Thursday 24 September 2015

Week 38 Fauna*


1 image

I had so much fun last week with paper cutting, here's some more.
I asked my daughter for animals which started with the letters from my name. So, in case you can't work them out they are:
Kangaroo, antelope, T-Rex, hyena puppy, arthropod, rooster, iguana, narwhal, electric eel.


I cut them freehand, with no sketches or drawings.
Each was stuck onto an A4 sheet and stitched together in photoshop.
*edit: this was picked for the picks! Amazed again! There were so many completely awesome animal illos this week too!



Saturday 19 September 2015

Week 37 Geometric*

Week 37 Geometric

3 images

I like simplicity and what I have learned this week is...

Art does not have to be technically difficult to make an impact and 'speak' to people - sometimes the idea is enough.

I've had so much fun - no high art aspirations at all, just playing with paper, cutting and glue.
(Well, I did have some fleeting thoughts about using geometric shapes in clever ways, but these thoughts were quickly dismissed).

Here they are - 
The first one is inspired by the Dazzle camouflage of WW1 battleships. I've added colour and applied it to the silhouette of a London Black Cab.
More about Dazzle HERE







Circle fun!

*This was chosen for the picks. It was my warm-up act! 
One of the things I have learned is that when art comes from the heart or a playful place it resonates with people in unexpected ways.

Keeping it simple!


Week 36 Dance

Week 36 Dance
Several images!


I've learned to make a repeated pattern in photoshop!
I'm very excited!
More about these little girls below.











     

I used photos I took at a music festival to make sketches, above are my three favourites.
Below is my first idea of how I would arrange them, as you can see from the main picture I got a bit carried away and created something a bit more complex. 
And last of all is a digital sketch I did of myself dancing.







Week 35 Botany*

Week 35 Botany
3 images

I started this week late because I was totally in awe of the beautiful and technically amazing artwork which was popping up in the #illo52weeks challenge feed.
So I started with something simple, in order to build up to what I wanted to paint, which was one of my photos of nigella from my garden. My watercolours were calling, so I did a third piece - a quick sketch of Lapsana Communis.

Here is my marigold, from a photo I took against a black bin - a very handy prop as it turns out. This took about 20 minutes in all - literally to break the artist's equivalent of stage fright.
It was received very well by the illustration group members and was chosen as one of the picks!


Nigella
This is also from a photo in my garden, taken after the rain. This didn't work out quite how I expected - a tad darked and more spontaneous than I intended. I will have to work on taking my time with details!



When my water colours were calling I thought it was time to use a more traditional 'botany' composition. So, here it is in all its simplicity.