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

Finding Time for Art - Or ELSE!

Let's pretend it's only been a couple of cheeky days since my last post, shall we? Yes....just for a lark... How is it that despite there being twenty-four long hours in each and every sparkly day, there's simply bugger-all time to get stuff ACTUALLY properly done? Or even a BIT done, in some cases.

I've been INCREDIBLY busy - which, in itself, SUCKS - but then, on top of the hectic, I've decided to severely de-clutter. Sounds like a GOOD idea, eh? yeeeeaaaahh...... no. I have this thing where I have to make sure that  stuff's not wasted, which makes getting rid of the crap I have in my house a nightmare! It's even EVEN harder because I actually LIKE my crap.... I love my awesome Disney snowglobes.... I live for my gorgeous books.... I adore my nik-naks and collectables... Parting with any of them at all (and choosing frugally which ones to keep) is like Sophie's Choice every time! Added to which I'm a first class procrastinator. So my house looks like several really quite big bombs have hit it. A lot!

This is not condusive to relaxation - or art. It is, however, a real boon for the stress-fairy, who's become a permanent fixture, limpeting onto my brain and playing havoc with my blood pressure. Normally I'd have out with the paints and the shiny arty things and flap it all about 'til calm returned, but a/ I've packed things away so that they're safe while I sort through stuff and dispose of various bits, and b/ I can't get into the studio as it's full of charity/ebay/collector's shops boxes all piled up ready for re-distribution. Stress-fairy is THRILLED with this and has been happily cranking up that blood pressure for a month now, so this last week, I foraged through a forgotten corner and found a teeny weeny sketchbook and a couple of my favourite Tachikawa ink pens and have determined to set aside a little time every day to doodle and remember to breathe.

 True.

As it's been....a few days (shush) since that last post, I thought I'd share the first few pages with you, sort of whether you like it or not! Moowahaha... You'll notice that they're all sea-based. That's because I like sea-based things. I'm not planning to win an award here, just not to have my head, heart or anything else explode from the results of poor time/space/stuff management. SO here we go...in page order....:

The scanner's not keen on the paper. The backgrounds are all left sort of off-white but my scanner - Gertie - decided to add random blotches. As I can only assume that it's an expression of her own artistic muse. Aww.  This sketchbook's only tiny - it's 5"x5" and that's kind of cool as it allows me to finish things quickly. Less intimidation, more fun! Take THAT, stress-fairy!

....An absolutely accurate - almost photographic - depiction of a standard day on our local coastline. *ahem*

I like cormorants. There are LOADS (I counted - that's accurate) of them around our local docklands, so I added a couple of docky-type images to this beaky chappie just for fun.

 Gertie Scanner really hates this paper... Anyhoo - mermaid! I KNOW! Who'd have thought it? Me, draw a MERMAID! Craaaaazy......

Naughty Octopus! DOWN boy! SIT! It's the marine version of a Freudian nightmare, but then that's octopusesesesesesi for you.  I've not faffed with detail on the octochappie as I intend to throw some inktense pencils his way. When I can reach them. Or find them.

More mermaids, some fishies and a message in a bottle. Sorted.

Another fish. He has a jellyfish for a belly and he likes it. He's a fish.

So that's an update. Sorry it's not more exciting or tutorialy but if you wanna swap - I'll have your studio with paints and tables and stuff, and you can have mine with it's boxes and bin-bags..... Nah....didn't think so! 

I'm off to get some sleep before another hectic day begins. Sending some love out to the blogosphere - if I'm REALLY lucky I'll have time soon to visit YOUR awesome blogs and say 'hi!' - hopefully whilst sitting in a MUCH clearer, muse-friendly space!  Wish me luck! Much love -Shroo :) xxx

The 12 Books Of Christmas - Part 3 (The Last Stand!)

Happy Friday!

WOW! - Another week gone...some grotty stuff, some annoying stuff AND some good stuff, so the month's balancing out so far! Now THAT'S a relief!

