Pen and Ink - Of The Air And Sea

Wednesday!

Now, see, I KNOW it's Wednesday because it was Tuesday last time I looked and I'm guessing no one's changed the whole day routine thing without me knowing! So  - happy Wednesday!

Are we all shiny and lovely? Oh, HELL yeah! Today's offering is short 'n' sweet as it's a busy old day and it ain't over yet....some beasts of the sea and of the air. First, a bijou diversion-ette from the fishy obsession with a doodly tangle-bird -

And then - predictably - back to the oceans for this piece, which is more illustrative than doodly this time around. This made me VERY happy while creating it. I hope you like it too -

My 'Spirit Of The Ocean'. That's that! Told you it was short 'n' sweet! I've added a couple of extras to my 'pen & ink' page and I'll be back tomorrow (Thursday - eh, eh, eh! Getting the hang of this 'time' shenanigans! ) 'Til then - have some big squooshy hugs from Shroo :) xxx

New Pen & Ink Doodles - Fun With Fish!!

Hello and Happy Tuesday!

I know it's Tuesday because my computer tells me so! Ah time... we've never really been on speaking terms. Being somewhere 'on time' is a challenge. I wonder if people realise that it takes days of planning for me to BE in a PLACE at a pre-arranged TIME? No...probably not. Other people are so beautifully and wonderfully.....NORMAL! I have normality envy! Any jobs I've had I've had to be insanely EARLY for a shift, which employers seemed to like and generally resulted in overtime and a glowing appraisal. If only they'd realised that my "enthusiasm" was basically a side-effect of chronic ineptitude regarding time keeping! Bless 'em.

Aaaaaanyway... It's day TWO of my personal "don't-screw-up-the-blogging-AGAIN" challenge. I've made a list. Well, several lists and I'm honestly no closer to knowing what to post each day so we're winging it and reveling in the joys of spontaneity......(remember to breathe....breathe!)

Today's offering is a fishy one! I have more of my doodly woooodly crazy fishy fish to share with y'all. I still love my nib pens with their fine lines and deep black india ink.

Little doodles and details narrow my vision, help me focus and control my immediate environment - quiet the chatter and confusion. I suppose this calming sensation is the reason for the recent rise in popularity of zentangling.

I think I'll always enjoy drawing and painting anything sea-related and these fish are just such good fun and there's such diversity of life in the seas and oceans that inspiration, patterns and ideas aren't hard to find. This time around I decided to doodle some jungle river fishies as well, just for a change.

This is the fish-fest fun fiddly faff-about I'm sharing with you today. If  you're interested in more of the same inky doodle fun check out my 'pen and ink' collection up there in the margin page listings - you'll also find a reference for the pens I use and HIGHLY recommend. If you're in the UK you can purchase them from Dinkybox, along with other very cool art supplies.  Hope you enjoy the post and the doodles - thanks for visiting, you know how much I appreciate you! (SQUILLIONS!) Love and hugs from Shroo :) xxx

Bargain Books & Quick Journaling

ARGH!

It's December 12th!!! ALREADY! It's so not fair - the Christmas elves have stolen time, I'm sure of it!

I had another awesome day out with mum this week - adventures galore! We visited a local gallery who have been exhibiting some of my work for a while and HAPPILY (amazingly!) they've been fabulous and SOLD some of them for me. I love these people! That was excellent news so we decided to celebrate with a yummy meal at a newly refurbished pub.

We had some time to kill before serving started so we popped down the road to a botanical gardens and had a stroll around their gorgeous shop. They've made some cute reindeer for their Christmas display -

So cute! Anyhoo - I never miss an opportunity to add to that hoard of stuff I have lying about for arts and crafts, and here they have an area filled with second-hand books SO CHEAP! *sigh*  But then I have been EXCEPTIONALLY good and NOT bought craft things for WEEKS (apart from lacquer - but that's an essential!) so I picked up some lovely hardback vintage books - a couple about gardening and a few old encylopedias FILLED with yummy collageable images....oooooo.....

...all scruffy, gorgeous hardcovers printed in the 1940s and 1950s. The pages all have nice ageing (saves a lot of inking!) and the green one has that lovely tissue-type paper that usually comes in bibles or dictionaries which is fabulous for collage.

The encyclopedias are chock-full of fantastic images - some of them pretty weird, including this WILDLY unlikely picture of our Royal Family, which shows them at Y Bwthyn Bach - The Little House at Royal Lodge in Denbighshire, North Wales. Such an unusual image which is kind of sweet in that 'benign propaganda' way that our press demonstrated during the war years.  I just LOVE this page - and these books! So entertaining!

