphazard fashion into an apron. It has these gorgeous double-sided velvet ties. It went down well – I thought he needed a manly apron to cook in.
Handmade sketchbooks
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August 8, 2010
This is the sketchbook I made for my mother; I’ve meant to post this for ages. As with the other sketchbook I made for myself, it has a fabric cover and is filled with Fabriano 5 Liscia (hot-pressed) 210gsm 50% cotton paper. All the posts from South America (see category to the right) were drawn/painted on this paper. As you might be able to tell, it takes watercolours amazingly – nothing comes through the other side and after a couple of days the page on which you painted becomes flat again. If you’d like one made for you, drop me a line. These ones are 189mm/7.4″ x 122mm/4.8″, but you can have any size or fabric you want..