Very shortly, I'm going to share the last few pages of that Christmas book, but first I'd like to share some thoughts on doing commission work and I'd love to hear your experiences and opinions if you can spare the time.   Over the years - despite being wedged firmly into tedious jobs with LITTLE joy - I have found some small time for art. When people find out that ya draw, they tend to ask ya for pictures ...mostly as favours, and because with me, like with most arty people, confidence doesn't seem to come naturally, I'd do stuff free of charge, thereby avoiding any potential upset from my 'customer'. Let's face it, once cash is involved people tend to get picky and things can get awkward, and when you're not TRYING to be a self-supporting artist, that hassle's better avoided. That being said....there are people wandering through their lives now with my work tattooed somewhere about their bodies! There are cartoons and the occasional pet portrait floating round on walls here and there..... and it brings a [nervous] sense of acievement and, yeah, maybe some pride to know that people like my work enough to have it in their lives. But I've never charged a fee for a private commission.

I've had friends in the art world tell me horror tales of private commissions that never end...the picky client with a million things they want to add or alter for no extra charge. It puts me off completely. But then there are bills to pay.... and a commission opportunity comes up - and the person asking is THE most lovely person possible......  What then? I've been asked to produce a piece of work that is NOTHING like I'd normally do. I would LOVE to be able to help, but the more I look at the plan, the more I know it's so alien to me that I will have to decline. And that sucks. Massively. I've gone through page after page of a sketchbook this week and the more I work, the worse I feel about the project. I know I'm the wrong artist for this commission and I'm going to have to tell a beautiful human being that I can't help. Sucks.

The thing is - I'm not the kind of person to take a deal or a job "just because". That seems dishonest, saying I can do a thing when it's blatantly transparent that it's so far out of my remit that it's a kind of Bizarro world kind of job - my polar opposite, as it were. A challenge, I relish...but this is not for me. I'll give it a few more days in case something 'clicks'....you never know....  I'd HAPPILY look at a brief that fits my skill set - and I need the work, so I hope some of them are round the corner.

How do YOU feel about private commissions, as opposed to the professional publisher-type gig or the gallery/shop sale? Do you look forward to them, or dread them?  Do you have criteria for accepting or declining a job? Have you ever gone ahead with one against your better judgement - if you did, what happened? I'd love to know.

Ok. That was my dilemma of the week. Kind of. Now to some colourful piccies! We were up to......

Page 9: A Fairy Went A Marketing by Rose Fyleman

"A Fairy went a-marketing, she bought a little fish;
She put it in a crystal bowl upon a silver dish.
An hour she sat in wonderment and watched its silver gleam,
And then she gently took it up and slipped it in a stream."

*

This is a very special little poem as my grandma used to sing it to me almost every night that I slept at her house when I was a little girl. As I got older she used to add some little mimes and arm-dance actions to make me laugh, and it was charming - truly charming - to hear her sing it when she was very elderly, still with the silly mimes and the a cheeky "Tra-LA, tra-LA, tra-la tra-la tra-la...POM!" at the end of every verse. I can hear her singing it RIGHT NOW and it makes me smile to think of her, rather than feeling sad at missing her.

I used Derwent watercolour pencils, almost exclusively. The colours do exactly what I ask of them, which makes them a joy to use. 

I used fine line and gel pens to add detail, and Winsor & Newton gold ink WHICH, when added over a pewter coloured gilding wax and super-heated with a heat gun, makes a really deep silver/gold reflective finish... who knew? *happy face*

The die-cutting worked really well on this page. At this point I was very happy that I'd chosen to go ahead with that as an idea. I look at all pages with an eagerness to hack at them with a scalpel now!! Mooowahahaha!

Page 10: The Whale by Erasmus Darwin

..lin fact... Whales. In General. Go with me here...

I love whales.... Don't you? They're incredible creatures and I've been FASCINATED with them all my life. This page is kind of representative of whales in every genre - poetry, literature, art, movies, err.... the all-whale production of 'Cats' ..um ...something  else.....