Anyhoo, I've had next to no time for my own arty endeavours this week, but I did yank out a couple of pages and make a couple of VERY quick collage journal pages to record elements of the day out that we had.  The lanes are still so lovely as the leaves seem reluctant to drop this year. The fields are bordered with groups of tall evergreens which are so dark against the winter skies - the scene is breathtakingly beautiful.  So I pulled out a couple of county-related images from the books and stuck them into my mini collage art journal (see the post: 'Time Versus Creativity" HERE) then coloured over them for quick journal pages -

"In the coldest Winter, the fragile yet eternal spark of life nestles safe & warm, protected by  the huddled evergreens, to be reborn when joyous Spring arrives."

Just a few minutes with a bit of glue and some coloured pencils and it's enough to record the day - if I want to draw any more in the future, at least I've stored the moment.

Remembering the trees at the botanical gardens, covered in pink and white berries.

The only other thing I've vaguely managed is a mandala doodle, done while chatting on the phone to mum in the evenings. Inspiration Avenue hosted a challenge LAST week to draw a mandala - and this is all I've had time for! It's a meagre offering, but in the spirit of taking part - voila!

That's it for the moment - like I say, anything else I'm working on at the moment will have to stay a secret 'til after Christmas. I know that there are still people out there who stress about old books being dismembered for art projects, but - for them - I found THIS printed inside the front cover of the encyclopedias:

So that this will work with the Google translator programme, this is what it says:

"To inspire ambition, to stimulate the imagination,

 to provide the inquiring mind with information told in an interesting style,

 and this lead into broader fields of knowledge 

- such is the purpose of this book."

This book was published as a tool of inspiration - a jumping-off point for adventures in learning and creativity. This book would have been pulped in the New Year, when unsold issues are taken to the recycling plant. This is my recycling and it makes me very happy!

Hope you're all coping well with the run-up to Christmas? Sending you all a virtual cup of relaxing tea to help you through! Remember it's just one day - make it about being happy and full of love.

Great big hugs from Shroo :) xxx

Mouse Companion

Hi again!

A little sooner than anticipated....but by request, here's the companion illustration to "Papillon Mouse" - "Snail Tail"

...and the obligatory closey upness:

Mousey cuteness. See you soon! - Shroo:)

I thought you might like this...

Hi!

How you doin'? Hope you've had an awesome August so far. I've had an uber busy couple of weeks and, for the first time in a while, I've not had much opportunity to faff about with arty stuff. Hmmm.... SO, I do have a couple of posts lined up for you - the next in my "Awesome Artists" series for one...that's been a while getting here.... *tsch*....I'd forget my head if it wasn't nailed on.

In the meantime (so you know I've not forgotten you) here are a couple more of my black and white wildlife illustrations for you to peruse.

 And a couple of close-ups just for the heck of it...

This was a gift for my uncle who, like me, had a passion for the sea, ships and marine life.

Li'l 'Papillon Mouse'. I'm almost ALWAYS overly picky with my art and find imperfections that annoy me, but I actually liked this mousey from the get-go... awww... Hope you like him too.

...Butterfly mouse bottom..... hee hee!

If you're interested in art supplies and such, my pen of choice is a Tachikawa fine-nib, something like this:

It has an incredibly fine flat-tipped nib, ideal for fine work, and the cartridges are black india ink so you achieve excellent contrast on white (or even off-white) paper. The pens don't last forever, but you well and truly get your money's worth. They're not the easiest thing to find in shops, but you can order them - and other VERY cool art supplies -  here (click the pic) :

Okee - hope you like the post and the pics, and find the link useful. Much like Arnie, I'll be back! And soon! Mooowahaha!!! Hugs - Shroo :)

National Exhibition of Wildlife Art

Hi all!

Here's hoping you're having a splendid day of awesomeness? I've recently been fortunate enough to be accepted by the judges for the National Exhibition of Wildlife Art, exhibiting a single large piece in pen and ink with watercolour called "Madagascar". The picture measures roughly 30"x40" - there's a space restriction and this took up every inch! I'm thoroughly chuffed as some lovely, LOVELY person bought it! So I thought I'd share the picture with you and send my thanks to all the splendid people who make the exhibition.

A few close-ups:

Hope you enjoy the post ! Mucho hugs - Shroo :)