It started with Monstro the whale in Disney's incredible animated adaptation of 'Pinocchio', who I thought was AWESOME! When I grew a little older, I read Moby Dick and that was pretty awesome as well. I then learned about the complexity of whales - you know, ACTUAL ones, not the RAARRGH ones from movies and books... Discovering that they are so intelligent, gentle and graceful just blew my mind. Then they were in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. That sealed the deal... I love whales!

I used the blend of watercolour pencils and Neocolor II soluble wax pastels, and added smooshly lovely gold ink while the paper was nice and wet, heat drying it to achieve a flowing, blended look to the water, and a more blotchy look to the whale. Once dried, I sprayed it with the Chestnut satin acrylic lacquer, then used a black gel pen on top so that the ink would stay wet enough to splodge about, which worked well I think. I like the contrast of the orangey-gold of the fish - they have a shimmer from adding Tattered Angels 'Orange Crush' Glaze, but you can't really tell in the scan...pfff..

Oh - and I had fun with the white gel pen, and the scalpel again ....heh heh heh....

Page 11: The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

Yes, ALL of them. This is an incredible series of books. Of course, academics will tear them apart, word by word, sentence by sentence, and try to cover up the sense of magic and beauty with the frankly BLATANTLY obvious layers of spirituality and social commentary (evident to even the dummest of thickies), yet still, it's that magic and spellbinding narrative of Narnia that captivates children with each new generation. It's a beautiful escape and it STAYS with the reader, even after the trauma of 'The Last Battle'.  Narnia and Aslan will forever be in my heart and I care not who titters or sneers - I'm richer for reading these books, for loving the characters, for closing my eyes even now and seeing the rolling green hills of Narnia and the shining spires of Cair Paravel.

This page took me the longest to do.... I imagined all my favourite scenes from all the books, but when all is said and done, it HAD to be Aslan. Again - you can't really tell from the scans, but I added gold to his eyes so that they'd catch the light, which they do in the original page.

Like most of the previous pages, I used a combination of the Derwent pencils and the Neocolor IIs, but I added them in several layers. Both can still be reactivated if you re-wet them after drying, but combining them slightly retards the process, allowing for greater freedom and opportunity for manipulation. I used Uni Pin fine liners (0.3, 0.1) to add detail, and white gel pens for highlights.

The beauty of this technique, combined with the (hoo-hoo-haaaaa-haaa!) scalpel-frenzy die-cutting is that it's not essential to add every last hair to achieve the look of a mane. I do appreciate hyper-realism as an art-form as the attention to detail is immense and impressive, but I PREFER a more illustrative approach.

Page 12: The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams

This is a beautiful story about a little velveteen rabbit who longs to be real. It's a classic for good reason - an incredibly gentle, poignant and moving little book which should be read by everyone! Because I want you to enjoy the wonder of this book, here's a digital copy for you - just click the image right below .....

Did you click it? Why not? Go and click it and read it right now - it won't take you long and your life will be better for it! Go on!

*

I'm assuming you've done that then? *sniffle*....another weepie! Oh I cry every time, but I love this book so much. It's responsible for everything I own having a name, though, including my computer, my printer, pots, pans, heater and even shoes! Dammit.

I used the Neocolor II soluble pastels quite copiously on this page because I wanted the colours to be vivid. I chose this as the last page because the story begins on Christmas Day.... and that's when my book was being given to mum! AHA! Also - and I only remembered this after I'd finished the page, because I'm an idiot - I did four illustrations for this book as part of my A level art exam when I was 18. Weird huh? I also went MENTAL with the Winsor & Newton gold ink again! Shiiiiiny!!!

In order to just add another layer to this page, and finish the book, I painted one last page -

*  *  *

That's it then! That's the last of the book. I really hope you've enjoyed that. If you have any questions please just ask - I'm happy to help and look forward to your comments. I'm going to look forward to Sunday, when I've planned in a couple of hours to drink my coffee and look through your wonderful, gorgeous and inspiring blogs, which I've not had time to do at all this week. I can't wait to see the amazing work you've produced so far this year! Sending love and hugs out to the Universe and you too. See you soon - Shroo :) xxx

'Expand Your Horizons' Art Tile Fun!

Hello Lovely!

I hope you're well and happy? Have you been arty? Ooooo - do tell!  It's good to be back, and I have stuff to share and things to show. Without further ado, here's my first offering for you ...

This is an art tile I've been working on for a couple of weeks now - FINALLY finished, lacquered and ready for Etsy. I've decided to try and sell more through Etsy if I can as it's a bit tough to get to galleries at the mo but the bills still keep a-comin'!

I love art tiles ... they're such a versatile form of art display. You can mount them in open or covered frames, attach a small hook and hang them as they are, or display them on a stand or easel. It means you can add colourful art to any corner or wall, no matter where you live. This one measures 30cm x 20cm and is roughly 5mm deep. There are twenty-three separate pieces, hand cut and painted to my design, assembled in layers to give a slightly dimensional effect. I took a FEW pictures so I could show you some of the process:

First - I select the colours, a mix of gouache and liquid acrylics, then cut strips of card (about 1mm thick) - and paint. Once dry, I drew some stylised waves onto the strips. I REALLY wanted this to have a more illustrative look. Out with those trusty Tim Holtz scissors....snip snip!

Once done, I added outlines and details with really rich and creamy acrylic ink, representing the movement of the sea and foam -

I'd decided to add a mix of turquoise, grey-blue and sea greens - any excuse to use some of my favourites! I'd already sketched the overall design so I had a good idea of what the final image would look like, but I still had to play about with layers and shapes to make sure I'd be happy.

The sun layers are done in much the same way, but I opted to crumple the pages - the surface of the sun isn't smooth after all! This paper is fairly lightweight and to achieve crisp creases I moistened the paper with a light mist and left it to dry while crumpled up. Once dry I opened it carefully and painted it - the paint colour was perfectly smooth but the wrinkles were still crisp.

At this point I managed to delete the rest of the pictures when I stupidly cleared the wrong memory card on my camera!  BUT - basically, I carried on in much the same way, drawing and cutting shapes freehand to match the sketch I'd made. I used a combination of multi-medium matte gel and very high-tack glue to assemble everything once I'd laid it all out and taken a quick piccy to remind me of what I should be doing! I deleted that piccy too. I am an idiot.

Once everything was set, I added background detail. The art board had already been wrapped in roughly 12 layers of acid-free tissue paper, then covered with smooth designer paper and given a quick spray of lacquer as a base for paint - works a treat. The white acrylic ink is perfect for this design - it really adds to the idea of a tile, as it has an embossed look and a slight gloss. I added gilding wax and heated it enough to create a bubbled texture.

I wanted some text and I added the words "Explore your horizons - take a leap of faith!" around the sun. I wanted them to be subtle so that the colours and images would be what caught the viewer's eye.

Once everything was 'just so', I added several layers of lacquer, leaving them to dry naturally. This really does give the finished piece the look and feel of a tile, which I LOVE!  Here are some more pics of the final design:

 

I had a nice time decorating the back of the tile - like I say, these are really wonderful arty projects to create! Already covered in the tissue colours, I added layers of printed and stencilled circles along with some wave layers to reflect the main design. I added a title block made of recycled paper which I heavily distressed so that it would look like it had been floating through the oceans in a bottle! 

 

Honestly, I had so much fun doing this I'm almost sorry I'm done! Think I might design another one....oooo....or a couple of little ones! oooooo......   If you'd like to buy this original artwork, or look at the Etsy auction you can view it directly by clicking HERE

I'm off now to add this to my Etsy shop, then I shall be back with another post! Thanks for reading - big hugs, Shroo :) xxx